In this little talk, we see how karma–cause and effect– is always with us, how our intentions bear the fruit of effect, and how we are free to choose our actions whether these are bodily actions–the faces we make for example, spoken or written actions, or thought actions. We pause and notice how we always have choice and how our mindfulness practice trains us to see clearly in the moment cause and effect, intention, and choice in action.
This is a little talk on Loving Awareness. Loving awareness is our true nature. It is who we really are. In this little talk we explore the qualities of loving awareness, what gets in our way of living our lives from it, and how by changing our perspective through practice we can live from it more fully.
What’s our Purpose? Why are we here? What’s important in our lives? And when we know what is important, how do our daily activities align? As we go through our day do we feel the connection of what we do to whom we really are?
This little talk is about inquiry. When we do inquiry we gain insights into how our minds work and what is true and what isn’t. Doing inquiry frees us from the constant buzz of the stories we tell ourselves, the judgments we make, and emotions that we feel control us.
In this little talk. we explore the second pillar of well-being, healthy connections and how the practice of appreciation is foundational to nurturing positive connections with ourselves and others.
In this little talk on Awareness, we explore what science has learned about how the brain functions when we are aware, how awareness is a skill that is built through practice, and how factors in our lives like negative moods, threats, or our values not aligning with our actions can compromise our awareness—our attention in the present moment. Enjoy.
On Monday, November 9, 2020 the New York Times published how voters are looking to the future. Ruth Dolash from Iowa said this, “We have more hate in this country than we need. I’d like to do my part to get rid of some of that. But I don’t know where to start.” We start by being willing to be with our own demons. How do we do this? In this little talk on Finding Kindness we explore how by the practice of recognizing, allowing, and investigating our demons and giving ourselves kindness from that place of equanimity, we open kindness in ourselves and from there can stream it out into the world. Kindness is healing for ourselves and others. It is the antidote to hate.
In this little talk we are reminded that when we are mindful, we can choose to respond rather than react out of habit. We also explore how limiting choice in a our-day-to-day lives frees us to live more aware, more fully, and with more freedom.
This is a little talk about how being mindful of what attitude we bring to our chores, tasks, and projects can help us to see what’s really going on. Are we feeling that our chores are drudgery or obligations that must be done? And when we bring this attitude how do we feel inside? And what is this feeling telling us–does it have something to share with us? Is there something underlying that feeling of drudgery? What if we sit with it, allow it, and let it speak to us? Doing this opens us to release and the possibility of another attitude. The possibility of bringing an attitude of appreciation and gratitude is available.