Meditation Matters

Poet Mary Oliver wrote soul-searching lines of trauma and grace, as well as accessible verses celebrating nature, beauty, life and joy.  Today we'll read from her poem "The Journey."

In these uncertain and challenging times, we all need to find ways to heal. Of course, healing does not mean that pain doesn't exist. It means that the pain no longer controls you. Through gratitude, we can improve our resilience, our optimism, and our ability to cope with pain and uncertainty. Today's meditation will focus on the healing power of gratitude.

Today's poem comes from A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh. 

In celebration of "Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day", today's meditation will focus on Lovingkindness. 

It doesn't always feel this way, but joy is a state of being we can choose. What's more, joy is infinite and always within us. Today's podcast will focus on expanding joy. 

As part of Well-Being in Law Week, today's meditation will focus on emotional well-being. We'll practice letting go of the things we don't want and expanding the things we do want.

As part of Well-Being in Law Week, today's meditation will focus on social well-being. Healthy relationships can profoundly impact our mental health and overall wellness. Research shows that we live longer, heal faster, have less stress and more joy. So today, let's expand our social well-being by focusing on deepening our relationships and connections with others. 

Meditation can help us achieve professional well-being by allowing us to focus on true and lasting success. As part of Well-Being in Law Week, today's meditation will focus on Professional Well-Being.

Meditation can help us calm our mind and provide the fertile soil where answers we seek can come more easily. Today's meditation will focus on spiritual well-being.

Research shows that meditation can help reduce the body's production of cortisol, which is our body's stress hormone. As a part of Well-Being Week, today's meditation will focus on slowing down and releasing stress.

William Wordsworth's poetry captures the healing powers and beauty of the natural world. It provides respite from the business of our daily lives. Today we'll listen to his poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud".

The most productive thing you can do is to do nothing. Today's podcast will focus on being still.  

Today's meditation will focus on the poetry of Wendell Berry and healing power of nature.

Today's podcast will focus on a spring cleaning of the soul.

Today's podcast features poetry from Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese-American writer and poet. Gibran is most famous for a book of poems called "The Prophet", first published in English in 1923.  Remember poetry, like meditation, can be experienced in any way you experience it.

Often the greatest gift we can give ourselves is the gift of stillness. Today's podcast will focus on compassionate breathing. 

George Bernard Shaw once said "We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.” Today's podcast will focus on being playful.

Today's Poetry Friday will focus on words from David Steindl-Rast. While you're listening, become aware of a growing feeling of gratitude. 

While it's true that every season contains infinite possibilities, spring seems to be nature's reminder of all that is possible. Perhaps this is because spring is when we can easily observe the life bursting forth in everything. Today we'll share a few poems about spring. 

Bruce Lee once said "Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend." Today we'll focus on becoming like water.

Love is the key ingredient to healing. When we feel the power of love, we connect to our deeper spiritual self. Today's meditation will focus on the healing power of love.

A beginners' mind is a mind full of curiosity and wonder, free of preconceptions and expectations.  Today's podcast will focus on reclaiming the beginners' mind. 

Thích Nhất Hạnh once said "if we are not calm, we cannot listen and understand."  Today's meditation will focus on finding stillness. 

In solidarity with Catherine, Princess of Whales, we'll enjoy some classic poetry from the United Kingdom. 

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is to just relax.  Today's podcast will focus on meditating to achieve complete relaxation.

William Edgar Stafford was a poet from Hutchinson, Kansas. Some of his most poignant poems are about the simple beauty of nature and appreciating the moment. Today we'll reflect on his poem "Ask Me". 

It's been said that what we focus on expands and grows. Thus when we focus on the goodness in our lives, we actually create more of it.  Today's podcast will focus on prayer through gratitude. 

You are completing deserving of peace, now and always. From time to time, your mind may begin to wander to a memory of fear. That's part of being human. Today's meditation will focus on welcoming peace with our breath. 

Joy is a state of being you can choose. Joy is infinite and part of who we really are. Sometimes we simply need to reawaken the joy that exists naturally within us.  Today's meditation will focus on the joy within. 

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a mindfulness training program created by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979. It is supported by a wide body of research showing that is effective in treating stress, chronic pain, anxiety, and even depression. One component of the program is called the body scan, in which we bring awareness to various parts of our body. Today's podcast will focus on the body scan component. 

Welcoming inner peace begins with choice. Our emotions are our emotions. In the words of the American nun Pema Chödrön "Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions." Today's meditation will focus on welcoming inner peace.

Mindfulness is simply expanding your awareness of your own actions, thoughts and feelings. It is the practice of non-judgmental serving. It allows us to liberate ourselves from the extremes of thinking too much and thinking too little. Today's podcast will focus on choosing mindfulness.

Especially in times of uncertainty or difficulty, it's important to remember that we all deserve happiness. True happiness is not dependent on what is happening around us, but is within us and always available. Today's podcast will focus on choosing happiness.

Thich Nhat Hanh once said "Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor." Today's podcast will focus on conscious breathing.

When love is the foundation of your life, there are no limits or problems that cannot be solve. Today's meditation will focus on the healing power of love.

Margaret Atwood is known for her book series The Handmaid's Tale and is regarded as one of Canada's finest writers. She is also an accomplished poet and activist.  Today's meditation will focus on poetry from Margaret Atwood.

We all feel anger from time to time, both in our personal lives and as we bear witness to injustice around the world. Anger is natural, and if properly directed can lead to positive emotions and actions.  Today's podcast will focus on releasing anger.

What is humility exactly? It's not the observation of ourselves as small, but rather viewing ourselves as part of something larger.  Today's podcast will focus on finding greatness through humility.

Bobby McFerrin once sang "In every life we have some trouble. But when you worry, you make it double." Today's podcast will focus on living a stress-free life. 

Today's podcast will focus on meditation to achieve complete relaxation.

Wendell Berry's poetry celebrates the sacredness of life and everyday miracles.  Today's meditation will feature a few of Berry's poems, including "The Peace of Wild Things." 

Today's meditation will focus on sending wishes of wellbeing to others.

Today's podcast will focus on expanding our connection with the entire universe.

George Barnard Shaw once said "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." Deciding to bring more playfulness into our lives is a decision to stay young in mind, body, and spirit. Today's podcast will focus on being lighthearted and childlike. 

There is nothing planned for today's podcast, so instead we'll focus on the act of breathing. Sometimes the greatest gift we can give to ourselves is the gift of mindful breathing. 

Sometimes people judge and say "Don't just sit there, do something." But occasionally it's nice to do the opposite. Today's podcast will focus on simply sitting.

Henry David Thoreau once said that our health requires relaxation and aimlessness. Today's meditation will focus on letting our breath be our masseuse.

It's been said that spirituality is the bravest journey. Today's meditation will focus on strengthening our connection with the divine and fearlessly peering into the mysteries of life. 

Inner peace is always there. It is not necessarily the solution, but it is a way to the solution. Today's podcast will focus on welcoming inner peace.

It seems like stress can be a familiar friend, always with us. But stress is not a mandatory part of life. Today's podcast will focus on enhancing our wellbeing by letting go of stress and releasing worry. 

It doesn't always feel this way, but joy is a state of being that you can choose. Today's podcast will focus on one of our intentions for 2024, which is to live joyfully present.