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A wise yoga teacher once told me: “The earth is the guru of the body. The sky is the guru of the mind.” I remember this...

People sometimes chuckle when I tell them that sitting on a meditation cushion is physically rigorous. But it’s true. When you sit still and tune into...

Going away on retreat gives you time to separate from your daily cares. But you can retreat at home and make your daily life a meditation....

In the spring and summer, I have the good fortune to teach a weekly mindfulness class in Salt Lake City’s beautiful Red Butte Garden. Each week,...

Scientific studies have shown that meditation has many benefits—calming the mind and body, promoting general wellbeing, even increasing brain cells in certain areas of the brain....

From time to time, I’ve been exploring metta (kindness) meditation in this blog. The first installment covered practicing kindness for an easy being—someone, human or animal,...

On January 22nd, a bright light gently flickered out. Vietnamese Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh, 95, left his body. Nhat Hanh was known as a meditation...

One of the most common questions I hear from new students of mindfulness practice is, “Sitting meditation is really uncomfortable for me. What should I do?”...

Sometimes when I tell a friend I’ll be going on a silent meditation retreat, they’ll respond, “That sounds so peaceful.” That’s when I know they probably...

Do you find sitting meditation uncomfortable? You’re not alone. For many people, the traditional posture, sitting cross-legged, is not ideal. The good news is that cross-legged...

“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is...

Several years ago, I spent a long weekend at Green Gulch Farm in Northern California. Green Gulch is a lovely, green valley in the hills above...

Every July since 2014, my life partner and I have attended an 18-day metta/insight meditation retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. We signed up again last...

Meditation ain’t easy. It’s arguable that it’s a whole lot harder than yoga asana practice. When you’re practicing asana, your mind has plenty of sensations to...

In recent years, our lives seem to have gotten harsher. Our culture has factionalized. No one wants to listen to anyone with whom they disagree. Dialog...

In 1988, I attended my first silent mindfulness meditation retreat. Since then, I’ve attended more than 20 such multi-day—or multi-week—retreats. Often when I tell people I’m...

There are lots of things to love about spring—the freshness of new life, the invitation to shed layers of clothing, and the opportunity to spend more...

When we think of meditation, we usually think of someone sitting cross-legged on a zafu or other type of meditation cushion. Indeed, sitting meditation is the...

Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga provide a scaffolding for the comprehensive practice of yoga. As the third and fourth of Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga, asana...

Some traditions of yoga recognize the “seasons” of people’s lives. These traditions advocate for allowing your practice to evolve according to your season. Here’s how it...

Images of meditation have become ubiquitous. In the past, meditation was depicted as something that was confined to monks in the East. You know the images—...

Round meditation cushions—zafus—are standard fare in most yoga and meditation spaces. For many people, these cushions do the job. They elevate the pelvis to make it...

Finding your ideal meditation position can be harder than you’d think. We’ve all seen images of loincloth-clad yogis sitting in Lotus Pose—often touted as the “perfect”...

How you support your body in sitting meditation can make all the difference between feeling agitated and edgy or feeling calm and relaxed. The traditional combination...