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Ideas that tell us what they wish.
Practicing mindfulness of thoughts can be tricky, because they so easily pull us in. Here are some beautiful phrases from a guided...

jon walker
Dec 23, 20211 min read


A process.
A quote from one of my favorite mentors, Stan Eisenstein: “Why do we do mindfulness and meditation? It is about recognizing that for...

jon walker
Dec 20, 20211 min read


Not on Amazon.
It is the time of year to give gifts, but the best gift you can give to someone is simply the power of your presence. This quote by the...

jon walker
Dec 16, 20211 min read


Being With Change. Short Version.
Another pithy definition of mindfulness I enjoy. This from the teacher James Baraz: “Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is...

jon walker
Dec 14, 20211 min read


More is less than enough.
From a daily reading in the Al-Anon book Courage to Change. They are speaking about the regenerative power of cultivating gratitude: “If...

jon walker
Dec 11, 20211 min read


Intense mindfulness.
Dr. Jackie Gardner-Nix has done a lot of work on helping chronic pain sufferers through mindfulness. She makes this cogent point to...

jon walker
Dec 8, 20211 min read


Control.
Although I am by no means a mental health professional, as a mindfulness teacher I enjoy learning about acceptance and commitment therapy...

jon walker
Dec 6, 20211 min read


Listening
I really love this Mr. Rogers quote (Fred, not Carl!): “I need thinking time when someone asks me a searching question. I wonder why it...

jon walker
Dec 4, 20211 min read


What is meditation?
Al-Anon is a 12-step program for those who have loved ones who struggle with addiction. It is a wonderful program of self-discovery and...

jon walker
Dec 2, 20212 min read


Not arriving yet.
Sam Harris on how we so often miss what is right in front of us because we’re looking right through it. You have to read this kind of...

jon walker
Nov 28, 20211 min read


Beyond thought.
The thinking mind often struggles to “understand” mindfulness, but that intellectualization often just gets in the way. As the teacher...

jon walker
Nov 17, 20211 min read


Glass sculpture
Sharon Salzberg on the effort involved in following the breath: “Sometimes in my own practice, I use this image of holding something very...

jon walker
Nov 15, 20211 min read


Inner critics.
Kristen Neff, a pioneer in self-compassion research, often cites a study looking at how people tend to be much harsher on themselves than...

jon walker
Nov 10, 20211 min read


Comparing.
A great quote from the teacher Sam Harris: “Notice your tendency to compare yourself to other people. This is a habit that is born of a...

jon walker
Nov 8, 20211 min read


Breathe.serene
This is just a shout out to a place of much needed tranquility on the busy interwebs: @breathe.serene. Such a delightful interplay of the...

jon walker
Nov 5, 20211 min read


Doing less.
A nice meditation pep talk by the teacher Sam Harris: “And as we continue to deconstruct normal waking consciousness, you'll begin to see...

jon walker
Nov 1, 20211 min read


Blindspots.
A great quote by Elliot Aronson, Ph.D., who helped pioneer the study of cognitive dissonance. “We all have blind spots, and perhaps the...

jon walker
Oct 30, 20211 min read


Noticing.
I collect short definitions of mindfulness—it is surprising how many different ways there are to summarize the practice. Here’s a fave...

jon walker
Oct 27, 20211 min read


A reminder.
A quote by the author and educator Parker Palmer: Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others; rather, it means...

jon walker
Oct 24, 20211 min read


Whether the Weather.
After the Serenity Prayer, this is perhaps the ultimate equanimity poem, apparently written by an anonymous elementary student in an ESL...

jon walker
Oct 21, 20211 min read
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