Meditation is cropping up everywhere. Take a look around. Probably your neighbor is doing it, your doctor is recommending it to some of her patients, and your chaplain would like everyone to ‘just close their eyes for a few moments’ and give it a try.
Naturally, the media gets involved. And a debate begins to emerge. Some question the practice. Others question its growth. Here are three links to the ongoing ‘debate’ about meditation in the workplace.
A line from the NY Times op-ed pages caught my eye today, “Silence makes it possible to think.” (“The Cost of Paying Attention” by Matthew R. Crawford, March 7, 2015)
Our sitting instructions state, “sit as quietly as you can,” but perfect silence during meditation is neither necessary nor possible. Listening to sound without running away from it, or chasing after it, is actually an important part of our basic practice (“Listening to Survive”). If, however, you happen to be looking for some real peace and quiet, you might study a new map that scientists have constructed of noise levels on an “average summer day.” The quietest (deep blue) regions include parts of Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming) and the Great Sand Dunes National Park (Colorado).
NPS Natural Sounds & Night Skies Division
Every day I receive an email with a bit of wisdom or a question in it. Today’s message seemed to capture perfectly the spirit of adventure that one might find in ‘just sitting.’
Be in harmony with each breath, each moment, and know that in giving yourself this time to develop awareness and a steadiness of attention you are nourishing spirit, head, and heart. Let it be an adventure, and in the silence and the stillness that comes with practice you’ll discover wonders here for you, now. – Elena Rosenbaum, “Awareness Meditation” from Tricycle’s Daily Dharma collection, March 4, 2015
Everyone knows that things we do habitually can carry themselves along with almost no effort. The things that require special scheduling, on the other hand, often get left in the dust: you would like to sit, maybe every day even (just a couple of minutes is plenty), but how to get that going? Tricycle magazine is here to help with their daily sitting program. Find out more at “March is Meditation Month.” (Note: some parts of their program are available only to magazine subscribers, but other parts, e.g., their blog, are free.)
Can a smartphone (or tablet, or laptop) be conducive to the cultivation of mindful awareness? It just might if it happens to equipped with a meditation app. The NY Times Personal Tech file published reviews of four iOS and Android meditation apps, Calm, Headspace, Happier, and Digipill that claim to help users calm down, cultivate awareness, get better sleep, and so on.
NOTE: Some of these apps are free and some are not. I have not tried any of them and I am not endorsing any of them. If you decide to try one, let me know what your experience is like.
Update (Mar 30, 2015): Robin passed along info about another app: Simply Being – Guided Meditation for Relaxation and Presence (available for iPhone and iPad).
Getting enough sleep is proving to be a problem for people of all ages and I have written several times about ‘sleep issues’ in this blog (here and here). The NY Times Well blog brought this subject back to my attention today with the post, “Meditation for a Good Night’s Sleep.”
Oliver Sacks is a medical doctor and professor of neurology at the New York University School of Medicine. He is also the author of many popular books, including “Awakenings,” “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” and “Uncle Tungsten.” Dr. Sack recently revealed in a NY Times op-ed (“My Own Life,” Feb. 19, 2015) that he has terminal cancer, a by-product of cancer treatment that he had received nine years ago, and he does not have long to live. About this he writes:
The Well section of today’s NY Times contains an article that connects mindfulness and how successful people are at maintaining a physical exercise routine (“How Mindfulness Can Jump-Start Our Exercise Routines,” by G. Reynolds). The emphasis here is on the word ‘routine’ because so many of us take up exercise and then, after a couple of sessions, let it lapse. Continue reading
Robin came upon this sign while visiting Chicago (home of the Rush U. Medical Center) and shared the photo. What more can I say?
