Deep in the gong The Olympian A small 2012 study by the National Institutes of Health found that people who practiced meditative chanting scored twice as well on a mental health assessment as those who simply listened to relaxing music. Balch, who's been playing gongs ever since ... and more »

Read more here:

Deep in the gong - The Olympian

Imagine getting into shape without a gym.

It's a tempting prospect.

No annoying music blasting at you. No hassle getting to the gym when the weather's bad. Plus, you get to head home from work or school and work out in your comfy home.

You can also just take your phone, loaded with fitness apps, and head to the park, on your own, on a sunny day.

Sounds great, right?

Good news first: Thanks to apps and YouTube videos, you have a million workout options that do not involve the gym.Most of these options are free. Some of them are fun.

Now here's the bad news: Many of them are not fun.

The challenge: Finding the ones that are.

There's an art to an exercise video. Just as at the gym, the workoutshould be challenging, but not brutal. If it's brutal, you might force yourself through it once, but it'll be tough to get yourself to face it again.

Psychology-wise, the gym has a plus.You're cheered by seeing the instructor, and the rest of the class, sweating along with you. A video is different. How do you know that instructor is doing all these exercises all at once? Videos can fib.

An app can work as an exercise buddy, bugging you to get up and take a walk. But it's easier to ignore than a human being. Working out with an app or a video, you're not accountable to anyone but yourself.

I tried to rely on them for a month to see how it went. I ended up sneaking in a few visits to the gym, because sometimes I found myself shirking my virtual trainers.

I also discovered, though, that if you're disciplined, and keep your sense of humor, these electronic workouts can be a big help. Do it faithfully, and you can feel yourself growing stronger from day to day.

Here are some free optionsto try.

Pedometer

Many smartphones have a pedometer app automatically. Mine didn't, so I got one called, well, Pedometer. I use it to shoot for the recommended 10,000 daily steps. This thing is iron. It has never failed me.

Human

This app aims to get you to spend at least 30 minutes on your feet, which it calls your "daily 30." It will wheedle, "How about an afternoon walk before dinner?" Or "Let's go around the block." Or simply, "Let's get up." Get to your Daily 30, and it heaps praise on you. "You're making other people jelly." Once, it said simply "Goodness."It also lets youstackyourself up against active people near you.My main rival isHoward, the guy I married. He installed Human (human.co) when I did and naturally, is always ahead on the leader boards. I've had a few technical problems with the app.Otherwise, it'samusing and encouraging. Ithas encouraged me to walk when I otherwise would not have.It maps your walk,ingeniously, over grids of Buffalo streets. When it says, "Stretch your legs," it's hard to argue.

BeFiT

This network of YouTube videos offers over 600 workouts. Many of them are the loud,fat-blasting, pound-it-out variety, some led by TV fitness guru Jillian Michaels. Buta few are unusual. And BeFiT (youtube.com/user/BeFit) offers a definite change of pace inan extensive series ofBallet Beautifulworkouts, led by Mary Helen Bowers. She trained Natalie Portman for "Black Swan," which is recommendation enough for me. Try the Ballet Beautiful Blast for when you don't have much time. I can't sum up her style better than one person did in the comment section: "Everything's white, there's relaxing music playing in the background, she's so calm, talking gently and then there's me. DYING."

Blogilates

An app and a YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/blogilates) thatstars Cassey Ho, who is funny, bubbly and cute. She emails you calendars, too, with exercises specified for every date. The workout I tried was just too grueling too much squat, squeeze, lunge, crunch, over and over. Aren't crunches outdated? Didn't they decide that planks are better? But she makes you laugh at the same time. Good for those days after you ate those wings and wish you hadn't.

Boho Beautiful

These are a couple of hippies on YouTube (youtube.com/user/cexercize), Mark and Juliana,who lead you through yoga and Pilates workouts.Apparentlythey got married in a flower child wedding, sold everything in their Toronto apartment and are now bumming around the world. They've got it all figured out, and their pep talks about gratitude and mindfulnesscan get a little annoying.But the workouts are fun. They are broadcast from breathtaking locales, from the tropics, where they did yoga among elephants,to Canada'sBanff National Park, whereJuliana did Pilates by a frozen lake.You have to wonder if it's all fake, and they've been in Toronto all along. But you're entertained, and you get in a workout, with a minimum of the New Age proselytizingyou sometimes have to put up with in a gym yoga class. Juliana is beautiful and nice, and you can tell yourself thatwith a little more work, you might be able to look like her.

eFit30

This "online gym" (efit30.com) is a favorite of mine because it features teachers from Australia and South Africa. I love their accents and also their humor. "Clear a space on the floor and let's get started," is whatone Pilates instructor, Angela, typically tells you. And: "Tighten your butt, need I say more?" There are a lot of yoga videos, too, for every level. They work you out without killing you and, again, without that New Age stuff. (Why do so many yoga teachers have to ask me to set an intention for my practice? My intention is to look like a supermodel.)

Kristin McGee

I like videos filmed in pretty locales, so I can forget that I'm in my cluttered living room.So I was happy when I found a video (kristinmcgee.com) showing a tall, lean woman working out in a lovely, candlelit lodge.Mistake! Ten minutes later, I was exhausted. Keep going, I told myself.And I did all through this hour-long video. When I could get up, I read some of the video's comments. That was when I learned who my trainer was Kristin McGee, a celebrity trainer. "This woman is not normal," someone had commented. "I almost broke my legs." Someone else had written, "OMG I think I just died." Icould honestlyhave typed: "LOL me too."But that candlelit lodge was pretty,and there was enough variety in the workout to make me want to try another one. Plus, I like a challenge.I'll be back. McGee has her own YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/kristinmmcgee) with a wide variety of workouts and stretching videos.

PopSugar Fitness

This offers a dizzying variety of YouTube videos (youtube.com/user/popsugartvfit). The trainers chirp things like, "Another day in paradise!" and "Get ready to burn it up!" And I feel cool seeing videos with titles like "5 Moves to Add To Your Urban Run" (not that I run), "5 Boxing-Inspired Moves For a Flat Belly," and the one I ended up settling on, "30-Minute Fat-Frying Bikini Body Workout." The fat-frying workoutwas kind of brutal, sure. But the trainers on this site have a way of keeping you laughing. I also like that whatever workout you want short, long, beginner, advanced, cardio, Pilates, anything it's here.

Sworkit

This is an app (sworkit.com) that lets you build your own workout. They give you mini-videos of various exercises,incorporating strength training, cardio and yoga. You choose the number of minutes you have, and tell it which part of your body you want to work on. It's pretty no-nonsense, and it doesn't coach you, but it's easy to use, and you get to watch a human being albeit a very fit human being doing the exercises. And itdoes make the most of your time.I liked the Dive Bomber Push Up. I never thought I could do push-ups, but I could do this one because it's that flow you do in yoga, going from Down Dog down to Up Dog and then back again. Wow, look at me! Suddenly I'm fit.

Well, more fit than I was, anyway.

Exhibiting rare will power, I decided to take on a 21-Day Pilates Challenge from Boho Beautiful, listed up above. It is anchored on a grueling 30-minute long Pilates session, which you perform many times over the course of three weeks. By now I have it pretty much memorized. "Hold that leg. Do not let it drop. Breathe. You can do it. Awesome. Awesome, guys! Now we're going to move that leg around in a circle..."

"Ow," I kept saying through gritted teeth. "Ow ow ow ow ow." But I kept at it. I also made sure to do other videos prescribed in addition to that one, with such titles as "Define Your Abs" and "The Waistline Crusher." Hey, it's all free! And after a few days, the ab stuff wasn't as bad. The leg stuff took longer, but two weeks in, it was less excruciating. I didn't lose any of the 10 pounds I was trying to lose. But things started feeling different.

Day 16 brought a payoff. Two weeks before, I had recklessly bought a dress that was too small for me."I'll diet into it," I had told myself. Yeah, right.

Just for the heck of it, I tried on this dress and it fit!

It had to have been this challenge. I hadn't made any other changes in my life. Other things fit better, too in some cases, dramatically. Thank you, Boho Beautiful! Thank you, Refresh! Thank you, technology! And now, it's back to the mat.

I still have four days to go.

email: refresh@buffnews.com; mkunz@buffnews.com

Twitter: @BNrefresh, @MaryKunzGoldman

The rest is here:

Gyms not your style? Shape up with an online workout - Buffalo News

By Mischa Popoff | April 21, 2017

Opinion

And By Jay Lehr

President Obama tripled the budget and staffing at the offices of the USDAs National Organic Program (NOP), only to see American organic acreage flatline during his tenure.

The $9.1 million might seem like a rounding error for Washington D.C. But what 43 organic staffers actually did during Obamas tenure will surprise you. Did they weed out fraud, make organic food better and encourage more domestic organic production? Sadly, no, no and no.

Organic imports from countries like China and Turkey grew steadily during Obamas years, a trend that, not surprisingly, coincided with increased incidents of organic foodborne illnesses. Alas, Obama tripled the NOP budget and staffing, but failed to require field testing.

Roughly 40 percent of the organic food sold in America tested positive for prohibited pesticide residue during Obamas years, in two separate studies by the USDA. Just 0.7 percent of American farmland is organic, but organic sales accounted for 4 percent of total food sales, more than five times the amount of land under organic management. This means American grocery retailers now rely on imported organic food somewhere around 80 percent of the time.

This tripling of NOP budget and staff did absolutely nothing to help American organic farmers. In fact, it hurt them.

Worse than this embarrassing organic trade imbalance is the fact that organic foods accounted for a whopping 7 percent of all food recalls in America last year, almost double what one would expect according to organic sales and 10 times what one would expect from Americas flatlining organic acreage.

Meanwhile, organic inspections and certifications all occur independently of these 43 federal organic staffers. People are often surprised to learn that the USDA does not employ any organic inspectors. Staff only keep an eye on those that do by randomly auditing files generated by USDA-accredited certifying agencies, most of which are private certification businesses. These certifiers number just 80, and employ just 160 independent organic inspectors on contract. They pay the USDA for the privilege of being audited. So, what was $9 million spent on every year? And, again, what did these 43 people do every day they went to work?

The 160 inspectors working for 80 certifying agencies. Together they account for all oversight of every American organic farm, processor, distributor and broker/trader, including the importation of certified-organic goods from abroad. Theyre being overseen by 43 federal staffers? Yes. Thats the sum total of it.

Miles McEvoy, Obamas man in charge of Americas organic program, claims the increases were necessary to ensure the integrity of the USDA-certified organic label. But with organic food recalls and imports both going up, and the number of American organic farmers and acreage flatlining, it would appear McEvoy was totally, completely and undeniably wrong. Yet, he remains in command at the NOP.

Only organic end-products are tested under McEvoy, and just 5 percent of the time at that, and only for pesticides, not for pathogens from manure, thus accounting for the organic industrys shamefully high record of foodborne illness outbreaks. Costs of this pesticide testing are, again, covered entirely by the private sector. Many farmers make use of manure, but usually not on crops for human consumption. Only in the organic industry is manure routinely applied to fields used to grow food for humans, a practice which can be detrimental to human health, sometimes permanently, when manure is not fully composted.

And yet, the only across-the-board organic testing in Americas multibillion dollar organic industry is for GMOs, even though no one anywhere in the world, not human or animal, has ever fallen ill from consuming GMO foods. Costs, again, are borne entirely by you guessed it the private sector.

So where did all that money go if not to field testing? Perhaps to fund the hundreds of anti-modern-farming NGOs that run a constant barrage of anti-GMO, anti-pesticide, anti-fertilizer, anti-animal-confinement campaigns? On that question, there are two more troubling points to make.

First, many of the 80 certifying agencies that grant USDA organic certification to farmers, processors, etc., receive anywhere between 1.5 percent to 3 percent of gross revenue from their clients. This royalty from an industry worth roughly $46 billion a year more than Major League Baseball has proven highly lucrative just for doing paperwork. And people from these agencies, and sometimes the agencies themselves, can be found at the forefront of anti-modern-farming campaigns throughout all 50 states. Certifiers only collect royalties on shipments they approve, while being left to decide whose products theyre going to test for pesticides, just 5 percent of the time. No wonder so much organic food is being imported, with an astonishing 40 percent of it testing positive for prohibited pesticides, and with so many cases of organic foodborne illness.

Second, it turns out $9.1 million per-annum to run the office is just the tip of this organic iceberg. Another quarter of a billion $256 million to be exact was spent by the Obama Administration on subsidies to the American organic industry.

So, if American organic farm acreage flatlined over the past eight years while organic food recalls went up, along with imports, in a nation that has exported food throughout its history with one of the worlds top food safety records, what do we call this? This profligate spending not only failed to deliver, but delivered precisely the opposite of what anyone who works for a living expects from Washington.

Make no mistake. This was not simply a case of yet another program gone awry in the nations capital. The price tag for Americas new F-35 fighter is, unfortunately, a typical example of such incompetence and waste. But if the F-35 flew backwards instead of forwards, and Obama knew about it for the past eight years and funded it anyway, thatd be fraud. Fraud against American organic farmers, American consumers of organic food, and taxpayers.

Lets hope the next administration fully reverses this trend.

Editors note on the authors: Mischa Popoff is a policy advisor at The Heartland Institute, and is the author of Is it Organic? The inside story of the organic industry. Jay Lehr is the Science Director at the Heartland Institute and is the author of more than 1,000 magazine and journal articles and 30 books.

(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)

More Headlines from Opinion

Go here to read the rest:

Should the boost in funding for organic farming survive in the new ... - Food Safety News

In his new book The Science Of Enlightenment, the meditation teacher Shinzen Young claims that if you meditate for a few minutes a day, youll double your lifespan. There are two obvious possibilities here. One is that hes a charlatan. The other is that hes talking in an annoyingly metaphorical way, as when certain new age authors claim that you are the universe, which may be true in some sense, but isnt much use when youre trying to get out of a parking ticket. Actually, I think neither applies. I think he might be right. Bear with me.

If youre older than about 25, youll be familiar with the way time seems to speed up as we age. Thats probably because we encounter fewer novel experiences, so with less information to process, we pay less attention; and, in recollection, the months and years feel shorter. You can test this: just recall a recent time when you did expose yourself to lots of novelty. A five-day trip I made to Sweden last year still feels like a substantial episode in my life, but the five days either side of it have evaporated, lost to memory for ever.

The usual advice, to slow time down, is to have more exotic experiences. But few of us can spend more than a fraction of life visiting mind-blowing foreign lands; if you have a job, or kids in school, much of life will necessarily be routine. Yet, as Young points out, theres another option: what if you could increase the attention you paid to every moment, no matter how humdrum? The result would be the same: experiencing each moment with twice the usual intensity, your experience of each moment [would be] twice as full as it currently is, he writes. So any given period of time would seem to have lasted twice as long. Well, meditation certainly improves concentration. And, now that Young mentions it, the meditation retreats Ive done do seem, in memory, far longer than a few days each.

You might object that this is exactly the annoyingly metaphorical talk mentioned above. Youre not really living longer. Or are you? When we say we want to live longer, we surely dont care about the numbers on our birthday cards. We mean precisely this subjective sense of a long, full life, of expanses of time spent with those we love, or on work we enjoy. In the only sense that actually matters, then, a life to which you paid twice the attention would indeed be twice as long.

Moreover, citing psychology research, Young argues that high concentration is intrinsically rewarding, independent of what youre concentrating on. If you could fully focus on the sensations of any given experience, rather than being lost in thought about it, youd never suffer, he insists. (On those retreats, I found the searing pain in my legs eventually became a merely interesting combination of hot and cold sensations.) In short: concentrate better and youll have a happier, longer life without needing to alter your circumstances or life expectancy. After all, isnt it weird to yearn for more years when youre not even fully showing up for the ones youve got?

See the original post here:

Want to live twice as long? Meditation might help - The Guardian

By Nancy Weingartner Monroe

Published: 2017.04.21 10:34 AM

Hamid Jabbar gave up his practice of law for a full-time yoga/meditation practice.

The trials and tribulations of multi-tasking as an intellectual properties litigator brought Hamid Jabbar to the mat, first as a yoga instructor and then as a meditation guide.

Jabbar, who studied music at NYU before earning his law degree at UCLA, got into meditation when he first started practicing law. Law created a disconnection between me and my body, he says.

While we thought Jabbar was a novelty, he says, Its not that uncommon to find lawyers who teach yoga and meditation. But to do it welland full timerequires leaving behind all the lawyer trappings of expensive homes, fancy cars, Rolex watches, fine wine, five-star hotels in Europe. You get the picture.

The 37-year-old is one of the instructors at a new franchise, Current Meditation, in Phoenix, that was started by family members from three health-related franchises, Massage Envy, European Wax and Amazing Lashes. Ross Weisman is the CEO of Current.

Mindfulness is making its way into the mainstream. Most yoga classes have a few minutes at the end of the session to close your eyes and concentrate on your breath, but its not enough. Yoga has become exercise, for the most part, Weisman says. Which is why his meditation studios will be separate facilities, not just add-ons for yoga studios or gyms.

Meditation has been described as being akin to rebooting your internal computer. Benefits include reduction of stress, improved concentration, increased happiness and slowing the aging process. While waiting for the franchise to get up and running, here are some tips from Jabbar on how to do begin a meditation practice on your own:

Get in a comfortable position (sitting, lying down, lying in a hammock) and close your eyes;

Turn off all external distractions (thoughts, cell phones, fitness trackers, barking dogs may have to be marooned temporarily in the backyard);

Switch from a tight-breathing model to a more relaxed state of being;

Try to clear your mind of all thoughts, good or bad;

Breathe in through your nose, out through your nose;

Try not to fall asleep, but dont get focused on staying awakebreathe.

Start with a minute and gradually work your way up to 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, then longer.

And that iswhy theres a need for guided classes.

Jabbar says he thought about buying a franchise, but decided, I just prefer to teach.

See original here:

You Can Try This At Home, But Meditation Studios Are Currently in Vogue - Franchise Times (blog)

Spoiler alert: These are the colors of the six levels.

What if a meditation app didnt ask you to focus on your breathing? What if you didnt have to listen to someones voice telling you what to think about? A new meditation app, Sway, takes a different approach.

Instead, Sway (iOS, $2.99) connects your mind and body by asking you to move your phone slowly and continuously. When you do, it plays soothing sounds and undulates a colorful landscape on your screen. If you move too fast or too slow, it chimes and asks if youre ready to end the session.

Ive tried a lot of meditation apps, and Sway is the most beautiful Ive seen. The aesthetic comes from UsTwo, the same people who designed the achingly gorgeous Monument Valley game. And I love that it doesnt ask me to focus on my breathing, because when I do that my nose always starts to feel weird.

To keep you coming back, Sway has six levels, and you can only unlock one each day. If you miss a day, you backtrack a level. On the first day, you meet your goal (announced with a gentle chime) after just three minutes. The next day, it takes four. Then six, then 10, and finally 20 minutes. The apps makers hope you build a 20-minute-a-day habit.

The levels have different colors and, I think, different soundscapes. Each level introduces a different idea, too. At first, you just move your phone. In the second level, youre encouraged to look away from the screen (pretty as it is) and use sound from your headphones as your feedback. My favorite was the level called Balance, where you walk as slowly as possible, challenging yourself to stay steady even while youre on one foot. Youre just walking, but mindfully.

You may feel a little self conscious Swaying while waiting for the bus, although happily it works just fine to have the phone in your pocket while youre walking from place to place. In any case, this app is a novel way to meditate that is easy on the eyes and the ears.

Visit link:

Sway Is a Beautiful Meditation App That Doesn't Tell You What to Think - Lifehacker Australia

USA TODAY Sports' Tom Pelissero examines the 5 quarterback prospects that have the best chance of being selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. USA TODAY Sports

David Njoku(Photo: Associated Press)

The first time David Njoku took a seat in Todd Hartleys room, it didnt go well.

Hartley had just been hired as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach of the Miami Hurricanes. It was the spring of 2016. Njoku, a promising tight end, was one of the handful of Hurricanes watching film. The others pulled out notepads and jotted down Hartleys pointers. Hartley noticed that Njoku, keeping his eyes attached to the projector, didnt. Hartley continued, anyway.

Several minutes passed. Hartleys eyes kept returning to Njoku. He felt himself distracted at the sight of Njoku, no pen or paper. He couldnt help it.

Dude, Im getting pissed, Hartley said. You should be taking notes.

Njoku, after all, had only played tight end one season of his entire career.

What he was doing was he was watching, he was listening, Hartley told USA TODAY Sports in a phone call. He is an unbelievable learner at seeing something. Hes so visual that he didnt have to take notes. He saw it and went out to the field and applied it and did it.

Njoku may be the most intriguing prospect in the draft, and now, hes using another visual tool to help his transition to the NFL: meditation.

NFL draft TE rankings: Impressive class could be in high demand

For the better part of this past year, Njoku watched and scrutinized film of the great Miami tight ends of the past: Jeremy Shockey, Greg Olsen, Jimmy Graham, Kellen Winslow, Clive Walford. Then he cued up tape from his own one-on-one battles in practice, put the clips in slow mo, and analyzed every aspect of his hand placement, route running, catching, footwork.

Then, I go home, meditate a little bit, visualize myself doing those extra things, Njoku told USA TODAY Sports in a phone call recently.

Whether it was a certain route, running it a certain way, or after the catch, trying to find a way to break tackles with a juke, a stiff arm, a hurdle, or a spin move or whatever it was I sit down, play some nice music, and meditate and focus on more of my instincts and reactions, imagining defenders when I have the ball in my hands. I think that really helped me.

Njokus schedule is a little tighter now, well into the pre-draft process, but he does this every day to every other day. If hes running late, hell unplug for just five minutes. With more time, he stretches it to about 20. Hell do it in bed before he goes to sleep, or in the middle of the day.

It has all paid off.

Njoku caught 43 passes for 698 yards (16.2 yards per reception average) in 2016. He hauled in eight touchdowns or one on 18.6 % of his receptions.

This past season he caught passes and ran for huge chunks of yards that youd normally see from a deep threat: 76, 54, 48, 46, 33, and 30.

Is this the year there's a first-round run on tight ends in the NFL draft?

Njokus athletic traits shine. Hes 6-foot-4, 246-pounds with a track background that boasts a high school national championship in high jump. His 4.64-second 40-yard dash, 37.5-inch vertical leap and 133-inch broad jump at the NFL scouting combine all reinforce whats available on film.

But hes raw. Njoku started playing football in seventh grade. Miami recruited him as a receiver, but his Freshman 15 turned into a Freshman 30. Coaches tried him at linebacker for one week, something Njoku said humbled him. Eventually they settled on tight end.

He has played the position for only two seasons. At Miami, he appeared in just 26 games and only started nine times. He wont turn 21 until July, and is one of the youngest players eligible for this years NFL draft.

I can do it all, Njoku said. I can line up on the line of scrimmage attached, or go outside and make it happen at receiver. It hasnt really stopped me or made me think twice of making this step and coming out. Ive only played tight end for about two years. Im new to the position, but I think Im improving very fast. I think I can only get better from here on out.

Said Hartley: You can tell he has immense talent, but he just hasnt had enough reps to perfect his craft. His ceiling is so high.

So now, Njoku is trying to become the first tight end selected in the first round of the draft since 2014, when the Detroit Lions chose Eric Ebron with the No. 10 pick. Hell compete for that distinction with Alabamas O.J. Howard.

Im very relaxed, Njoku said. I feel like I put in all the work that I was supposed to put in. I showed everybody what I could do. Honestly, I feel like I could do even more than what I showed. But whatever team drafts me will see that. Im calm, you know? I probably wont be on draft day, but right now, Im relaxed.

Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

See the original post:

Draft prospect David Njoku uses meditation to help him improve as a TE - USA TODAY

Artist Justin Matherly's New Show Is a Meditation on Healing Wall Street Journal (subscription) Justin Matherly's interest in rebirth is so pervasive that even the materials he used to make his newest works reflect the concept. All but one of the sculptures in his show A recrudescence, opening April 22 at Paula Cooper Gallery, were made out of ...

Read the original:

Artist Justin Matherly's New Show Is a Meditation on Healing - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Life is shaped by our thoughts. (Photo: Bill Smith, Flickr)

After fumblingfor about four months with my mindfulness and meditation practices, I've finally regained some motivation and balance. (In my head, I'm doing a dorky, shameless happy dance about this.)

I'm back at it more regularly, which issatisfying and calming. And I'm thankful I managed to keep up efforts enough to bring myself back to it.

Even when my practices were waning, I thought a lot about themthe need, the benefits, the results of not practicing, how they fit into my overall life goals.

And maybe the simple act of reflecting has given me some additional clarity. It feels that way now.

So here are four musings I've had recently about mindfulness/meditation.

Each morning when I step outside, I try to take a few deep breaths and really feel the morning's beauty, instead of rushing out the door and missing it. This week, I took time to appreciate simple and slightly drooping irises. (Photo: Staff)

They're a lifestyle, a mindset.Even when I wasn't actively meditating every day, I held on to mindful tendencies.

I personally distinguish mindfulness and meditation, although some don't. But for me, meditation is actually sitting for a period of time in silence, focusing on breath, the present moment or a specific visualization, which can be guided by a teacher or app.

Mindfulness can be done throughout the day and involves focusing on specific tasks and being present.It's fully engaging in whatever moment you're in without judgment and distraction. It's being outside the egoic mind.

It's walking to work and feeling the way each footstep hits the ground, instead of meandering mindlessly or multitasking and checking emails on your phone. It's noticing and appreciating a lovely purple iris speckled with dew.

It's a certain awareness.

I definitelyfind it easier to be mindful when I'm meditating regularly, but I came to appreciate that I can utilize mindfulness techniques at any time. I can take a few centering breaths in a moment of stress. I don't have to be a slave to my racing, anxiety-ridden mind.

These techniques don't make all my problems or worries go away. But they aren't supposed to.

They make you uncomfortable.I've touched on this before, and the idea has proved itself true again.

Sometimes during meditation, there's nothing to do but sit with my anxiety, which is sometimes just there and outside my control.

It'd be easier to distract myself from it, and if that distraction came in the form of cleaning or other chores (it usually doesn't), perhaps that's productive.

But sitting with anxiety, which is anchored physically in my body, is also fruitful. It's uncomfortable, but worthwhile, because it builds a resilience that can't be cultivated when the mind is distracted.

Similarly, practicing mindfulness, especially during times of anxiety or depression, doesn't evoke the "let-me-take-a-moment-to-notice-this-lovely-flower" feeling.

But just as important as recognizing life's beauty is being able to observe and accept unpleasant realities without judgment.

It's not fun or easy, but it builds an invaluable wherewithal and inner strength that make dealing with the ebb and flow of emotions less painful.

The acceptance and exploration of negative emotions also provide learning opportunities. We might be surprised what happens when we listen to ourselves and our feelings. They might be telling us something, and we just need to quiet down so we can hear the lesson.

Additionally, what we resist will persist. Learning how to accept inevitable discontentment will allow us to move past it.

They open up the world.Although practicing mindfulness and meditation can bring into focus uncomfortable realities of life, it also opens up your world in a marvelous way.

It wakes us up; it helps combatnarcissism; it creates balance and can positively impact your life perspective.

The lessons practiced in mindfulness and meditation can be applied to life.

During meditation, we might be able to quiet the mind to focus on the moment or breath for only a few seconds. The more you practice, the easier it gets to do it for longer, but it's natural that the mind might wander.

Teachers will direct you not to judge yourself for that and not to judge your thoughts. You just gently redirect your focus back to the breath and the current moment. The practice might involve doing this over and over. You literally just start over every second, if needed.

There's a certain comfort that comes when you apply that practice to daily life.Every second is a chance to start over, do something better, to change your mindset or refocus on the present moment.

They promote a positive perspective.When we get outside our maddening minds, there's more room for kindness, empathy and optimism.

When we are present, there's more opportunity to observe, listen and learn.

When we are quiet, that's when we can connect deeply with ourselves and with life.

All this promotes a positive life perspective, which is priceless.

After all, life is mostly what we think it is.

The opinions expressed in this column belong solely to the author, not Nooga.com or its employees.

Go here to read the rest:

4 musings on mindfulness, meditation - Nooga.com

Photo Courtesy: satramana.org

Although fully enlightened, Ramana lived thesimplest of lives and remained mostly in silence Ramana Maharshi was the epitome of simplicity. He lived what he preached. It so happened that the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, came to visit Ramana Maharshi in his ashram, at the base of Arunachal. The ashramites started cleaning and decorating the ashram for the occasion. It was the tradition at Ramana ashram to feed animals first, followed by the beggars and guests.

Ashram residents would be the last to eat. This practice started by Ramana continues in the ashram.

On that day the beggars and monks were told to stay under a tree a little further away from the ashram and that they would be fed there. The president came and went straight to Ramanas hut to meet him. But he was not there. Everyone was perplexed because Ramana never left his hut. The president waited for him there and the ashramites started to search for Ramana but couldnt find him anywhere. After a long search, they found Ramana sitting under the same tree designated for the beggars. The ashram residents persuaded him to come back to his hut. Once he reached the hut, Rajendra Prasad touched Ramanas feet in reverence and asked him why he was sitting with the beggars.

Ramana answered, It was repeatedly announced in the ashram that the beggars should go and wait for their meal under that tree. I also have been a begging monk my whole life. Thats why I went and stayed with the other beggars.

Today is the Mahaparinirvan day of this rare saint who lived in South India in the past century.

Although fully enlightened, Ramana lived the simplest of lives and remained mostly in silence. He was born at 1.00am on December 30th 1879 in Tiruchuzhi, a small village in Tamil Nadu, 30 kilometers from Madurai, the famous Hindu pilgrimage in South India. He is considered the anshavatar, part manifestation of Shiva. Ramana came to his abode, the Arunachal hill, two hundred kilometers east of Madras, at the age of seventeen and lived there for the next 44 years. Arunachal is thought to be the Kailash of South India and is considered the physical manifestation of Shiva.

Ramanas father, Sundaram Ayyar, was a rural lawyer who was known for his honesty and purity. All the people in the area respected his honesty and truthfulness, even thieves. One day a group of thieves stole goods from a bullock cart. When they found that the goods belonged to Sundaram, they promptly returned it. Even the thieves did not like robbing him. His mother Alagamma was also equally pure and saintly. When Ramana was 12, his father died and the familys difficult times started. Since they lived in a joint family, Ramanas uncle, Subbir, took on the responsibility of Ramanas family, and they moved to his house at Madurai. Subbir loved Ramana dearly. He was admitted to Scotts Middleschool, but Ramana had no interest in formal studies. He would rather spend his time playing, wandering around and meditating in the nearby temples.

One day an elderly relative came to visit Subbirs house. Ramana asked him where he was from. When the relative said that he was from Arunachal, Ramana was thrown into a sudden ecstasy.

Ramana had often heard of Arunachal but when he realized that the holy hill was a real tangible place on earth that men could visit, he felt a magnetic pull towards Arunachal.

An event that occurred when Ramana was 17 brought about the great turn in his life. One day in mid-June 1896, he had the experience of death. In his own words, The shock of the fear of death drove my mind inwards and I said to myself mentally without actually framing the words, Now death has come; what does it mean? What is it that is dying?

He felt his consciousness leave his body. His body lay dead but his consciousness felt fully alive.

For the first time he experienced the eternal nature of the soul. This event made him absolutely introverted and he lost all interest in his studies and any other external work. Annoyed by his lack of interest in anything, his brother Nagaswami scolded him, You dont know how to study and neither do you help out in household chores. It is better that you become a wandering monk.

One day Nagaswami asked Ramana to go and pay his college fees and handed him five rupees.

Instead of paying his brothers college fees, Ramana used the money to go to Arunachal. When he found that it cost just three rupees to reach Arunachal, he left two rupees in an envelope along with a note for his brother that became famous later. It said, I am leaving home in search of my lord as it is his wish. This is a spiritual journey. None of you should be sad and dont waste money and energy trying to find me. I havent paid your college fees. I have taken three rupees and the rest of the money is in the envelope.

When he reached Madurai station, it was already past the departure time of the train to Villupuram, but miraculously it only left once Ramana got on it. A Muslim priest who suddenly appeared in the train saw that Ramana was divinely possessed and asked him where he was heading. The priest then informed Ramana that the train was going to Tiruvannamalai and disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared. Ramana reached Tiruvannamalai on the morning of September 1, 1896, where after the darshan of the Arunachal temple and hill, he went into a deep and blissful trance. After that he never left Arunachal till he left his body on April 14, 1950.

When he reached Arunachal he had very few possessions with him. However, after the darshan of his beloved Arunachal he decided to get rid of whatever little was left with him. It included a little money, food and clothes. He tore a piece from one of his shirts and turned it into a loincloth, which became his only possession from then on. He started meditating inside the temple of the thousand pillars. When others of his age saw that he was entranced in deep meditation they started to play pranks on him. Ramana was fed up with their pranks so he left his spot and started meditating in the basement of the temple where there was a Shivalinga, which was called the Patallingam. The youths stopped bothering him there but the Patallingam was heavily infested by insects since no sunlight reached there. The insects bit him all over his body but Ramana, who was in deep samadhi, took no notice.

Seeing such deep vairagya (detachment) in a young boy, a local sadhu, Shosadri Swami, started to care for Ramana. He started protecting Ramana from the local boys as well as from the insects. He then shifted Ramana to a safe place in a different temple. Slowly Ramanas vairagya and his ability to sit in one place, drowned in bliss for days, made him famous in the area. Curious folk started coming to have darshan of this silent young saint. Ramana spent time in various temples of Tiruvannamalai and in the end he came to the Virupaksha cave in the Arunachal hill. Eventually Ramana Maharshi and the Arunachal hill became synonymous with each other. Due to his presence Arunachal became famous around the world. If someone came and asked him a question, he would only gaze at the questioner with utmost compassion. After a while the questioners questions would disappear and he would be filled with great peace and spiritual fulfillment.

The Superintendent of British Police in Vellore, F. H. Humphreys, came in contact with Ramana Maharshi in the most interesting manner. Humphreys became the Superintendent of Police of Vellore at the age of 21. Due to his past life sanskars, Humphreys was a clairvoyant seer and regularly had spiritual visions. While meditating, he started to frequently see the vision of a young saint clad only in a white loincloth sitting on a hill. He made a sketch of his recurrent vision and started showing it around. The locals said that it must be Ramana Maharshi of Arunachal.

Humphreys came to Arunachal on his motorcycle all the way from Vellore, eighty-seven kilometers away. He parked his bike at the base of the hill and started scaling it in his heavy policemans uniform. The extreme midday heat and the uphill climb left Humphreys exhausted and parched.

Ramana was sitting quietly under a tree as usual. When Humphreys came near him, Ramana kept on looking at him without blinking. They were both of the same age. Humphreys couldnt take his eyes off Ramanas gaze. After 15 minutes Humphreys felt as refreshed as he had ever been before. His exhaustion disappeared and he felt as if he was bathing under a fresh spring.

Humphreys had come there with countless spiritual questions but in Ramanas presence, his questions started to sublimate. Neither did Humphreys ask any question, nor did Ramana have to utter a word. Humphreys felt so light that he thought he could fly. Without saying anything to Ramana, he started to climb down the hill. He was so elated that he spontaneously broke into a dance. While climbing up he was a serious police officer full of questions and queries; on returning he was happy and joyous like a little boy, without a tinge of worry on his face. Such was Ramana Maharshis magic.

Humphreys was Ramana Maharshis first western disciple and he visited him frequently. His love for Ramana started to grow and he asked him if he could leave his profession and give up Christianity. Ramana said, No, you need not renounce anything at all. If the need to renounce is so great then why dont you renounce your assumption that you are this body? Search deeply within for your real self. To go into this search, there is no need to quit your profession or your religion.

Along with Humphreys, there were a few other seekers from the West who knew the value of Ramana Maharshi and made him known to the world. Among them were Paul Brunton, Arthur Osborne, SS Cohen and Major AW Chadwick.

Such was the power of Ramanas silence. Ramana was in silence most of his life and his silence was totally alive and powerful. It would take seekers to a deeper space and transform them more than did the discourses of many masters. Just one compassionate glance by him would bring deep peace and contentment to many of his devotees.

swamiarun@gmail.com

Here is the original post:

On Ramana Maharshi - Republica