Explore your inner world
Explore your inner world
Find a peaceful, distraction-free location: Turn off your phone, television, and other electrical devices that might disturb or distract you during your practice. If you want to use background, choose something relaxing, repetitive, and neutral with no words, such as rain or ocean sounds, if you prefer music or sound in the background. Find a comfortable […]
Meditation 4 Basic Helpful Tips For Beginners Read More »
We spend so much of our energy focusing on what we want—the things we don’t have. Finding gratitude shifts our perception towards the abundance of gifts and blessings present for us at any given moment. Especially during hard times, a moment of gratitude can remind us of how much we’ve been given: love, support, simple
Gratitude: Focusing On What We Have Read More »
Contemplative practices are present in all contemplative traditions, and although there are differences when it comes to meditation, contemplative teachers within the varied traditions all point to the same thing. Within the Catholic tradition, one of these teachers is Saint Francis de Sales, a Doctor of the Universal Church who lived between 1567 and 1622.
Patience and Persistence: Two Pillars of Mindfulness Read More »
When teaching mindfulness meditation in a secular context, I often encounter situations where people struggle with the nuanced understanding of secularism. Frequently, I am asked whether individuals who are Christian, Muslim, Jewish or hold other beliefs can attend the sessions, as there is sometimes a misconception that these practices are exclusively Buddhist. Additionally, some participants
Is There a Place for God in Secular Mindfulness Meditation? Read More »
In the face of provocation, staying silent might be the most immediate appropriate thing to do, not to escalate a situation. Sometimes, maintaining composure and refraining from reacting impulsively to a provocation can be enough to momentarily de-escalate a situation. A moment of silence can be helpful in recollecting ourselves and bringing awareness to emotional
Mindful Silence Needs Wisdom Read More »
Reconciling with the past might be one of the most challenging things to do. Because of this, we might bring unresolved and unprocessed emotions and situations from the past into the present, whether it be from a traumatic upbringing, an unresolved relationship, an argument or the persistent recollection of previous mishaps. We might develop a
Making Peace With The Past: A Reflection on “Karma” Read More »
Peter Doobinin argues that love needs agency, commenting, “Our ability to love is determined by the decisions we make to act in a certain way. When we surrender our decision-making, we deny our greatest strength: our capacity for love.” Peter Doobinin argues that yes, indeed, love requires agency and conscious decision-making. Might this be a
Does Love Require Agency? Read More »
Thich Nhat Hanh comments: “The true declaration of love is, ‘Dear one, I am here for you,’ because the most precious gift you can give to your loved one is your true presence, with body and mind united in solidity and freedom.” Thich Nhat Hanh’s statement draws attention to the significance of being truly present
Uniting Body and Mind: The True Declaration of Love Read More »
Once, when asked about his secret to peace and contentment, meditation teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti famously replied: ‘I don’t mind what happens.’ Upon initial reflection, Krishnamurti’s answer about his secret to peace and contentment seems almost flippant – “I don’t mind what happens.” How could not minding what occurs in life possibly lead to inner tranquillity?
Krishnamurti’s Secret: Not Minding Read More »
“The more we’re living at odds with the truth, the more we suffer. The more we live along with it, the happier we are.” – by Lama Tsomo In the words of Lama Tsomo, when we deny or distort reality, we create inner discord that inevitably leads to suffering. This discord arises from the dissonance
Distorting Reality: The Power of Truth Read More »
Sister Dang Nghiem comments that, “It is entirely possible to create new, mindful, positive habits. This is certainly possible with the practice of loving speech and deep listening toward ourselves. Positivity and gratitude slowly become a new, mindful habit.” Sister Dang Nghiem’s comments point to the potential transformative power mindfulness and compassionate communication can have
Transformative Potential of Loving Speech and Deep Listening Read More »
During meditation, practitioners are usually instructed to either sit with a lowered soft gaze or close their eyes. We discussed this in a previous article on “Meditation: Eyes Open or Eyes Closed” and how practising with eyes open might be difficult initially because of the tendency to get lost in visual distractors. Sprawson et al.
“And Now Close Your Eyes or Lower Your Gaze” Read More »
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche comments, “To cultivate a steady mind independent of circumstances, we must work with the mind itself. Working directly with the mind uncovers the inherent quality of meditative awareness.” Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, a prominent Tibetan Buddhist monk and teacher, here emphasizes the importance of cultivating a steady mind regardless of external circumstances. He
Working With The Mind Read More »
Meeting Anger with Awareness and Compassion by Clayton Micallef “Turn to that place in you that knows you are angry. What knows you are angry is itself not angry.” by Ken McLeod Read on Substack
Meeting Anger with Awareness and Compassion Read More »
Centered and Wide Embed Eyes Closed or Eyes Open: Sharing From Personal Experience by Clayton Micallef Read on Substack
Eyes Closed or Eyes Open: Sharing From Personal Experience Read More »
Centered Embed Meditation: Eyes Open or Eyes Closed by Clayton Micallef Should you practice meditation with you eyes closed or your eyes open? Read on Substack
Meditation: Eyes Open or Eyes Closed Read More »
Embedded Post Right Now, Is My Life by Clayton Micallef “When it comes right down to it, the challenge of mindfulness is to realize that ‘this is it.’ Right now, is my life.” – by Jon Kabat-Zinn Read on Substack
Right Now, Is My Life Read More »
The analogy of two farmers is a story explaining how cultivating mindfulness as an open quality of awareness in our everyday life can be of help. This post is a revisiting of a previous post with the difference that it includes a video and a further reflection on the previous one. Mindfulness technique and
Cultivating Mindfulness: The Analogy of Two Farmers Read More »
There are times when we might feel as if we are at the mercy of thoughts and our minds. Join me on Insight Timer in a workshop where we will explore the unsettled mind and engage with this notion of being at the mercy of thoughts and thinking and how easy it is to get
Workshop – Recognizing and Settling The Unsettled Mind Read More »
The basis of meditation practice is familiarising ourselves with the mind, how easy it is to get lost in compulsive thinking, noticing such and gently bringing the mind back to our present experience. This is said to cultivate mindfulness, but doing this mechanistically would reduce meditation to an attentional practice. The Buddhist monk NYANAPONIKA THERA
NYANAPONIKA THERA on The Four Sublime States Read More »
Following is the podcast of the conversation between Spiritual Blogger and Author Vasundhra Gupta and Clayton Micallef discussing the questions; What is and is not meditation? Is meditation suitable for everyone, and if in certain situations or for certain people meditation might not work and practising it might result in adverse experiences? Is Meditation Suitable
Meditation Conversations: Is Meditation Suitable for Everyone Read More »
Our sense of self refers to a set of characteristic and personal attributes that we feel define us. It is made up of what we see as those set of characteristics that distinguishes us from others. Our personality traits, physical qualities and abilities, personal likes and dislikes (preferences), beliefs, and moral codes and motivations all
Anatta Understanding the Fluid Nature of Self Read More »
We breathe in and breath out, but there lay a subtle pause between the in-breath and out-breath. Our breath is made of three parts our in-breath, the pause between the in-breath and out-breath and the out-breath itself. These together form the breath in a cyclical manner that is ever-changing as no in-breath and out-breath is
Noticing the Pause Between In-breath and Out-breath Guided Meditation Read More »
Our mind has an innate tendency to wander off, incessantly into thinking. At any one moment as if on impulse, we might find ourselves either thinking about worrying or mulling over the past or trying to anticipate the future or just daydreaming in the present. Such a state of mind detracts us from our present
Investigating The Living Present Read More »
To fully understand what is the difference between Samatha and Vipassana meditation. It is crucial to distinguish that meditation practices lay on a continuum. From those that use concentrating on a single object to steady the mind to reach a state of absorption called calm-abiding. To those who employ concentration and calm-abiding to look into
What Is The Difference Between Samatha And Vipassana Meditation Read More »
When it comes to teaching mindfulness the memories of kindness meditation practice is one of the introductory techniques we use to explore and cultivate kindness in our lives. This post will give a general overview of why we do the memories of kindness meditation, the stages we go through in the memories of kindness practice
Memories of Kindness Meditation Practice Read More »
We can all agree that pain is an unpleasant feeling. Because of this, researchers are on a constant search for pharmaceuticals or psychological behavioural intervention to help with the symptoms of pain. Meditation is one such psychological intervention, and meditation teachers have long time argued that meditation might help with the symptoms of pain by
Does Meditation Change How We Perceive Pain Read More »
Mindfulness has been extensively used as a psychotherapeutic intervention for persons facing emotional distress because of a medical condition, and a recent literature review on mindfulness and infertility problems published in the journal of Human Reproductive Sciences by Patel et al. (2020) asked can mindfulness help increase coping with infertility problems. Coping with infertility problems
Can Mindfulness Help Increase Coping With Infertility Problems Read More »
The word gratitude comes from the Latin term “gratus”, which means “thankful, pleasing.” Therefore, in its simplest form, to be grateful is to have an appreciation and express thankfulness and moral philosophers have throughout the ages asked the question is gratitude a virtue? However, when we approach gratitude as a virtue, there is more to gratitude
Understanding Gratitude As A Virtue Read More »
Stress can drain our mental resources, and during challenging times we can end up stuck in our habitual patterns of reacting. Because of such repeated patterns of responding, we might, at times, react mindlessly to situations presenting themselves. This might not be a skilful way to deal with situations that require us to stop and
Taking a Mindful STOP Practice Read More »