The great Frederick Beuchner wrote a few years ago that most religious words have lost almost all vitality. Through overuse and abuse, terms like church and heaven and sin cause the eyes to glaze and the attention to wander.

Case in point: Repentance. Do you picture some half-crazed pulpiteer doing his best to scare the (pardon me) hell out of you?

Its a shame, since repentance is a perfectly robust word for a perfectly necessary activity.

Our easiest mistake comes quite naturally. Everybody else needs to get on board with me, so the world can be a much happier place. I wish all these people would get out of my way I thought one busy morning, until another rude thought crowded its way in. Did it ever occur to you that you might be in their way?

Lifelong guilt trips run a close second, perhaps?

Maybe the worst misstep of all comes when you begin to confuse embarrassment at getting caught with contrition and forgiveness with a blank check that you can spend anyway you choose. Call it the entitled spirit. Should a pastor guilty of sexually manipulating and abusing parishioners ever have charge of a church again?

I dont pretend to be an ethics expert, but I can tell you one thing from first-hand experience.

Sin is the heart curved in on itself. One teeny dose of the peril and plague of the human condition would literally drive you bonkers, save for the throbbing heart of love at the center of the cosmos. Honest-to-goodness repentance inspires you to say thank you for your morning oats, an extra flannel shirt in your closet and at least a few brains in your brain. Makes you grateful just to be alive. George Bailey found it out. So did Ebenezer Scrooge, Lieutenant Dan, and Tibbs and Gillespie. So does everyone who repents. Get a new heart ... a new spirit (Ezekiel 18:31).

The Rev. Eugene Stockstill is pastor of Ebenezer United Methodist Church and Myrtle United Methodist Church in Union County.

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MEDITATION: It's good to know we can change - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

(HOODLINE) Want to know where to go for meditation in Denver? Here are the top-rated meditation centers in the city, based on data from Yelp, Facebook andClassPass, a monthly fitness membership that provides access to thousands of different studios, gyms and wellness offerings. Yoga of the Mind

8 E. First Ave., Speer

Yoga of the Mind is Denvers favorite meditation center by the numbers, with five stars out of 23 reviews onClassPassand 2,477 fans onFacebook.

Yoga of the Minds mission is to expand peace and self-awareness in individuals and in the world, explains the business ClassPass profile. Their classroom is an intimate setting that accommodates 15 students.

3401 W. 29th Ave., West Highland

Also among Denvers favorites is Kundalini Yoga, with 4.7 stars out of 152 reviews onClassPass, five stars out of one review onYelpand 1,317 fans onFacebook. Its the top meditation outlet in the entire Denver metro area, according to ClassPass rankings.

Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan, is considered the most comprehensive of yoga traditions, combining meditation, mantra, physical exercises and breathing techniques, states the business ClassPass profile. Kundalini Yoga is also known as the yoga of awareness; its focus is on self-awareness and delivering an experience of your highest consciousness.

2916 Irving St., West Highland

With five stars out of 10 reviews onClassPass, five stars out of one review onYelpand 260 fans onFacebook, Reiki with Yarra has garnered plenty of local fans.

According to the business ClassPass profile, Reiki is energy-healing, and works on your physical, emotional, energetic and spiritual bodies to balance and restore your energy. Sessions are extremely relaxing, and heal gently and powerfully at the same time.

Article provided by Hoodline.

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Peace Out At These Denver Meditation Centers - CBS Denver

with Jenna Grace

I started meditating when I lived out West. A far way away from where I grew up in the Midwest. I was searching for something. As we all do in our 20s. But I had been struggling with my mental health for as long as I could remember. I wasnt okay. And I didnt know how to get better. I was completely lost. Both in my life and in myself. And meditation was the first thing that helped me find my way.

Meditation found me. I was walking home from a nearby flea market and someone handed me a booklet on yoga. Always intrigued by yoga but never having been exposed to it (this was in 2005; before yoga was everywhere), I accepted the booklet, made a donation and headed home curious.

Once home, as I began thumbing through the pages, I was a bit discouraged not to find pictures of the yoga poses Id imagined. Instead, the booklet focused on breathing. On postures when sitting. On finding stillness. I was looking for any kind of guidance, so I took this as a sign that I should start meditating. And so my meditation practice began.

I made myself meditate every day. And considering I knew no one in the latest town I was in, I had a lot of time to practice. And I needed to practice. Its amazing how hard it is to just sit. To sit in stillness and to focus. On your breath. On your thoughts. On your feelings. Perhaps thats why we dont do it as much as we should. For when you focus on your thoughts and feelings, you have to be ready to deal with what you think and feel. But I began to notice that meditation was slowing things down for me, helping me find a stillness inside myself that I desperately needed to find. Helping me feel okay.

Id been anxious and depressed and dealing with suicidal thoughts for over a decade at this point in my life, and I was searching to figure out why. Meditation gave me my first glimpse inside myself. A glimpse that brought me joy and made me feel peace. A peace I had never known; one that I needed to feel. It gave me body awareness. Helped me focus my thoughts. And connected me to my feelings. To my soul.

Now, over a decade later, my practice looks much different than when I started. I find beauty in this as thats how it should be things should evolve, as life does. Because while we all need to practice finding stillness, well go nowhere if we dont move.

So if you find yourself beginning your meditation practice, here are some basic steps to help you get started:

I wish you light and love as you begin your practice. May you find peace and joy in yourself. Namaste.

Like me on Facebook|Follow me on Twitter|Visit my website

Jenna Grace is a neurodivergent writer and educator with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sensory processing disorder (SPD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) diagnoses. She writes and speaks about topics including neurodiversity and SPD in order to help others and to explore new meaning. Visit her website or Twitter, @jennagracewrite.

APA Reference Grace, J. (2019). Mental Health, Spirituality and Self-care: 8 Basic Steps to Beginning Your Meditation Practice. Psych Central. Retrieved on November 30, 2019, from https://blogs.psychcentral.com/neurodivergent/2019/11/mental-health-spirituality-and-self-care-8-basic-steps-to-beginning-your-meditation-practice/

Last updated: 29 Nov 2019 Statement of review: Psych Central does not review the content that appears in our blog network (blogs.psychcentral.com) prior to publication. All opinions expressed herein are exclusively those of the author alone, and do not reflect the views of the editorial staff or management of Psych Central. Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

Original post:

Mental Health, Spirituality and Self-care: 8 Basic Steps to Beginning Your Meditation Practice - PsychCentral.com

Young Writers Project is an independent nonprofit that engages students to write, helps them improve and connects them with authentic audiences in newspapers, before live audiences and online. YWP also publishes an annual anthology and The Voice, a digital magazine featuring YWPs best writing and images. More info: youngwritersproject.org or contact YWP at sreid@youngwritersproject.org or 802-324-9538.

This week, we present responses to the following challenges: Meditation. Sit still in a quiet place with your eyes closed for five minutes, and try to empty your mind of any thoughts. Does one thought keep pushing its way through? Vent about it or use it as inspiration to write. And general writing.

Prompt: Meditation

By Grace Nostrant

Age 14, Bradford, Vt.

Meditation

what does it even mean? To let go.

Why cant I just let go,

let my mind fade to nothingness?

Its as if there were a flock of geese

where my brain should be,

with their loud-squawking thoughts

pecking at my forehead

an unimaginable headache.

I open my eyes, rub my head.

I see everyone in front of me.

The silence is nice, the serenity.

Now I know the answer to my question.

As I sit here and ponder,

I realize that meditation does not mean

to let go of ones thoughts.

It means to focus, to reflect, to relax

to simply be present in ones thoughts.

Meditation is a state of simply being.

By Kelly Daigle

Age 17, Bradford, Vt.

I sit in the silence

with the windows open,

the wind blowing gently,

and try not to think.

But the music, the music, the music...

No.

I imagine the silence,

refuse to listen to my own mind.

The absence of anything

is calming, refreshing, and

It creeps up behind,

the melody inching upon my consciousness

like the song of

Stop it, Mind.

I dont want to be listening to the music,

the silent music of my mind

that oddly sounds like

my seventh-grade music festival song ...

The notes stream past my barriers,

harmonies overlapping with

I box myself in nothing,

hoping that it will be enough,

that Ill finally be at peace

Full-force music from the ensemble comes in,

sounds stumbling over one another,

divided and yet coinciding

to create the mystical

Nope, nope, nope.

piece from the

Fine.

I let the music surround me,

and begrudgingly enjoy

the song stuck in my head.

See the rest here:

YWP: Exploring meditation and its discontents - Valley News

Nov. 29, 2019, 6:56 PM UTC / Source: StackCommerce

These products were selected by StackCommerce, which created these articles. The products are not endorsed by the NBC News editorial team. If you buy something through these links, NBC News and StackCommerce make some revenue from your purchase.

As Black Friday deals enable you to invest in the tech devices you use for apps from laptops to tablets and smartphones the apps themselves sometimes come with a pricetag, too. And to align with Black Friday sales, some app subscriptions are on sale right now.

So whether you're in the market for a top-notch VPN service, cloud storage or even relaxing guided meditation, there's likely a discount on one of them worth checking out. Below, we rounded up 10 affordable apps that are worth shopping this week.

Bonus: Enter code BFSAVE40 at checkout, to get 40 percent off of the prices listed below.

Turn your startup idea into a reality with Bizplan, a step-by-step business building app that provides you with templates, dashboards and a network of investors that will help streamline your projects in an attempt to help get your business funded.

Looking for a mindful new year? Grab a lifetime subscription to Aura Meditation, which features a variety of science-backed guided meditation sessions aimed to help relieve stress and anxiety.

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.

The best passwords have randomized character strings that feature numbers and special symbols. The issue is that they also tend to be the hardest to remember. This service can auto-fill usernames and passwords for all your online accounts to make that process much easier.

Another way you can keep your information private is with the help of a VPN. These help ensure that when you're using public WiFi networks, your personal data is kept away from prying eyes.

Home renovation isn't as easy as HGTV makes it out to be. For people who need help visualizing what their redesign projects will look like, Live Home 3D Pro can help. The app allows you to design advanced floor plans with easy-to-use point-and-click tools.

Babbel, a popular language learning app, was made with the help of more than 100 expert linguists with the goal of getting you speaking a foreign language confidently in as little as one month. All of its lessons are bite-sized (about 10 to 15 minutes in total) so that you can more easily fit them into your schedule, and they focus on real-life topics you'll get the most use out of, such as business, food and travel.

Keep track of your finances and pinpoint areas where you can cut back on your expenses with CoinKeeper. The personal finance tool can help you create a monthly budget, monitor your expenditures, set spending limits and notify you when you're overspending.

For people who want to be caught up on all the latest bestselling titles but don't have time to read them all in-depth, 12min Micro Book synthesizes a variety of books into short articles so that you can digest all the important information in as little as 12 minutes.

Dubbed as the Swiss Army Knife of iPhone management, iMazing is a Mac/Windows app that allows you to browse and manage your iPhone's backups, extract your text message information, copy your favorite songs, export your photos and access the history of your notes.

You've got plenty of videos, photos, audio content and documents that you need safely stored. A cloud service like ThunderDrive allows you to keep your most important files safe and accessible.

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Black Friday gets you tech devices here's how to save on apps - NBC News

With all the travel, family and overall hustle and bustle of the holidays this time of year can be very stressful.

So finding some time for yourself is very important.

Even if that means just a few minutes finding your center.

We spend so much time putting our energy outward," said meditation facilitator at the Lotus in Helena LuAnn Whale. "Doing errands, talking on the phone, doing chores, being at work. You know. Theres so many distractions so it moves you away from your center. So meditation and even breathing brings you back into you center.

Meditation can be a small practice with big benefits.

Even according to the world renowned Mayo Clinic, the practice of meditation can offer many benefits, including stress reduction. A great aid to any doctor prescribed plan you may be working with.

The practice of yoga is indicated for all kinds of things in terms of alleviating and lifting people out of depression and anxiety, said mental health therapist and yoga instructor Heidi Opitz.

And practicing meditation doesnt mean you have to light candles and grow a ponytail.

Even doing dishes can be a meditative practice because meditation is just being about in the present moment, added LuAnn.

Taking any time out of your day to put your mind at ease and focus on the moment can be meditation.

Its beneficial at all times for stress and anxiety and of course that kind of gets amped up for the holidays and its really, really good for that," continued Whale. "And its not that you wont have the stress and anxiety but it will lessen it and youll handle it in a better way than you would have if you were not meditating.

Meditation is a really wonderful tool that you can tap into wherever you are," said Shannon Reed, who is a student at the Lotus. "Whether you are standing in line waiting for a checkout after youve made a huge grab of presents. Whether its dealing with family members or just work issues you can just quiet immediately go into a space of quiet and sit and just let it go. Just let it go."

So remember, when you are overwhelmed this holiday to take a moment.

Stop.

Breathe.

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Don't fall victim to the holiday hustle: Some advice to make the holidays less stressful - KPAX-TV

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Meditation with Tea Tasting: Rare, Premium Teas | Universal Chan: Buddhist Zen Center | Culinary Events, Religion/Spirit - East Bay Express

My journey with mindfulness and meditation started in late 2015. I was dissatisfied in most areas of my life, on anti-depressants , and really not sure what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go (metaphorically speaking). To the outside world ,I had it all, I was married, had two lovely boys, a job, a great social life etc etc. I knew I needed to do something for me and that I needed to be actively involved in making decisions to make me happier and more confident. I happened across a local mindfulness meditation teacher on Facebook and decided to get in touch. It was a decision that proved to profoundly change my life. I was not happy in my relationship and meditation and mindfulness helped me to develop the understanding and self belief that it was OK to put me first, that I deserved to be put first, to be happy and not to feel guilty about this. My practice, over time, enabled me to have conversations about separation and to work the separation out in a compassionate and positive way. The negative judgments that I had on myself, which were many and frequent, are now less frequent and no way near as strong. I am able to question the judgments or the stories that I create for myself about what other people think, feel and say about me, by asking for the evidence to support the judgement or thought, and to focus on what I know and what I can control. This way, I am now spending less energy on rumination, worry (and sometimes despair) and I have more energy for me; to appreciate the good that I have in my life and to be grateful for what I have and can see around me. I just didnt see this or took it all for granted before, but meditation and mindfulness has shown me there is another side to my life and it is so much better! It isnt just within my personal life that this change has happened though. My practice means that I am less stressed and overwhelmed at work, but when those feelings do show up (and they still do because they are a normal part of life), I am able to accept them and work with them in a more effective way, focusing on what I can control and what is happening right now. The overthinking about that meeting that I just had where I said something silly in front of senior management or the presentation I have coming up, are now not focuses of my thinking, but are set to one side so I can focus on the here and now. During frustrating conversations at work, I am able to take a moment, realise that they are just trying their best. Meditation and mindfulness have increased my ability to be patient; I dont know whats going on in their life, and my practice helps me to be less judgmental about them and the tone of voice they are using in that moment. The result is often an easier, more positive conversation which can result in both sides benefiting from the situation. I now spend time meditating with my children as well. Without my meditation and mindfulness practice, I am certain I wouldnt be where I am today so I ensure I get at least 5 minutes of practice in a day to ensure that I can continue to live my best life.

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Meditation and my well-being - Thrive Global

If youve been meditating for years or just starting out, follow these tips to get the most from your meditation practice.

Tip 1: Be sure to find a space to sit down comfortably in a quiet place with no distractions. You do not have to sit in a traditional yoga posture but do not lay down. You can sit on the floor or on a chair. Whats important is that you are comfortable.

Tip 2: Let go of expectations about meditation. Some people want to have a mystical experience based on the stories they heard from others. Let go of any beliefs and expectations. Let go of all beliefs and expectations before each meditation. Let go of any ideas of what mediation is, what you want from it, and what it is supposed to do for you. Mediation is not a means to an end. Mediation is a tool. Give all your attention to this current moment, then meditation will reveal its benefits. Be open to any experience that may occur.

Tip 3: Relax all your muscles and close your eyes. Do not squint your eyes or keep the muscles in a tight focused position. Relax. Check inside and do a body scan and become aware of how much tension you are holding, and then release it.

Tip 4: Use binaural beats or theta waves to help you go deeper into your meditation. Guided mediation is wonderful, but using binaural beats to train your brain to match the frequency helps you go deeper into your practice. This tip is not necessary but excellent for someone who may have a hard time shutting off the mind.

Tip 5: Crate an anchor. There are anchors you can create to help you focus during your meditation. The first anchor is the breath. The breath is the bridge between the seen and the unseen. When you find yourself going with the mind, become aware by putting your awareness on your breath. Another anchor you can create is using binaural beats to help bring you back to your awareness. When you find youve gone off with your thoughts, become aware and focus your attention on the sound of the theta waves while you listen. If youre not listening to binaural beats during your meditation another option is to feel your body. Connect with how your body feels and body awareness to bring you back to your meditation. What these anchors do is take your focus, awareness and attention off the mind or distraction and put it on something else and then keep it there. You are training your focus, awareness and attention when you meditate.

Tip 6: Disengage. You will drift off or go off with the mind, however, every time you notice youve drifted off and you notice youre engaged with the mind, the moment you become aware, disengage. Dont beat yourself up for not staying focused. Every time you catch yourself in thought, commit to disengage. Let them go. How you ask? Bring your focus, awareness and attention back to the body and breath or the sound of the binaural beats. This is a shift to what you want to stay focused on. In the beginning you will find your attention is short, but keep training your attention. This is the practice. It doesnt matter how many times your attention goes off during your meditation. Keep bringing it back to the body and breath. For many just starting out in the beginning realize this can be hard work. Stick with it! The results are priceless!

Tip 7: Commit to 15 to 30 minutes every single day. It must be everyday, not a hit or miss practice. If you really want the benefits of meditation, and want to deepen your meditation and gain insights and understanding life and reality at another level, then you must practice every single day. For the 15 to 30 minutes you are continuously bringing your focus, awareness and attention back, again, and again, and again.

Tip 8: Learn to recognize what remains when there are no thoughts. Once you understand how to bring back your focus, awareness and attention, when you are fully focused on your binaural beats, breath or the sense of your body, youll notice thoughts do stop if maybe for a few seconds. In these moments notice what remains. The sense of I AM is all that remains.

In the beginning when you are just starting to meditate, be aware of this last tip. Continue to focus on disengaging from the mind. When gaps in thought become clear, then connect to what remains. YOU!

Meditation is getting to know this larger part of YOU and training your focus, attention, and awareness.

Your focus, awareness and attention is your most precious gift. Make mediation the most important part of your day!

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8 tips to get the most from your meditation - Thrive Global

PORTVILLE Officials at the Pfeiffer Nature Center have announced two holiday programs will be offered to the public on Dec. 7.

The first is the Holiday Nature Crafts for Kids program from 10:30 to noon at the Portville Free Library at 2 N. Main St. All ages will enjoy creating fun crafts using items which come directly from nature. Santa Claus will visit and there will be lots of other library craft activities going on as well. The activity is free and open to the public and pre-registration is not required. Minors must be accompanied by an adult, however.

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The second event is the Forest Bathing-Moving Meditation session from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Lillibridge location. Forest bathing, also known in Japanese culture as taking in the forest atmosphere or shinrin-yoku, is a moving meditation surrounded by nature. Participants will meet in the parking lot and wander through the woods, taking in the wonders of the beautiful location through all five physical senses as well as our sixth, intuitive sense. Led by Jessie Lampack Slattery, local registered yoga teacher, the session will focus on slowing down amidst a busy season and reflecting on 2019. The program is open to all ages as long as children can remain quiet in order to allow all participants to reap the healing benefits of such an experience. The cost is $5 per person and pre-registration is not required. In the event of freezing rain or extreme temperatures, the program will be moved to Dec. 14 at the same time. If the weather appears questionable, look for a change of date notice on the top of the Centers website home page.

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Pfeiffer to offer holiday nature crafts and meditation programs - Olean Times Herald