by Sunada Takagi | Nov 8, 2011 | Everyday mindfulness
I love this description by Jan Chozen Bays on how mindfulness gradually grows into our daily lives. It’s an excerpt from her latest book, How to Train a Wild Elephant. People often say to me, “I’d love to practice mindfulness, but I’m so busy I can’t seem to...
by Sunada Takagi | Nov 3, 2011 | Everyday mindfulness, Meditation
People often come to my meditation courses because they want to learn how to slow down their crazy busy lives. So you start sitting for 10, 20, or maybe even 30 minutes a day. But after some weeks of this, you still feel like things are crazy busy and all over the...
by Sunada Takagi | Oct 7, 2011 | Everyday mindfulness, Social change
I was really pleased to hear this story on NPR this morning. It’s about how the participants of the Occupy Wall Street movement are organizing themselves. Everyone gathers together every night at what’s called a General Assembly, where everybody has a say...
by Sunada Takagi | Aug 31, 2011 | Everyday mindfulness, Personal change
I’ve been working on getting a daily yoga practice going. I thought it might improve my overall energy levels, and help with the chronic tension in my back and shoulders. But it’s been a “two steps forward, one step backward” sort of path....
by Sunada Takagi | Aug 9, 2011 | Everyday mindfulness, Meditation, Personal change
This past spring, I attended professional training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) — a program started by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the UMass Medical Center. Basically, MBSR is a way of presenting meditation in a secular context — for health,...
by Sunada Takagi | Jul 28, 2011 | Everyday mindfulness, Meditation
In the metta bhavana meditation practice, we imagine that we’re connected to all humanity and all life – and send our lovingkindness out to them. Here’s a graphic that offers a mathematical perspective on why this makes sense. Originally from...
