
What is Buddhist Yoga?
Embracing change: a new perspective on the body
In today's society, the emphasis on physical appearance is undeniable. We're bombarded with messages about looking good, being fit, and striving for an ideal body image. This obsession with outer…

Healing negative body image
A round belly is a happy belly
At the end of each yoga class, I guide students through a self-massage. These last five minutes are always quite special for me. Massage not only distributes the chi, or life energy evenly throughout the body,…

Mindful Listening
“The best place to practice Zen is at a busy intersection” – Zen proverb
Cultivating mindfulness requires nothing exotic. You don’t need any expensive gadgetry or accoutrements. All you need is to be in the here and now. Daily life…

The value of silence
There is a power and beauty in silence. In the classical yoga tradition, the Sanskrit word Mauna means silence, and it’s said silence helps a yogi purify her mind; it clears the detritus floating on its surface. This is why many yogis take…

Silent Illumination Meditation Retreats
with Zarko Andricevic, Chan Master “Silent Illumination” is a simple method of practice to cultivate relaxation and awareness of the state of body, mind, and environment. Silence arises when wandering thoughts and conceptualization…

Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Buddhist scholar, environmental activist and author Joanna Macy is reading Rainer Maria Rilke's poem "Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower". Embedded from Krista Tipett's On Being Podcast. Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower
Quiet…

How to approach emotions in meditation?
Emotions in meditation, and in life, can be so overwhelming sometimes. Have you ever wished you had control over your feelings? So you can always be calm and happy? Most of us have wished that.. and realized that it does not work because…

How to Approach Thoughts in Meditation?
Sometimes people think that the goal of meditation is to stop thinking. Even if that happens sometimes, that is not the point of meditation. The point of mindfulness meditation is to cultivate a friendly, non-aggressive attitude toward whatever…

Just walking, for the sake of walking
Do you like walking? Just walking around, without any particular purpose?
Since I’ve settled in the retreat center here in Thailand, in between my teaching sessions, I’m re-discovering the joy of walking. Just walking. Not even noticing…

Pablo Neruda’s Ode to Silence
Keeping Quiet
Pablo Neruda’s Ode to Silence Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still. For once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language;
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much. It…

The Quest for Mindfulness – MEETING YOUR EDGE
What does it mean to meet your edge? How do you know when you have met your edge? When you finally meet your edge, what do you do?
I will take you on a small detour and return to these questions, with answers that have surfaced recently during…

The Quest for Mindfulness: The Art of Being Mindful Seaweed
I forgot to wear my contacts to class. What does that mean? It means that I can either rock my giant Woody Allen-esque glasses and enjoy them slipping off my face every time I’m in downward facing dog or I accept that its blind yoga for today.…

The Quest for Mindfulness – BOOBS
Breathe.
Tatjana says.
I... C…C..Can’t
I squeeze out. “Deep breaths in and out” she repeats. Seriously, I am suffocating over here. I’m in a shoulder stand and my boobs are cutting off my airways as they flatten my larynx.…
