http://www.mindfulpurpose.com Make a difference! Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:20:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/living-the-dharma http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/living-the-dharma#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:23:20 +0000 bodhipaksa http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/?p=1102 As many of you know, I was away on a month-long meditation retreat during July. I have to say it was the most valuable thing I’ve done in years. It will take me a long time to digest and write about it, but here’s my first stab. The retreat was at the Jikoji Zen Center in Los Gatos California. It's about an hour south of San Francisco in the Santa Cruz Mountains, in the middle of acres and acres of nature conservation land. My favorite spot, pictured, was along a west-facing ridge that overlooked vast tracts of mostly uninhabited mountains. The sunsets were gorgeous. Deer, wild turkey, and all kinds of wildlife roamed in plain sight. To say I fell in love with the place doesn’t go far enough. I know my feelings were influenced by my retreat experience, but I have to say the place inspired me down into my bones. ]]> http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/living-the-dharma/feed 6 http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/meditation-and-the-brain http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/meditation-and-the-brain#comments Sun, 09 May 2010 21:06:52 +0000 sunada http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/?p=928 This is a great page summarizing the latest research on how meditation affects the brain. It includes articles, videos, slides and links on how science describes the influence of meditation on the brain, as well as resources for making positive changes that will profoundly influence your brain, mind and spiritual wellbeing. ]]> http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/meditation-and-the-brain/feed 0 http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/staying-anchored-through-distractions http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/staying-anchored-through-distractions#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:53:12 +0000 sunada http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/?p=657 I recently read an interesting tidbit about distractions. It was a study that examined people’s different ways of coping with disturbances when trying to meditate. The study compared the brainwaves of three people: a non-meditator, a Hindu meditator, and a Zen master. While sitting, each subject was confronted with a sudden loud noise every three minutes.]]> http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/staying-anchored-through-distractions/feed 0 http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/everyday-mindfulness/happiness-isnt-just-about-me http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/everyday-mindfulness/happiness-isnt-just-about-me#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:00:06 +0000 sunada http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/?p=612 I read a really interesting article in Ode Magazine yesterday. There’s now scientific research showing that happiness is contagious! This study suggests that if I’m feeling happy, there’s a good chance that my friends and neighbors will be happier, too. The analysis is distilled down to pretty significant numeric probabilities, based on degrees of separation in the relationship. The effects are so powerful that even if it’s a friend of a friend of a friend that’s happy, I’m more likely to be buoyed by that than if I gain an extra $5,000 in my pocket.]]> http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/everyday-mindfulness/happiness-isnt-just-about-me/feed 1 http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/cd-review-your-breathing-body-by-reginald-a-ray http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/cd-review-your-breathing-body-by-reginald-a-ray#comments Sun, 24 May 2009 15:20:46 +0000 sunada http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/?p=598 When Reginald Ray speaks of "touching enlightenment with the body", he isn’t just saying that we can touch enlightenment with our bodies. What he really means is that there is no other way to do so. I just finished my first pass through his 20-disc meditation CD series, Your Breathing Body, and give it my ringing endorsement in my monthly post in Wildmind's blog.
]]> http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/cd-review-your-breathing-body-by-reginald-a-ray/feed 1 http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/boredom http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/blog-home/boredom#comments Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:18:02 +0000 sunada http://www.mindfulpurpose.com/?p=506 Does meditation leave you feeling bored and restless? Maybe you took it up so you could find a refreshing oasis in the midst of a too-stressful life — but it’s just not doing much for you. In my monthly post in Wildmind's blog, I offer my perspectives on how to work through this all-too-common situation.
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