I work with many intelligent people. Despite their intelligence, often they are stymied by dilemmas with which they have struggled in thought – often for a very long time. Occasionally I may remark, “With your obvious intelligence and with all your thinking about this, if you haven’t yet arrived at answer, perhaps it might be because you’ve been searching for your answer in the wrong place.”

Such dilemmas remind me of the crazy wisdom teacher, Nasruddin, an Islamic character whose humorous exploits are spiritual teachings with many depths of meaning. Let me paraphrase one of my favorite Nasruddin stories, for it may suggest an answer to such getting stuck. Read more »

What if there were just three steps you could take to experience greater mind body spirit balance? Because let’s face it, who doesn’t feel out of balance these days, at least some of the time? We all want to feel more balanced, more aware, more present in our lives.  Time flies whether you are having fun or not, so it’s up to us to make our time here as full of joy and laughter as possible.

Yes there are millions of things we could or think we should do to feel happier, healthier and more vibrantly alive but see if it doesn’t boil down to these three being the magic formula for you. Read more »

Imagining my younger self unable to understand my older self (in my last post) reminds me of a story I heard from Ram Das shortly after his book, Remember, Be Here Now, came out in 1971.

To the immense delight of would be meditators and druggies and college students across the province of Ontario, Ram Das came to the city of Toronto in the early 1970’s. Hundreds of us crowded into one of the great halls at the University of Toronto for what was probably our first real evidence that we were not alone. Read more »

Yes, I know I will be more peaceful if I meditate every day.  Do I do it?  No.  I constantly struggle with getting my butt on my beautiful red satin zafu.  For heavens sake, there is so much “to do”.

So what is the ROI (yes, return on investment) to meditating?  More peace; theoretically more love, more compassion, kindness and more openness.  We all want this – at least I think we do.  There is also tons of data that it helps our health – nothing to slough off!   Read more »

Your spirituality will serve either to help free you from your mistaken self-concepts or it will subtly reinforce them by deepening the notion that you must ‘become’ perfect through endless prayers, meditations and practices. The intention you give your spirituality will determine where it takes you. Direct your spirituality not to becoming something different, but to unwinding what you have assimilated that is false. Read more »

Welcome to part 3 of Celebrate Your Dreams: Releasing Negative Thoughts. How do we get rid of all those awful thoughts? Here are some techniques that work. Do them and be free! Your beautiful self is waiting for you.

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Each video has an accompanying worksheet to deepen your experience. To receive the worksheets simply add your name to our email list and check the “Celebrate Your Dreams” interest box in the confirmation/profile settings email you receive. The worksheets will be automatically sent to you within 24 hours of confirmation. Email us or comment below with questions or feedback, we’d love to hear from you!

Welcome to part 2 of Celebrate Your Dreams: Meditating to Free the Mind. We are only a breath away from freedom, love and connection. Live in your essence now!

If you haven’t seen part 1 yet, click here to view.

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Each video has an accompanying worksheet to deepen your experience. To receive the worksheets simply add your name to our email list and check the “Celebrate Your Dreams” interest box in the confirmation/profile settings email you receive. The worksheets will be automatically sent to you within 24 hours of confirmation. Email us or comment below with questions or feedback, we’d love to hear from you!

Ease away stress and anxiety with simple mediation for the soul

Mantra Meditation is a very simple method of meditation practice involving focusing of the mind and senses on sacred sounds that bring the mind and body into harmony. A mantra is not an ordinary material sound. It is a sacred sound vibration.

Benefits of Mantra Meditation

• Your mind is drawn away from material stresses and anxieties. No material sound or activity can effectively accomplish this.

• The mind becomes rested, peaceful and satisfied. Mantras have a purifying effect on the mind and heart.

• Gradually, your mind and heart becomes cleansed of anger, envy, & arrogance. In time, you will develop more tolerance, patience, concern, & love for others.

• Confusion and illusion become cleansed from your mind and heart, and you will experience your true identity.

Gauranga Breathing (pronounced Gaur-Ra-Ang-Gah)

1. Sit comfortably.
2. Let your breathing become slow and deep.
3. Relax your body with each exhalation.
4. When your breathing is more relaxed, begin the meditation by saying “Gauranga”- in your mind as you inhale.
5. When you exhale, say “Gauranga” out loud. Stretch out the sound so that it takes up the whole exhalation.
6. Allow yourself to feel the vibrations of the Gaur-Ra-Ang-Gah sound.
7. Continue repeating the Gauranga sound for 5-10 minutes to relieve your mind and body of stress and tension.
8. When practiced daily, this simple meditation can relieve anxiety, stress, depression and can also be used as an effective coping skill during stressful moments throughout the day.

How can we not feel fabulously in love with life when we meditate, exercise and drink that scrumptious green drink in the morning!

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This morning I found myself thinking about a day I spent with my 4-year-old niece. We walked to a park near my house and she ran from tree to tree bestowing hugs and proclaiming her love quietly to the rough bark. She was determined to master the play structure and I helped her climb. Whenever she reached a point that felt too high, too unsteady, I felt her small body tense up, the vibration from her tightening grip moved through her slender limbs to my own body and I could feel her confidence falling like dominoes.

During those shaky moments I held her firmly and said that I had her safe, I wouldn’t let her fall. Sometimes this reassurance was enough for her to rebalance, find a foothold and climb higher still. Sometimes though she found she really had gone too high and she would fall back grateful and laughing into my arms.

Can’t we all relate to joy of a pair of strong arms to fall safely into?

In Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living Pema Chödrön shares with us why she practices Buddhism:

“We can discover the process of letting go and relaxing during our lifetime. In fact, that’s the way to live: stop struggling against the fact that things are slipping through our fingers. Stop struggling against the fact that nothing’s solid to begin with and things don’t last. Knowing that can give us a lot of space and a lot of room if we can relax with it instead of screaming and struggling against it.”

As my mind chewed on this revolutionary approach to life I began to see glimpses of what it would feel like to let go like this. It was both liberating and deeply comforting. I think one of the biggest ways that we resist letting go is by chasing perfection or in another way never reaching to climb higher because we fear failure. Read more »