Hypnotizing Yourself
When you think of hypnosis, two images probably come to mind. The first is from a B-grade movie where you see some Svengali-like doctor — usually deranged — dangling a pocket watch in the face of some [more…]
Discovering What Meditation Is All About
Meditation is simply the practice of focusing your attention on a particular object — generally something simple, like a word or phrase, a candle flame or geometrical figure, or the coming and going of [more…]
Preparing for Meditation: Sitting Still
If you examine the meditation poses depicted in the world's great spiritual traditions, you'll find that they all have one thing in common — the unshakable stability of a mountain or tree. Look at the [more…]
Exploring the Meaning of Spirituality
One of the great gifts of spiritual knowledge is that it realigns your sense of self to something you may not have even ever imagined was within you. Spirituality says that even if you think you're limited [more…]
Harnessing the Power of Symbols
You may not even realize it, but your life is shaped by symbols that are passed to you or inherited from your culture, your race, your peer and social groups, and your family. Newspapers, magazines, TV [more…]
Transcending Life's Problems through Spirituality
Look at the trials of your life with a spiritual approach: Until your heart has been broken to the things of this materialistic world, you can't open your heart into the higher world. [more…]
Making Meditation a Part of Your Life
Commitment is the foundation for your meditation practice. Without commitment, you won't keep meditating when you're tired, have a headache, don't feel like it, or would rather do something else. [more…]
Figuring Out How to Breathe Meditatively
Traditional cultures identified the breath with the life force that animates all things. For example, the Latin word spiritus (the root of both "spirited [more…]
Practicing Spirituality for Personal Growth
Two important goals of becoming more spiritual are growth and evolution. Yet with or without any specific spiritual efforts, human beings continue to evolve and grow. This drive is programmed into the [more…]
Cultivating Spiritual Virtues
Your spiritual growth becomes visible to yourself and others through how you think and act in each moment of your life. Although it is helpful to put efforts into watching and uplifting your outer actions [more…]
Living Spiritually in a Conscious World
Spiritual living begins with looking at day-to-day events differently. Instead of judging things by how important they are on the scales of worldly accomplishment, you focus on the depth of meaning behind [more…]
Considering the Many Faces of Spiritual Realization
If you've read the stories of the world's great mystics and sages, you find that spiritual experiences come in a dazzling array of shapes and sizes. For example: [more…]
Avoiding Roadblocks to Stress Reduction
If you recall your last attempt at losing a few pounds or getting rid of all the clutter in your house, you may recognize that good intentions do not always guarantee success. Usually, you encounter one [more…]
Discovering Key Attitudes to Nurture Mindfulness
Your attitude to life makes all the difference. Use these attitudes to develop your capacity to be mindful, enabling you to live a more mindful life: [more…]
Trying a Short Mindfulness Meditation
Your capacity to be mindful is most powerfully developed through mindfulness meditation. One of the most popular mindfulness meditations is mindfulness of breath. This involves being mindfully aware of [more…]
Understanding the Three Aspects of Mindfulness
Mindfulness has three different aspects that operate together seamlessly to bring about a state of mindful awareness. Print out and pin up this list to remind yourself of what these are. [more…]
Using Mindfulness to Cope with Difficult Emotions
We all have bad days; some are worse than others. When emotions become overwhelming, you can use this RAIN formula to help manage your feelings in a mindful way: [more…]
Discovering the Core, Formal Mindfulness Meditations
To deepen your mindful awareness, you need to practise a formal mindfulness meditation on a daily basis. Familiarise yourself with some of the following mediations. In time, you will become more mindful [more…]
Learning about True Mindfulness
Mindfulness is more than a set of techniques to practice. Mindfulness is about questioning your identity and relationship to the world around you. By understanding who you are at a deeper level, you are [more…]
Practising Day-to-Day, Informal Mindfulness
The great thing about mindfulness is that you can practise it any time. Informal mindfulness meditation is when you practise mindfulness without carving out a special time for it. Here are ten examples [more…]
Mindfulness For Dummies Cheat Sheet (UK Edition)
Whether you’re suffering from stress, fatigue or illness or simply want to regain some balance in your life, mindfulness can help. These handy bite-size chunks of hands-on advice will help increase your [more…]
How to Prepare for Meditation
Meditation is simple to do and doesn't require any special equipment. You can, however, prepare yourself and your space in a number of ways and make sure you have some basic amenities: [more…]
How to Open Your Body, Mind, and Spirit to Meditation
Meditation is a practice that engages not only your mind, but your body and spirit, too. Use the tips in the following list to engage every aspect of your being in your meditation practice. [more…]
How to Get the Most from Your Meditation
To get the most from your meditation practice, you need to commit to it. When you start meditating regularly, you can reap myriad benefits — from lower stress and cholesterol to higher levels of satisfaction [more…]
How to Make Sure You're Meditating Correctly
It doesn't take much to meditate the right way — especially because there really isn't just one right way. If you're concerned about your meditation practice, ask yourself the following questions. The [more…]
