Talent is God given
Be Humble
Fame is Man given
Be thankful
Conceit is Self given
Be careful
John Wooden
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Psychiatrist Teaches 'Mindfulness' to Smokers
A Yale psychiatrist is bringing together neuroscience and Buddhist practices to help people overcome their addictions.
Dr. Judson A. Brewer has conducted studies with alcoholics and cocaine addicts and now is beginning research to help people quit smoking.
Brewer is medical director of the Yale Therapeutic Neuroscience Clinic, based at the Veterans Affairs medical center. What he teaches is mindfulness, a concept rooted in Buddhism.
"Mindfulness has a two-component definition for the scientific community," Brewer said. "First, it's maintaining your attention on the present moment, and the second is you're bringing to that a nonjudgmental attitude of acceptance and curiosity."
Addicts use their drug or substance of choice to relieve stress and tension, Brewer said, and that behavior becomes habitual. "Everybody forms habits based on their prior experiences," Brewer said. "Those habits inform how we approach each new situation." (More)
Dr. Judson A. Brewer has conducted studies with alcoholics and cocaine addicts and now is beginning research to help people quit smoking.
Brewer is medical director of the Yale Therapeutic Neuroscience Clinic, based at the Veterans Affairs medical center. What he teaches is mindfulness, a concept rooted in Buddhism.
"Mindfulness has a two-component definition for the scientific community," Brewer said. "First, it's maintaining your attention on the present moment, and the second is you're bringing to that a nonjudgmental attitude of acceptance and curiosity."
Addicts use their drug or substance of choice to relieve stress and tension, Brewer said, and that behavior becomes habitual. "Everybody forms habits based on their prior experiences," Brewer said. "Those habits inform how we approach each new situation." (More)
Source: Newsday
Friday, February 27, 2009
Daily Inspiration
I forgive everyone, including myself.
Forgiveness is the most powerful thing you
can do for yourself on the spiritual path.
If you can’t learn to forgive, you can forget
about getting to higher levels of awareness.
Dr Wayne Dyer
Forgiveness is the most powerful thing you
can do for yourself on the spiritual path.
If you can’t learn to forgive, you can forget
about getting to higher levels of awareness.
Dr Wayne Dyer
Meditation Time
"THE time it takes for a stick of incense to burn is the time you should spend meditating," says Buddhist priest Ryusho Soeda.
His soothing words are what I need to hear at 6am as I settle down for the daily meditation at Rengejo-in, a 600-year-old temple whose name means "temple of the lotus flower".
Early spring snow covers the stone lamps and temple pavilions of the Garan holy precinct.
Temples are a common sight on Koyasan, a mountain which forms part of the Kii ranges of south-eastern Honshu and is considered the home of one of Japan's oldest religions, Shingon Esoteric Buddhism.
A monastery was founded here in AD816 by a monk named Kukai, or Kobodaishi, as he is posthumously known.
More than 1,200 years on, his retreat draws over half a million pilgrims and tourists every year. Most of them arrive by a two-hour train ride from Osaka.
"This is hallowed ground for the Japanese. I feel an overwhelming sense of tranquillity among the forests and temples here," says Ms Chizuru Ono, a pilgrim whose visit to Koya-san marks the end of her journey to 33 temples in the greater Osaka region. (More)
His soothing words are what I need to hear at 6am as I settle down for the daily meditation at Rengejo-in, a 600-year-old temple whose name means "temple of the lotus flower".
Early spring snow covers the stone lamps and temple pavilions of the Garan holy precinct.
Temples are a common sight on Koyasan, a mountain which forms part of the Kii ranges of south-eastern Honshu and is considered the home of one of Japan's oldest religions, Shingon Esoteric Buddhism.
A monastery was founded here in AD816 by a monk named Kukai, or Kobodaishi, as he is posthumously known.
More than 1,200 years on, his retreat draws over half a million pilgrims and tourists every year. Most of them arrive by a two-hour train ride from Osaka.
"This is hallowed ground for the Japanese. I feel an overwhelming sense of tranquillity among the forests and temples here," says Ms Chizuru Ono, a pilgrim whose visit to Koya-san marks the end of her journey to 33 temples in the greater Osaka region. (More)
Source: AsiaOne
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Daily Inspiration
Under the thin smoke of winter
The old temple is quiet.
After sundown,
All the visitors are gone.
On the west wind, three,
Four chimes the evening bell.
How can the old monk
Concentrate on zazen?
Ma Chih-yuan (1260-1334)
The old temple is quiet.
After sundown,
All the visitors are gone.
On the west wind, three,
Four chimes the evening bell.
How can the old monk
Concentrate on zazen?
Ma Chih-yuan (1260-1334)
Meditation as a Deterrent to Causing Bodily Harm to Your Ex-Spouse
I will not be bitter and angry, I will not be bitter and angry... I had planned to write today about how meditation can calm your mind and put you in a relaxed state. This is especially true when going through divorce. The very word brings up images of acrimony and a breaking apart, usually trying to place the entire blame of the ending of the marriage on your spouse, never you.
I was going to show you this wonderful video meditation series from www.lime.com, complete with Zen, space, and water meditation rooms. Beautiful images are set to soothing music that make you want to forget all your cares and worries.
Go ahead, do it. I dare you.
Of course, me being me, you know you aren’t going to get off that easily. So I’ll give you the Zen meditation room. I’ll let you blissfully space out and go to that place where you can breathe deeply and be glad you’re alive. But first, I ask one thing and one thing only of you, my dear faithful readers: Vent. That’s right I said it. Take 5 minutes to scream, fume, rant, rave, and proclaim the unfairness of the divorce process and your spiteful, hating, schmuck you were once married to. Go ahead, do it. I dare you. (More)
I was going to show you this wonderful video meditation series from www.lime.com, complete with Zen, space, and water meditation rooms. Beautiful images are set to soothing music that make you want to forget all your cares and worries.
Go ahead, do it. I dare you.
Of course, me being me, you know you aren’t going to get off that easily. So I’ll give you the Zen meditation room. I’ll let you blissfully space out and go to that place where you can breathe deeply and be glad you’re alive. But first, I ask one thing and one thing only of you, my dear faithful readers: Vent. That’s right I said it. Take 5 minutes to scream, fume, rant, rave, and proclaim the unfairness of the divorce process and your spiteful, hating, schmuck you were once married to. Go ahead, do it. I dare you. (More)
Source: SF Divorce Examiner
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Daily Inspiration
If we have no peace, it is because we have
forgotten that we belong to each other.
Mother Teresa
forgotten that we belong to each other.
Mother Teresa
Improve Your State of Mind and Stress Less
Grad students' class combines meditation with research to help students focus on present
Most students don't experience the academic term with its numerous assignments and tests as a stressless stroll in the park. Researchers, yogis and others have long touted the benefits of meditation, a practice that in some cases revolutionizes the lives of people suffering severe mental or physical distress. Used in the treatment of chronic illness, traumatic stress disorders and depression, meditation has been proven effective.
All this evidence and her own experience with meditation sparked psychology graduate student Jessica Tipsord's curiosity in meditation research. If meditation helps cancer patients calm anxieties to the point of inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, Tipsord wondered how it might help the average college student.
Tipsord teamed up with Josh Felver-Gant, a graduate student in the Counseling Psychology department, who has practiced meditation himself for nearly seven years and also wanted to incorporate meditation in his research. (More)
Most students don't experience the academic term with its numerous assignments and tests as a stressless stroll in the park. Researchers, yogis and others have long touted the benefits of meditation, a practice that in some cases revolutionizes the lives of people suffering severe mental or physical distress. Used in the treatment of chronic illness, traumatic stress disorders and depression, meditation has been proven effective.
All this evidence and her own experience with meditation sparked psychology graduate student Jessica Tipsord's curiosity in meditation research. If meditation helps cancer patients calm anxieties to the point of inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, Tipsord wondered how it might help the average college student.
Tipsord teamed up with Josh Felver-Gant, a graduate student in the Counseling Psychology department, who has practiced meditation himself for nearly seven years and also wanted to incorporate meditation in his research. (More)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Daily Inspiration
A well of love resides within me.
Peaceful, enlightened people have perfect love
within them just like everyone else does the only
difference is that they have nothing else within them.
Dr Wayne Dyer
Peaceful, enlightened people have perfect love
within them just like everyone else does the only
difference is that they have nothing else within them.
Dr Wayne Dyer
Meditation May Boost College Students' Learning
Meditation might help protect college students against stress and improve their ability to learn, suggests a study that examined the effects of transcendental meditation (TM) on stress reactivity and brain functioning.
Volunteers from U.S. colleges, mostly in the Washington, D.C., area, underwent physiological and psychological tests and were then randomly assigned to a TM or a control group.
Ten weeks later, the students in the TM group had higher scores on a standardized brain measurement scale and reported being less sleepy, not as jumpy and less irritable.
"The control group had lower Brain Integration Scale scores, indicating their brain functioning was more fragmented -- which can lead to more scattered and disorganized thinking and planning," Fred Travis, director of the brain research center at the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, and lead author of the study said in a university news release. "The controls also showed an increase in sympathetic reactivity and sleepiness, which can correspond to greater anxiety, worry and irritability." (More)
Volunteers from U.S. colleges, mostly in the Washington, D.C., area, underwent physiological and psychological tests and were then randomly assigned to a TM or a control group.
Ten weeks later, the students in the TM group had higher scores on a standardized brain measurement scale and reported being less sleepy, not as jumpy and less irritable.
"The control group had lower Brain Integration Scale scores, indicating their brain functioning was more fragmented -- which can lead to more scattered and disorganized thinking and planning," Fred Travis, director of the brain research center at the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, and lead author of the study said in a university news release. "The controls also showed an increase in sympathetic reactivity and sleepiness, which can correspond to greater anxiety, worry and irritability." (More)
Source: Forbes
Monday, February 23, 2009
Daily Inspiration
Faith consists in believing when it is
beyond the power of reason to believe.
Voltaire
beyond the power of reason to believe.
Voltaire
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Stresses on Importance of Meditation
"Violence-free society, disease-free body and confusion-free mind are the birthright of every individual. Spirituality makes you
strong to face any situation because life is not worth losing your smile,'' said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in his characteristic style at the Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday.
He added that Bangalore is an IT city of India where IT stands for Inner Transformation. "Greeting each other creates a sense of togetherness and family. It is a sense of community which comes from spirituality. Spirituality teaches us our ultimate goal of life and who we are," he said.
Over 10,000 people turned up for the exclusive event which is part of the `4ever b'lorean' campaign of Bangalore Mirror. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar performed Sukshama yoga, Sudrashan Kriya and meditation with all participants of the event.
"Meditation is not concentration it is a deconcentration. Let the mind go wherever it is going; let it spread to the world. Our body is a precious gift to us. So honour your body,'' he said about meditation and yoga. (More)
strong to face any situation because life is not worth losing your smile,'' said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in his characteristic style at the Kanteerava Stadium on Saturday.
He added that Bangalore is an IT city of India where IT stands for Inner Transformation. "Greeting each other creates a sense of togetherness and family. It is a sense of community which comes from spirituality. Spirituality teaches us our ultimate goal of life and who we are," he said.
Over 10,000 people turned up for the exclusive event which is part of the `4ever b'lorean' campaign of Bangalore Mirror. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar performed Sukshama yoga, Sudrashan Kriya and meditation with all participants of the event.
"Meditation is not concentration it is a deconcentration. Let the mind go wherever it is going; let it spread to the world. Our body is a precious gift to us. So honour your body,'' he said about meditation and yoga. (More)
Source: Times of India
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Daily Inspiration
The kingdom of God is just behind
the darkness of closed eyes,
and the first gate that opens
to it is your peace
Yogananda
the darkness of closed eyes,
and the first gate that opens
to it is your peace
Yogananda
Is Meditation the New Medication for Stressed College Students?
New brain study at American University shows promising results
Web news conferenceTo observe real-time changes in brain functioning during Transcendental Meditation practice
Escalating demands of college life put tremendous stresses on students, who abuse drugs and alcohol to self-medicate and boost academic performance. According to a recent study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, nearly half of America’s 5.4 million full-time college students abuse drugs or drink alcohol on binges at least once a month. (More)
Web news conferenceTo observe real-time changes in brain functioning during Transcendental Meditation practice
Escalating demands of college life put tremendous stresses on students, who abuse drugs and alcohol to self-medicate and boost academic performance. According to a recent study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, nearly half of America’s 5.4 million full-time college students abuse drugs or drink alcohol on binges at least once a month. (More)
Source: rushprnews.com
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Mindfulness, Not Flakiness
There are already so many things you're forced to do at work. Drink subpar coffee as a break from mundane chores. Come up with creative ways to cut costs. And now your boss wants you to meditate?
Meditation has been gaining a slow and steady fan base in financial and professional environments as a way to combat the ravaging physical and psychological impacts of stress.
Maria Gonzalez is the founder and president of Argonauta Strategic Alliances Consulting, a company that integrates mindfulness meditation with the development of business strategy and strategic alliances. When she started meditating 17 years ago, she found that it made her far more effective at work. "You could be calm when everyone else wasn't, and you could concentrate," she says. "That meant you could do things much more quickly." (More)
Meditation has been gaining a slow and steady fan base in financial and professional environments as a way to combat the ravaging physical and psychological impacts of stress.
Maria Gonzalez is the founder and president of Argonauta Strategic Alliances Consulting, a company that integrates mindfulness meditation with the development of business strategy and strategic alliances. When she started meditating 17 years ago, she found that it made her far more effective at work. "You could be calm when everyone else wasn't, and you could concentrate," she says. "That meant you could do things much more quickly." (More)
Source: financialpost.com
Friday, February 20, 2009
Daily Inspiration
If one advances confidently in
the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life
which he has imagined,
he will meet with success
unexpected in common hours.
Henry David Thoreau
the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life
which he has imagined,
he will meet with success
unexpected in common hours.
Henry David Thoreau
Discovering Control in Guided Meditation for Self Development
Take back your control by meditating to develop your self-fullfilling skills. Learn to reflect on positive thoughts. Control is a matter of discovering. Once you discover your innate powers, you often find it easier to meditate, and develop new skills.
Thought transference is a great solution to start guided meditation. When you embark to meditate, you need quietness, so find an area far away from distractions. Exploiting your imagination and telepathic transmission about this place will enable you to stop work and meditate.
Guided meditation teaches your mind how to gain control. When you have that control, you find it easier to manage your life and recover you inner strength-developing skills. Meditation occurs in many ways.
You can start meditating by focusing on some object in your room. Focus until that spot starts to mean something to you. Once you start to see carry on with your meditation process to discover new ideas. Now you may think that some object in your room has nothing to do with conjuring up new ideas, but the fact is your mind will start to probe into something that associates with that object. (More)
Thought transference is a great solution to start guided meditation. When you embark to meditate, you need quietness, so find an area far away from distractions. Exploiting your imagination and telepathic transmission about this place will enable you to stop work and meditate.
Guided meditation teaches your mind how to gain control. When you have that control, you find it easier to manage your life and recover you inner strength-developing skills. Meditation occurs in many ways.
You can start meditating by focusing on some object in your room. Focus until that spot starts to mean something to you. Once you start to see carry on with your meditation process to discover new ideas. Now you may think that some object in your room has nothing to do with conjuring up new ideas, but the fact is your mind will start to probe into something that associates with that object. (More)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Daily Inspiration
Love is my gift to the world.
I fill myself with love, and I send
that love out into the world.
How others treat me is their path;
how I react is mine.
Dr Wayne Dyer
I fill myself with love, and I send
that love out into the world.
How others treat me is their path;
how I react is mine.
Dr Wayne Dyer
Meditation May Cut Future Heart Disease Risks
Meditation can help heart health, a study from the Medical College of Georgia shows.
The study was small, but its results were encouraging. Meditation may prove to be a beneficial addition to lifestyle and/or medical approaches to heart disease, say Frank Treiber, PhD, and colleagues.
Treiber directs the Georgia Prevention Institute at the Medical College of Augusta. He and his colleagues reported their findings in Orlando, Fla., at the Second International Conference on Women, Heart Disease, and Stroke.
Participants were 36 black females who were about 16 years old. All of them had high to normal systolic blood pressure (prehypertension). That increased their risk of future heart disease.
The girls were assigned to either get four months of training in transcendental meditation (TM) or health education without meditation. Before the groups got underway, researchers checked the pliability of a blood vessel wall in the girls‘ arms. Studies have shown that African-Americans have decrease pliability of blood vessels. TM has been shown to improve this function in young people with prehypertension.
Normal healthy blood vessels contract and expand; a very early sign of blood vessel disease is when this ability is impaired. A decrease in blood vessels‘ ability to contract and expand is seen in high blood pressure. (More)
The study was small, but its results were encouraging. Meditation may prove to be a beneficial addition to lifestyle and/or medical approaches to heart disease, say Frank Treiber, PhD, and colleagues.
Treiber directs the Georgia Prevention Institute at the Medical College of Augusta. He and his colleagues reported their findings in Orlando, Fla., at the Second International Conference on Women, Heart Disease, and Stroke.
Participants were 36 black females who were about 16 years old. All of them had high to normal systolic blood pressure (prehypertension). That increased their risk of future heart disease.
The girls were assigned to either get four months of training in transcendental meditation (TM) or health education without meditation. Before the groups got underway, researchers checked the pliability of a blood vessel wall in the girls‘ arms. Studies have shown that African-Americans have decrease pliability of blood vessels. TM has been shown to improve this function in young people with prehypertension.
Normal healthy blood vessels contract and expand; a very early sign of blood vessel disease is when this ability is impaired. A decrease in blood vessels‘ ability to contract and expand is seen in high blood pressure. (More)
Source: Onlinenews.com
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Daily Inspiration
Never forget the three powerful resources
you always have available to you:
love, prayer, and forgiveness.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
you always have available to you:
love, prayer, and forgiveness.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Meditation for Beginners
Do you ever wish you could just turn off your thoughts? I believe I would save myself so much stress if I could steer my mind away from responsibilities, worries, problems with people and hypothetical situations.
I'm thinking about learning how to meditate. Although I'm often annoyed and frustrated by the constant stream of ideas flowing through my head, I feel like I'm too busy to really sit down and try to control it or do anything about it. That, or I have my headphones in and I'm distracted by the noise.
Here is a very informative article from US News and World Report about the types and benefits of meditation. (More)
I'm thinking about learning how to meditate. Although I'm often annoyed and frustrated by the constant stream of ideas flowing through my head, I feel like I'm too busy to really sit down and try to control it or do anything about it. That, or I have my headphones in and I'm distracted by the noise.
Here is a very informative article from US News and World Report about the types and benefits of meditation. (More)
Source: phillyBurbs.com
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Balm for a Troubled World
An MIT-trained biologist has won a wide following counseling "mindful meditation" to heal body and soul.
It could have been a rock concert for the laid-back set. On stage at the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Theater Feb. 6, Jon Kabat-Zinn played to a rapturous sellout crowd, there to absorb, even be transformed by, his prescription of hope for a troubled world.
Kabat-Zinn, 64, is the country's meditator-in-chief, the molecular biologist who introduced mindful meditation to traditional medicine back in 1979 and who, through the next three decades, ushered it into the medical mainstream. His five books, including Wherever You Go, There You Are, have been printed in 30 languages, and sold nearly 1.5 million copies in the United States. (More)
It could have been a rock concert for the laid-back set. On stage at the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Theater Feb. 6, Jon Kabat-Zinn played to a rapturous sellout crowd, there to absorb, even be transformed by, his prescription of hope for a troubled world.
Kabat-Zinn, 64, is the country's meditator-in-chief, the molecular biologist who introduced mindful meditation to traditional medicine back in 1979 and who, through the next three decades, ushered it into the medical mainstream. His five books, including Wherever You Go, There You Are, have been printed in 30 languages, and sold nearly 1.5 million copies in the United States. (More)
Source: Philadelphia Enquirer
Monday, February 16, 2009
Daily Inspiration,
I focus on what’s really important in life.
Quality rather than appearance
ethics rather than rules
integrity rather than domination
knowledge rather than achievement
serenity rather than acquisitions
Dr Wayne Dyer
Quality rather than appearance
ethics rather than rules
integrity rather than domination
knowledge rather than achievement
serenity rather than acquisitions
Dr Wayne Dyer
Meditation 101
Walking Meditation
Meditation has many physical benefits that are worth exploring. Regular meditation can help release stress, have better concentration and develop a sense of calm and focused attention in all aspects of life. Release of stress and tension will also help to enhance general good health and well-being.
Many of us believe that to practise meditation we need to sit in silence trying to focus on emptying our mind of our 'mind speak'. This is not easy and takes regular, dedicated practice, and most frequently we give up with thoughts like, "I'm not doing this right", "This is too hard" or "I'm not cut out for this meditation business." (More)
Meditation has many physical benefits that are worth exploring. Regular meditation can help release stress, have better concentration and develop a sense of calm and focused attention in all aspects of life. Release of stress and tension will also help to enhance general good health and well-being.
Many of us believe that to practise meditation we need to sit in silence trying to focus on emptying our mind of our 'mind speak'. This is not easy and takes regular, dedicated practice, and most frequently we give up with thoughts like, "I'm not doing this right", "This is too hard" or "I'm not cut out for this meditation business." (More)
Source; Jamaica Observer
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Daily Inspiration
Faith is to believe what you do not see;
the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
Saint Augustine
the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
Saint Augustine
Kisses Unleash Chemicals That Ease Stress Levels
"Chemistry look what you've done to me," Donna Summer crooned in Science of Love, and so, it seems, she was right. Just in time for Valentine's Day, a panel of scientists examined the mystery of what happens when hearts throb and lips lock. Kissing, it turns out, unleashes chemicals that ease stress hormones in both sexes and encourage bonding in men, though not so much in women.
Chemicals in the saliva may be a way to assess a mate, Wendy Hill, dean of the faculty and a professor of neuroscience at Lafayette College, told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Friday.
In an experiment, Hill explained, pairs of heterosexual college students who kissed for 15 minutes while listening to music experienced significant changes in their levels of the chemicals oxytocin, which affects pair bonding, and cortisol, which is associated with stress. Their blood and saliva levels of the chemicals were compared before and after the kiss.
Both men and women had a decline in cortisol after smooching, an indication their stress levels declined. (More)
Chemicals in the saliva may be a way to assess a mate, Wendy Hill, dean of the faculty and a professor of neuroscience at Lafayette College, told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Friday.
In an experiment, Hill explained, pairs of heterosexual college students who kissed for 15 minutes while listening to music experienced significant changes in their levels of the chemicals oxytocin, which affects pair bonding, and cortisol, which is associated with stress. Their blood and saliva levels of the chemicals were compared before and after the kiss.
Both men and women had a decline in cortisol after smooching, an indication their stress levels declined. (More)
Source: AP News
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Daily Inspiration,
Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
while loving someone deeply gives you courage
Lao Tzu
while loving someone deeply gives you courage
Lao Tzu
Meditation Seen Promising as ADHD Therapy
The practice of transcendental meditation may help children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder manage their symptoms, research suggests.
The practice of transcendental meditation may help children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder manage their symptoms, research suggests.
In a pilot study, researchers found that lessons in transcendental meditation, or TM, appeared to calm the anxiety of children with ADHD, and improve their behavior and ability to think and concentrate.
TM is considered to be one of the simplest meditation techniques. Practitioners sit comfortably for 10 to 15 minutes with their eyes closed, silently repeating a mantra -- a sound, word or phrase -- to calm the mind and body. Some researchers believe that meditation affects the nervous system in a way that can alter a range of bodily functions, including breathing, blood vessel dilation and stress-hormone regulation. (More)
The practice of transcendental meditation may help children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder manage their symptoms, research suggests.
In a pilot study, researchers found that lessons in transcendental meditation, or TM, appeared to calm the anxiety of children with ADHD, and improve their behavior and ability to think and concentrate.
TM is considered to be one of the simplest meditation techniques. Practitioners sit comfortably for 10 to 15 minutes with their eyes closed, silently repeating a mantra -- a sound, word or phrase -- to calm the mind and body. Some researchers believe that meditation affects the nervous system in a way that can alter a range of bodily functions, including breathing, blood vessel dilation and stress-hormone regulation. (More)
Source: Canada.com
Friday, February 13, 2009
Daily Inspiration
A verse from the Veda says,
'What you see, you become.'
In other words, just the
experience of perceiving
the world makes you
what you are. This is a quite
literal statement.
Deepak Chopra
'What you see, you become.'
In other words, just the
experience of perceiving
the world makes you
what you are. This is a quite
literal statement.
Deepak Chopra
Mother Nature Responds To Meditation
Today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday. This morning, I was listening to Obama talk about Lincoln and his message of forgiveness. He said Lincoln could have taken revenge against them, but he respected the dignity of the Confederate soldiers. He wanted to return their horses for plowing their fields, and their guns for shooting crows. What a great soul Lincoln was!
Inspired, I sat in the sun and started to meditate on "forgiveness". As always, I sat in front of the picture of my spiritual Guru. I closed my eyes. When I opened them, there was a huge cloud in front of my window, looking like the "Cross" ! Christ Himself! We all know how He enlightened the essence of forgiveness when he said "Forgive them father, for they know not what they are doing" nailed to the Cross. (More)
Inspired, I sat in the sun and started to meditate on "forgiveness". As always, I sat in front of the picture of my spiritual Guru. I closed my eyes. When I opened them, there was a huge cloud in front of my window, looking like the "Cross" ! Christ Himself! We all know how He enlightened the essence of forgiveness when he said "Forgive them father, for they know not what they are doing" nailed to the Cross. (More)
Source: Seattlepi.com
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Meditating on the Power of Music
Music can help with meditation by tapping into emotions as well as helping with concentration
CRASHING WAVES subsiding into still pools of water, the tide lapping at the shore and mother whales singing birthing songs, are just some of the sounds you might hear emanating from the CD corner in many a health food store.
These so-called “meditation music” recordings are often for sale next to angel cards and self-help books and are considered by many to be part of the “new-age” approach to healing – and therefore devoid of merit, depth or value.
And yet many traditional bodies in Ireland use music to help enter a meditative state. It is not only considered valid, but it is even thought to be a psychological trigger for relaxation that is seated in the depths of the human subconscious.
Brother Cyprian Love, a Benedictine monk at Glenstal Abbey in Co Limerick, says that Gregorian chanting is used at the Abbey to assist them in meditation on the life of Jesus Christ. (More)
CRASHING WAVES subsiding into still pools of water, the tide lapping at the shore and mother whales singing birthing songs, are just some of the sounds you might hear emanating from the CD corner in many a health food store.
These so-called “meditation music” recordings are often for sale next to angel cards and self-help books and are considered by many to be part of the “new-age” approach to healing – and therefore devoid of merit, depth or value.
And yet many traditional bodies in Ireland use music to help enter a meditative state. It is not only considered valid, but it is even thought to be a psychological trigger for relaxation that is seated in the depths of the human subconscious.
Brother Cyprian Love, a Benedictine monk at Glenstal Abbey in Co Limerick, says that Gregorian chanting is used at the Abbey to assist them in meditation on the life of Jesus Christ. (More)
Source: Irish Times
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Daily Inspiration
I enjoy my own company.
You’re always alone, but you’re only lonely
if you don’t like the person you’re alone with.
Dr Wayne Dyer
You’re always alone, but you’re only lonely
if you don’t like the person you’re alone with.
Dr Wayne Dyer
Professor to Link Tibetan Meditation With Cancer Treatment in Lecture
Hinduism, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Jainism, Buddhism: you name it, Dr. Alejandro Chaoul has studied it.
Chaoul is an assistant professor at the John P. McGovern Center for Health, Humanities and the Human Spirit at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He is also an adjunct assistant professor at the Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Services at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. This is where he began his present work combining Tibetan meditation practices with cancer treatment, which he will be lecturing about Wednesday at the Brown-Lupton University Union.
In reference to how he started this work, Chaoul said, "I was searching..." and paused for a moment to recall how his journey began.
Chaoul was born into a Catholic community in Argentina but was raised in a Jewish family and sent to a Presbyterian school.
He said he did not find what he was looking for spiritually in any of those religions, and went to the United States to study philosophy, where he met Indian transfer students who sparked his interest in Eastern religions.
Chaoul traveled to India and Nepal, where he studied with a number of prominent Tibetan masters, including the Dalai Lama. Chaoul said what interested him the most about his Buddhist teachers was their sincere way of life.
"They would talk about compassion and love and humility, and you can see that in their actions, not just in the Dalai Lama but even in everyday people," Chaoul said. (More)
Chaoul is an assistant professor at the John P. McGovern Center for Health, Humanities and the Human Spirit at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He is also an adjunct assistant professor at the Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Services at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. This is where he began his present work combining Tibetan meditation practices with cancer treatment, which he will be lecturing about Wednesday at the Brown-Lupton University Union.
In reference to how he started this work, Chaoul said, "I was searching..." and paused for a moment to recall how his journey began.
Chaoul was born into a Catholic community in Argentina but was raised in a Jewish family and sent to a Presbyterian school.
He said he did not find what he was looking for spiritually in any of those religions, and went to the United States to study philosophy, where he met Indian transfer students who sparked his interest in Eastern religions.
Chaoul traveled to India and Nepal, where he studied with a number of prominent Tibetan masters, including the Dalai Lama. Chaoul said what interested him the most about his Buddhist teachers was their sincere way of life.
"They would talk about compassion and love and humility, and you can see that in their actions, not just in the Dalai Lama but even in everyday people," Chaoul said. (More)
Source: TCU Daily Skiff
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Daily Inspiration
The most pitiful among men is he who
turns his dreams into silver and gold.
Kahlil Gibran
turns his dreams into silver and gold.
Kahlil Gibran
Prayer Proposal Placed on School Board Agenda
The San Diego school board will discuss today whether to open its public meetings with prayer, at the suggestion of President Shelia Jackson.
Jackson placed the matter on the school board agenda with no written explanation or formal proposal. She was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Although vague, the scheduled discussion is almost guaranteed to stir controversy, said board member John de Beck.
“I won't pray with them, though I will pray for them,” said de Beck, referring to the board's emerging voting bloc of Jackson and trustees Richard Barrera and John Lee Evans. “I can't understand any reason for prayer at our meetings. Why add controversy?” (More)
Jackson placed the matter on the school board agenda with no written explanation or formal proposal. She was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Although vague, the scheduled discussion is almost guaranteed to stir controversy, said board member John de Beck.
“I won't pray with them, though I will pray for them,” said de Beck, referring to the board's emerging voting bloc of Jackson and trustees Richard Barrera and John Lee Evans. “I can't understand any reason for prayer at our meetings. Why add controversy?” (More)
Source: Sign On San Diego
Monday, February 9, 2009
Classrooms Adding 'M' for Meditation
Math tests, soccer matches, the cafeteria bully. Grammar diagrams, global warming, dad losing his job. Now add this to some 8-year-olds' schedules: a second- period class on dealing with stress.
Before graduating another generation of workaholic, road-raged adults, a number of California schools are intervening as early as kindergarten, reworking adult relaxation techniques for little ones.
Oren Sofer is one of the instructors hired to deliver this new curriculum. On Wednesday, he navigated his way through the playground at Bridges Academy in east Oakland, arrived at Portable Classroom H and pushed open the door.
"Hi, Mr. Ooooooo," the third-graders chimed, then began chanting, "mind-ful-ness, mind-ful-ness." (More)
Before graduating another generation of workaholic, road-raged adults, a number of California schools are intervening as early as kindergarten, reworking adult relaxation techniques for little ones.
Oren Sofer is one of the instructors hired to deliver this new curriculum. On Wednesday, he navigated his way through the playground at Bridges Academy in east Oakland, arrived at Portable Classroom H and pushed open the door.
"Hi, Mr. Ooooooo," the third-graders chimed, then began chanting, "mind-ful-ness, mind-ful-ness." (More)
Source: Tha Sacramento Bee
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Daily Inspiration
If we have no peace, it is because we have
forgotten that we belong to each other
Mother Teresa
forgotten that we belong to each other
Mother Teresa
Relaxing Yoga Brings Peace
Kundalini 'gong bath' offers chance to lean in new direction
Last Friday night, rather than watch a movie or slug about the house, I decided to do something new and, hopefully, constructive.
That's how I wound up lying on the floor in a candlelit studio in the Fine Arts Building on South Michigan Avenue, listening to gong music and chanting for prosperity.
Technically speaking, I was experiencing a "gong bath" at the Kundalini in the Loop studio, a yogic practice designed to induce deep relaxation.
More specifically, the gong bath was part of an evening of yoga and meditation for "prosperity and abundance in the New Year." (More)
Last Friday night, rather than watch a movie or slug about the house, I decided to do something new and, hopefully, constructive.
That's how I wound up lying on the floor in a candlelit studio in the Fine Arts Building on South Michigan Avenue, listening to gong music and chanting for prosperity.
Technically speaking, I was experiencing a "gong bath" at the Kundalini in the Loop studio, a yogic practice designed to induce deep relaxation.
More specifically, the gong bath was part of an evening of yoga and meditation for "prosperity and abundance in the New Year." (More)
Source: Chicago Sun-Timws
Friday, February 6, 2009
Daily Inspiration
I am a human being, not a human doing.
Don’t equate your self-worth with
how well you do things in life.
You aren’t what you do. I
f you are what you do,
then when you don’t . . . you aren’t.
Dr Wayne Dyer
Don’t equate your self-worth with
how well you do things in life.
You aren’t what you do. I
f you are what you do,
then when you don’t . . . you aren’t.
Dr Wayne Dyer
Why Now is the Time to Start a Meditation Practice
Years ago when I was a yoga teacher, I was facilitating a class in meditation and was looking around to see how people were doing. One person in the class looked completely freaked out, distracted, and utterly puckered up. Tight. Resisting with every fiber of her being. I walked over to her, and whispered, “Are you okay?” She shook her head and said, “I’m so scared that if I let go, the devil will come in.”
Now, maybe that sounds extreme to you. Maybe you don’t believe in the devil. But I think there is a metaphor here for what I think many people believe: if they get still or quiet with themselves long enough, they’re going to figure out that deep down, they’ve got some bad stuff going on. We’ll figure out we’re depraved. We’ll figure out we’re awful. But here’s what I believe, and listen to me closely: it’s not what’s in the empty space that’s giving us the problems: it’s the all fear and the running away from it that screws us up. (More)
Now, maybe that sounds extreme to you. Maybe you don’t believe in the devil. But I think there is a metaphor here for what I think many people believe: if they get still or quiet with themselves long enough, they’re going to figure out that deep down, they’ve got some bad stuff going on. We’ll figure out we’re depraved. We’ll figure out we’re awful. But here’s what I believe, and listen to me closely: it’s not what’s in the empty space that’s giving us the problems: it’s the all fear and the running away from it that screws us up. (More)
Source: Empowher
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Daily Inspiration
This is a 7 minute Video that can change your life,
if you choose. This is the Secret of the Secret
and The Law of Attraction.
Kyle Falconer takes up meditation
The View's Kyle Falconer has taken up meditation in a bid to forget the pressures of being in a band.
The View's Kyle Falconer has taken up meditation.
The 21-year-old rocker is experimenting with new relaxation techniques but isn't sure they are having the correct effect on him.
He said: "I've just moved into a new flat so I'm just doing meditations in there really. I have my meditation music on, oceans and that, lying back and I've moved the furniture to get the full effect of it but then I fell asleep halfway through.
"All my mates have been getting into it, trying to be better people but I don't think it's really working for me. It's not really helped me calm down."
The 'Same Jeans' rockers - who have just released new album 'Which Bitch?' - are famed for their hard partying but Kyle believes his new hobby will help him cope with the after-effects. (More)
The View's Kyle Falconer has taken up meditation.
The 21-year-old rocker is experimenting with new relaxation techniques but isn't sure they are having the correct effect on him.
He said: "I've just moved into a new flat so I'm just doing meditations in there really. I have my meditation music on, oceans and that, lying back and I've moved the furniture to get the full effect of it but then I fell asleep halfway through.
"All my mates have been getting into it, trying to be better people but I don't think it's really working for me. It's not really helped me calm down."
The 'Same Jeans' rockers - who have just released new album 'Which Bitch?' - are famed for their hard partying but Kyle believes his new hobby will help him cope with the after-effects. (More)
Source: stv.tv
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Daily Inspiration
I treasure all of the experiences I’ve had in my life.
Each experience in your life
was absolutely necessary in
order to have gotten you to
the next place, and the next,
up until this very moment.
Dr Wayne Dyer
Each experience in your life
was absolutely necessary in
order to have gotten you to
the next place, and the next,
up until this very moment.
Dr Wayne Dyer
Meditate Your Pain Away
Zen meditation can help people regain mental, physical and emotional balance, and reduce pain, says the study by Montreal University researchers.
It says those who practise Zen meditation exhibit lower pain sensitivity (during and after meditation) compared to non-meditators.
Too much thinking 'can make you fat'
``While previous studies have shown that teaching chronic pain patients to meditate is beneficial, very few studies have looked at pain processing in healthy, highly trained meditators,'' a university statement quoted study co-author Joshua Grant as saying.
``This study was a first step in determining how or why meditation might influence pain perception,'' added Grant who co-authored the study with university professor Pierre Rainville. (More)
It says those who practise Zen meditation exhibit lower pain sensitivity (during and after meditation) compared to non-meditators.
Too much thinking 'can make you fat'
``While previous studies have shown that teaching chronic pain patients to meditate is beneficial, very few studies have looked at pain processing in healthy, highly trained meditators,'' a university statement quoted study co-author Joshua Grant as saying.
``This study was a first step in determining how or why meditation might influence pain perception,'' added Grant who co-authored the study with university professor Pierre Rainville. (More)
Source: Sify News
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Daily Inspiration
One of the most tragic things I know
about human nature is that all
of us tend to put off living.
We are all dreaming of some magical
rose garden over the horizon instead
of enjoying the roses that are
blooming outside our windows today.
Dale Carnegie
about human nature is that all
of us tend to put off living.
We are all dreaming of some magical
rose garden over the horizon instead
of enjoying the roses that are
blooming outside our windows today.
Dale Carnegie
'Mindfulness' Each Day Yields Powerful Benefits
Once the catchphrase of 1960s counterculture, "mindfulness" has finally graduated from the fringe to the mainstream.
"Staying in the moment" is now the guiding principle of millions of devotees who faithfully practice mindfulness meditation to enrich their daily lives. Mindfulness has also attracted another group of admirers: clinical researchers, whose latest investigations document its surprising and powerful physical and mental health benefits — achieved in as little as five minutes a day.
Here are four proven health boosts you, too, can receive by simply learning how to "stay in the moment." (More)
"Staying in the moment" is now the guiding principle of millions of devotees who faithfully practice mindfulness meditation to enrich their daily lives. Mindfulness has also attracted another group of admirers: clinical researchers, whose latest investigations document its surprising and powerful physical and mental health benefits — achieved in as little as five minutes a day.
Here are four proven health boosts you, too, can receive by simply learning how to "stay in the moment." (More)
Source: The Star-Telegram
Monday, February 2, 2009
Off the Mat, Between the Sheets
Downward dog your way to inner peace, a toned tush and a yogasmic sex life
You already know yoga can give you greater flexibility, better muscle tone, a surefire way to release stress and maybe even enlightenment. But better sex? Really? Yoga offers myriad physical and emotional benefits that add up to more fun between the sheets and a more fulfilling, meaningful sexual relationship with your partner.
Whether heating up your sex life is the main goal of your yoga practice or just a happy side effect, chalk this information up as yet another great reason to roll out the mat. Here’s how: (More)
You already know yoga can give you greater flexibility, better muscle tone, a surefire way to release stress and maybe even enlightenment. But better sex? Really? Yoga offers myriad physical and emotional benefits that add up to more fun between the sheets and a more fulfilling, meaningful sexual relationship with your partner.
Whether heating up your sex life is the main goal of your yoga practice or just a happy side effect, chalk this information up as yet another great reason to roll out the mat. Here’s how: (More)
Source: Common Ground
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Daily Inspiration
Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty:
permit the distinctive sign
of our order to be that it
does not possess anything
of its own beneath the sun,
for the glory of your name,
and that it have no other
patrimony than begging.
St. Francis of Assisi
permit the distinctive sign
of our order to be that it
does not possess anything
of its own beneath the sun,
for the glory of your name,
and that it have no other
patrimony than begging.
St. Francis of Assisi
Money Can't Buy Happiness
This is what Danai Chanchaochai believes and has changed his life to make happiness his number one goal
In the hall there is pin-drop silence. This scenario is almost impossible to find in the heart of Bangkok, at 5:30pm on a weekday. But, people still dressed in office attire, start to gather here to listen to the words of Phra Acharn Mitsuo Gavesako echoing from a stereo.
Danai Chanchaochai, 42, chief executive officer of DC Consultants.
There is a strange calm and peace that fills Bodhgaya Hall, which welcomes people from all walks of life Tuesday and Wednesday. It usually provides 170 seats for anyone wishing to take "off" after work to seek peace in their hearts through meditation and Buddhist teachings.
"However, there was time when as many 800 people joined the session and our neighbouring office had to keep their door open so the people got more space to sit and meditate," says Danai Chanchaochai, 42, chief executive officer of DC Consultants, a strict follower of Buddhist teachings. (More)
In the hall there is pin-drop silence. This scenario is almost impossible to find in the heart of Bangkok, at 5:30pm on a weekday. But, people still dressed in office attire, start to gather here to listen to the words of Phra Acharn Mitsuo Gavesako echoing from a stereo.
Danai Chanchaochai, 42, chief executive officer of DC Consultants.
There is a strange calm and peace that fills Bodhgaya Hall, which welcomes people from all walks of life Tuesday and Wednesday. It usually provides 170 seats for anyone wishing to take "off" after work to seek peace in their hearts through meditation and Buddhist teachings.
"However, there was time when as many 800 people joined the session and our neighbouring office had to keep their door open so the people got more space to sit and meditate," says Danai Chanchaochai, 42, chief executive officer of DC Consultants, a strict follower of Buddhist teachings. (More)
Source: Bangkok Post
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