No Mud, No Lotus, Thich Nhat Hanh Many yoga practitioners are familiar with the lotus position, a classic meditation pose. Sitting with legs crossed, feet on opposing thighs, and hands cupped helps centers the body on one’s breathing, just as the petals of a lotus all link to the flower’s center. But the symbolism of […]
Hamsa meditation
The Sanskrit word Hamsa translates as a swan. In yoga, the word breath is also known as Hamsa. One method of using the breath in meditation is to focus on the mantra hamsa. This meditation comes from the short Hamsa Upanishad, which explains the mystical nature of Hamsa, the inner swan, located within all. The […]
Working with Emotions: How mindfulness and awareness help
Bringing the hidden to light is an important part of psychotherapy, sometimes achieved through focus on intellectual reflections. But in recent years, mindfulness-based therapies emphasize awareness of how feelings and physical sensations are related. It is enlightening to notice what happens in the body when we feel strong emotions. As an example of how lack […]
Suffering, Compassion, and a Skate Ramp: How mindfulness and acceptance help
Last summer my neighbor’s son built a huge skate ramp right next to our property line. (We’re on different streets, so I’d never met him or his family.) First sawing, then drills, and eventually it was finished. I was glad for the wild Toyon bushes that grew high along a chain-link fence, blocking the view—but […]
Waking up on the Grumpy Side of the Bed: Coping with difficult moods
“Yesterday all day a small gardenia was a great consolation.” Thomas Merton A Year with Thomas Merton: Daily Meditations from His Journals Some days are harder than others. It’s tempting to find something or someone to blame, even if it’s just the wrong side of the bed. Yesterday, I woke up grumpy, but instead of […]
