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Counting the Breath Meditation Practice

Counting the Breath Meditation Practice

Counting the breath is an age-old meditation practice you will encounter in Yogic, Taoist and Buddhist traditions, and one that remains a mainstay of Zen Buddhism today. Monks entering Zen monasteries, or new students at Zen centers the world over, typically learn to count the breath as their introductory meditation practice. Counting the Breath by the Numbers Counting the breath is usually conducted in a cross-legged position on a meditation cushion (zafu) or while seated in meditation position in a…

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The Five Attainments of Meditation Practice

The Five Attainments of Meditation Practice

Occasionally I come across a piece of writing so pure and resonant that I simply want to share it—and say as little as possible. This is one such case. Written in China during the Han Dynasty, it’s one of the most straightforward guides I’ve found on training the mind—an aim of meditation—and on how this training manifests in everyday life. Enjoy. Therefore, when the mind is not worried or overjoyed, virtue is attained.When it is fluid and does not waver,…

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The Three Vital Breaths Meditation

The Three Vital Breaths Meditation

The Three Vital Breaths are a cornerstone of Taoist and Qigong meditation practice. I like to teach this breath-based practice to new meditation students because it helps to restore natural breathing, not to be confused with normal breathing You also may encounter variations of this practice in yogic traditions. Essentially it retrains your torso’s respiratory muscles to expand and contract with greater fluidity. Such optimal muscle relaxation and coordination induces a more complete inhalation and exhalation, the crux of meditative…

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The Role of Meditation in Weight Loss

The Role of Meditation in Weight Loss

Meditation can play a vital role in weight loss and improve an overweight or obese person’s ability to achieve weight-reduction goals. Recent studies indicate that approximately 70% of the U.S. population is either overweight or obese (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 25.0 kg/m2), with 40% classified as obese (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2).1 What we are witnessing is an unprecedented public health epidemic. Sad to say, only a small percentage of these people will ever achieve sustainable weight loss, somewhere between…

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An Introduction to Breath-Based Meditation Practice

An Introduction to Breath-Based Meditation Practice

Breath-based meditation is foundational in many meditation systems including ones from Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Sikhism, and various yogic schools. The reason the breath makes such a good meditation object is that it’s ever-present, immediate, vital, and links the unconscious and conscious mind. In other words, you can breathe automatically without even thinking about it; and yet, you can also consciously control your breath whenever you choose to. Breath-based meditation is also handy because you can perform it in different…

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The Three Mindfulness Adjustments

The Three Mindfulness Adjustments

As a practitioner of mindfulness meditation for 46 years, and a teacher of it for 25, I’ve followed the rise of the mindfulness movement over past two decades with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s been refreshing to see something I so value getting some airtime. On the other hand, its popularization, a.k.a. McMindfulness, has trivialized the practice beyond recognition, depicting it as a faddish skill you can pick up over a weekend. Mindfulness isn’t a new way to…

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