We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss. We practiced a guided meditation adapted from Dr. Rick Hanson‘s book, The Buddha’s Brain: the Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom. We explored a gradual expansion of focus from the area where we felt the breath most distinctly, to feeling all parts of breathing, to the whole body and finally on the faculty of being aware itself.
We had the first of our four part series of yogic explorations of the inner body. We studied how the pathways of connective tissue in the body, or the fascia, organize themselves by the ways we are structured and by ways we move. Like this spider web’s elegant design our bodies can bear weight and force, pushes and pulls. Yet if we’re strained excessively, pulled out of balance or hardened by lack of movement, we’re vulnerable to injury. Thankfully, like the spider we have the capacity to repair our web – working intelligently to strengthen and stabilize from our center so we can radiate movement outward with support!
We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss. The class was dedicated to the memory of Kim Werdel and her family. We practiced an adaptation of Dr. Rick Hanson‘s guided meditation called Expanding the Circle of Loving Kindness. The meditation is drawn from his book, The Buddha’s Brain: the Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom.
We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss. We practiced Dr. Rick Hanson‘s guided meditation called Opening to a Growing Sense of Contentment. The meditation is drawn from his audio series, The Enlightened Brain. In this meditation we experienced empathy and acceptance by attuning to our own bodies, emotions and thoughts.
We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss. We practiced a loving kindness meditation inspired by author and meditation instructor, Tara Brach. We discussed some of the neurological underpinnings of empathy as outlined by Dr. Rick Hanson in his book, The Buddha’s Brain: the Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom. We also discussed some of the exciting new research about stress that Dr. Kelly McGonigal outlined in her TED Talk entitled, How to Make Stress Your Friend.
We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss. We practiced Dr. Rick Hanson‘s guided meditation called Equanimity. The meditation is drawn from his book, The Buddha’s Brain: the Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom.
The meditation encourages students to explore the “mind of no preferences”. My partner Tim’s photo of this amazing mushroom inspires me to reflect on equanimity. We’ve recently enjoyed one of the most beautiful summers ever – day after day of sunshine followed by intense thunder storms. Rather than be dismayed at the returning rain, Tim and I have been enraptured by these magical mushrooms blanketing the forest floor near our home. It’s described as a fungus, developing from a primordium. It’s fruiting body eventually to be surrounded by a universal veil. Now how cool is that!?!
We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss. We practiced Dr. Rick Hanson‘s guided meditation called Feeling Strong. The meditation is drawn from his book, The Buddha’s Brain: the Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom.
Rick explores what motivates our behavior. A guiding principle of his work is the practice of using our minds to change our brains – which in turn predisposes us to have healthier minds. He asserts that it’s important to cool causes of suffering and to warm up causes of happiness with our intentions. Intentions involve strength applied to clear and appropriate goals, sustained over time. Acting with healthy intentions requires awareness. Yet most intentions are operating outside our awareness!
We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss. We practiced Dr. Rick Hanson‘s guided meditation called Feeling Connected. The meditation is drawn from his excellent audio program called Stress-Proof Your Brain: Meditations to Rewire Neural Pathways for Stress Relief and Unconditional Happiness.
Rick observes that most of us live our lives at a slow simmer of tension. He offers a variety of “mind-body” tools to cool the fires of stress. He suggests that the most powerful way to use the mind body connections to improve mental and physical health is through guiding the autonomic nervous system – specifically the parasympathetic nervous or “rest & digest” system. Every time we calm your nervous system we tilt body/brain/mind increasingly toward inner peace and well being.
We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss. We practiced Dr. Kristin Neff‘s guided meditation called Self Compassion. Kristin is a professor of psychology and author of Self Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up & Leave Insecurity Behind. She’s conducted pioneering research into self-compassion and has developed an 8-week program to teach self-compassion skills. I learned about Kristin after listening to and interview with her in Rick Hanson‘s Compassionate Brain series. I encourage you to investigate these resources as both are generously offered as a community service.
We had our Sunday Introduction to Meditation Class at Yoga Bliss. We practiced a guided meditation called Taking in the Good from The Buddha’s Brain: the Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom.
Neuropsychologist, author and instructor, Rick Hanson, suggests this practice to help overcome what scientists believe is the brain’s built-in “negativity bias.” Rick suggests intentionally practicing ways to “take in the good” to improve how you feel, get things done and treat others.