Showing posts with the tag “Meditation”

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• March 23, 2021
  23Mar2021

  Sleepovers at Baba's: Coming Back to Home Base

  

  Once upon a time when I was very young, maybe between three and seven years old, I would often stay overnight at my grandmother's house. My grandmother, my grandfather, and my aunt Mary lived together in Oak Park, Illinois. I've written several posts about Mimi, which is what we cousins called our Aunt Mary. My grandmother we called Baba. She and my "Gramps" emigrated from Greece as teens and built a strong life and family in America.

  One of my fondest memories continues to be sleeping over at their house--Baba, Mimi, and Gramps's house on Maple Avenue. The photo that heads this story is that house. Of all the lovely places I've lived in my life, I think my memory of that house brings the most peace. Here's why....

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• February 28, 2017
  28Feb2017

  Coaching Corner: 4 Centering Practices to Increase Confidence and Focus

  

  How do you practice centering?

  It's been a while since I've written about specific ways to get centered and to incorporate the practice of centering into your daily life, and it's best to start with the basics, like breathing in and out consciously. One of my personal favorite reminders to center is to notice when I'm holding my breath--it happens more often than you'd guess--and to open my throat and let the breath come in.

  We're usually not breathing when we’re upset or in conflict, but sometimes we stop for no real reason--opening a car door, for example, or sitting at your computer. You could be doing it now. Are you breathing? Just try to notice more often. It's a simple and powerful practice.

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• September 30, 2014
  30Sep2014

  Happier: Thoughts and Practices on Centering and Mindfulness (Part 2)

  

  One of the questions I'm most often asked is: How do you center yourself, especially in a difficult moment? 

  I found Doug Silsbee's core body practice on centering thoughtful, practical, and easy to understand. As Doug suggests, you center yourself in difficult moments by practicing an excercise like this one over and over again until it becomes your default under pressure. Centering is not automatic. A strong center is similar to any strong muscle. It is developed through practice.

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• September 16, 2014
  16Sep2014

  Happier: Thoughts and Practices on Centering and Mindfulness (Part 1)

  

  Today, Ki Moments begins a series of posts on practices to increase centering and mindfulness.

  Its purpose will be to answer these questions:

  • How do I actually do it?
  • How do I get centered, become grounded, more mindful and present in life's difficult moments.
  • As Dan Harris puts it in his new book, 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--how do I know when I've achieved it?

  In the next weeks, invited guests and I will share thoughts and practices for achieving a more balanced, aware, and centered life, at work and at home. 

  We start with a review and quotations from Dan's' book ...

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• May 13, 2014
  13May2014

  The Art of Noticing: 3 Steps for Returning to Center

  

  My mind is going a million miles a minute, in a dozen directions. As I lie on the yoga mat, I think:

  Stay here.

  I manage it for 3-4 seconds and then I'm off on some thought train.

  Find your Stillness.

  Yes, for 3-4 seconds more, and off again.

  When meditating each morning, I count my breaths. I'm lucky if get to 5 before I lose track and have to start over. As I count, I'm present. I feel the breath come in and out. Then ... I'm not.

  That's the point. To notice and come back.

  To return to center. 

  On the mat ... and in life...

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