Meditation Archives - Page 4 of 24 - Madhu Bazaz Wangu
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Meditation

Thursday, May 22, 2025

Posted on May 21, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Meditation
2 Comments

By now you know that there are variety of meditations. Different meditations train different kinds of mental habits. We practice loving kindness meditation; full body scan; and guided meditations. I strongly suggest that at home you either practice Analytical Meditation (as we discussed in the Mindful Creators Class) or Focus on the Breath Meditation to monitor thoughts without getting swept away by them. Whatever you practice, will improve.  Mindfulness as you know is awareness or attention, becoming conscious of our consciousness. When we pay attention to the in-flow and the out-flow of our breathing, it connects us to the present moment. Mindfulness unfolds. The brain’s executive center, prefrontal cortex, located behind the forehead, gives us ability to anticipate the future, and recall the past. Neither past nor future events have power...

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Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Posted on May 19, 2025
in #Neuroscience and Meditation, Flourishing, Meditation, Well Being
1 Comment

Here’s some food for the mind: An EEG (Electroencephalogram) waves represent the synchronous firing of neurons, primarily in the cerebral cortex and are detected through electrodes placed on the scalp. There are five main types of EEG waves: delta occur during deep sleep; theta during drowsiness; alpha when we relax or are awake with eyes closed; beta when we are alert, actively thinking or concentrating. Finally, gamma, the fastest brain waves occur during the moments when differing brain regions fire in harmony, such as moments of insight.  Gamma waves occur when the elements of mental puzzle click together. To get some sense of how it feels, try this: What one word can change each of these into compound words: sauce, pine, crab?OR imagine biting into a ripe juicy sweet peach. Suddenly your senses of sight, smell, taste, feel and sound mesh into a single...

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Thursday, May 8, 2025

Posted on May 7, 2025
in Meditation, Spirituality
4 Comments

Practicing meditation frequently can produce pleasant states but real payoffs are lasting traits that result from practicing it diligently. Altered traits shape how we behave in our daily lives. The most compelling impact of meditation is not better health but a development of better nature. With years of practice it cultivates selflessness, equanimity, a loving presence, and compassion.  In 1987 the Dalai Lama organized meetings of leading scientists at Mind and Life Institute he has established in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India where he now lives. Its mission “to alleviate suffering and promote flourishing or utter wellness by integrating science with contemplative practices.” To debate, discuss and engage in serious research on meditation, he brought together a community of like-minded scholars and scientists from around the world who share this quest. The graduates...

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Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Posted on May 5, 2025
in Meditation, Spirituality
4 Comments

This month we’ll focus on Mindfulness and Neuroscientific research related with meditation. Mindfulness is part of an ancient tradition with countless benefits. It teaches how to calm down and pause, instead of reacting with your anger or irritability, you act without getting stressed or anxious. But originally the practice was not intended for such purposes. These are simply its side-effects. Easy and brief meditations are its spinoffs that have been adopted only recently. The original aim of meditation, still embraced in some cultures and circles, focusses on deep exploration of the mind to get insights into human consciousness.  A woman undergoing electroencephalography. Using fMRI and EEG (explained below) and a battery of cutting-edge data analysis for the last thirty years or so neuroscientists have been studying minds of Tibetan monks by...

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Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Posted on April 21, 2025
in Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Spirituality
4 Comments

Not too far back I read about a monastery. It said, in 1957 an entire monastery in Thailand was being relocated by a group of monks. One day while moving a giant clay Buddha, one of the monks noticed a large crack. On closer investigation, he saw golden reflection emanating from inside. The monk used a hammer and a chisel to chip away the clay exterior until an image made of solid gold was revealed. Art historians believe that centuries earlier, monks covered an image of the Buddha made in solid gold with clay to protect it from attack by the Burmese army. The news fascinated me because here was a perfect metaphor about life hidden in the discovery. Our Authentic Self (Consciousness, Presence, True Self) is the golden Buddha shining...

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Thursday, April 10, 2025

Posted on April 9, 2025
in Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Reading
2 Comments

Singing the praises of reading Horace Mann, the  American public education reformist advised, “Resolve to edge in a little reading every day even if but a single sentence.”  Erasmus, 15th century scholar and humanist wrote, “Before you sleep, read something that is exquisite and worth remembering.” “When you walk in the mist, you get wet,” says the thirteenth-century Zen master Dogen. He means that you absorb the stuff you take in and the environment that surrounds you.   Reading lets you step out of your cloistered life and dwell in the midst of masters. By the process of unconscious assimilation, good books enter your mind. Reading improves vocabulary, reasoning, concentration, empathy, social perception, and emotional intelligence. Read new books and read old books. Read books written by living writers and those from earlier eras. Read everything you feel is relevant....

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Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Posted on March 31, 2025
in Journaling, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Nonverbal Activities, Spirituality
4 Comments

Some of you might be struggling with silent meditation practice. Here are a few suggestions for you to use. Hope this helps!  Establish a formal meditation time when and where you have minimal of distraction. It is crucial to sit regularly. Mornings are great, evenings are good too. Sit in the same place each time. You will associate that space with tranquility and therefore look forward to sitting.  The very act of sitting still in silence and solitude will settle your mental clutter and recharge your battery. Let the practice grow gradually and gently. Even ten minutes of silent meditation daily is very beneficial.  The purpose of Mindfulness Meditation is to transform your living experience. You now know  the difference between sensation, conscious thought, and emotion. You are learning how to meditate in the...

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Thursday, March 27, 2025

Posted on March 26, 2025
in Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Spirituality
6 Comments

This is the last Inspiration on meditation as next week we begin a month of “Mindfulness and Reading for Pleasure.” However, we continue the practices of Meditation and Journaling to strengthen our mindfulness. Mindfulness helps us see things as they truly are, with wisdom and without prejudices or biases that spring from anger, hatred, jealousy, greed and delusion. Relationship Between Body and MindWithout mind body is blind and without body mind is disable. Like a log, body can do nothing by itself except grow, decay and die. The mind can do nothing without the support of the body. But both together, as we know, they have power to connect us with our Authentic Self and teach us to be 100% honest with ourselves.    In our day-to-day life, we face unpredictable obstacles or advantages....

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Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Posted on March 24, 2025
in Journaling, Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds
4 Comments

A half-century of neuroscientific research has concluded that meditation is as important to your mental well-being as exercise is to the physical health. If you exercise regularly, you build stronger muscles, denser bones, and increased stamina. If you meditate daily, your attention span, memory, and patience increase. You learn to manage negative emotions and situations more efficiently and strengthen sense of calm, resilience, and interconnects with others.  The moment we were born, the breath was with us and the moment it leaves, we die. Wherever we go, our breath goes with us. It is our anchor. It is perfect the way it is. We need not speed it up, force it, grasp it, push it away or control it. Simply pay attention to its natural rhythm, letting it continue its work without...

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Thursday, March 20, 2025

Posted on March 19, 2025
in Meditation, Meditation & Journaling at Ashby Ponds, Spirituality
2 Comments

By now you’ve discovered that meditation is simple but not easy. It is rather difficult to do. You ask yourself; then why do I practice it?  You practice it because a spirit of adventure dwells within us—a wondering and wandering spirit. But this spirit, the Authentic Self, that eventually awakens and communicates with us with an inner voice as gentle as air and as strong as a swan’s feather, does not reveal itself easily. We use meditation and journaling to dig deeper, excavate and connect with this fragile bond. On rare occasions you feel an unease coursing through your body. You think, I’m capable of so much more than what I am right now. Is there something I can do to get rid of this feeling?  You certainly can!  Such feelings emerge when your body, heart,...

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