What do we need to be brought back to life? We all get stuck from time to time. The "sparkplug" differs from person to person and depends on where we are in our lives and the circumstances we are experiencing.
"I don’t have a lot of wisdom to offer, but I do know that showing up was an act of self-care." Daphnée
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Mindful Sex. The words even sound funny together. Sex, by its nature, is mindful enough, in theory. Why do we need mindful sex, and what is mindful sex?
It is easy to decide, "This is the thing I need to do to fix my relationships and sex life". This is not one of those kinds of solutions, assuming such a thing exists. Mindful sex can be a gateway towards a more fulfilling and intimate experience of making love and intimacy. Mindful sex does not replace destructive, unfulfilling old habits or patterns. Mindful sex helps create new ones and revitalize those that were once joyful and alive! We still have to do our work.
Mindfulness and being present have become serious buzzwords in recent years. For those of us who have practiced these skills and arts for decades, it can sometimes feel like they are the latest in a long line of techniques in "microwave recovery" for whatever ails us. Here is the fascinating part: it's true and has been for thousands of years! The packaging and terminology have changed, but meditation, breathing, paying attention, and being where we are right now are the foundations of most major psychological, religious, and spiritual traditions. Ironically, people often label them as New Age practices, when in reality, they are older than "traditional" methods that people are finding are not as effective for us in today's world. Mindful sex is an extension of these practices. Again, there is nothing "new" to mindful sex. We have just given it a fancy, trendy name. It is like what we used to call tropical rainforests "jungles". There was minimal interest in preserving jungles, but tropical rainforests create an image that people want to support. We can think of mindful sex as undistracted sex while fully immersed in the experience. Who doesn't want deep, meaningful sexual and intimate experiences?
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Children talk about mindfulness in “Just Breathe” short film. For many of us, when we think about mindfulness and image of a middle-aged white male with an intense expression on his face or a twenty something year old young white female with perfect skin and body come to mind. But what about ...
Identifying the difference between freedom and lack of self-discipline is an essential teaching on our journey as spiritual beings. Thich Nhat Hanh offers us perspective to help those struggling with this important concern for anyone with or wanting to have a spiritual practice, whether it is meditation, Hatha Yoga, Tai Qi, Qi Gong or any other regular spiritual practice....
As the weather in South Korea starts to turn, so do the leaves. I have looked forward to this more this year than in the past. I wanted to see what autumn looks like in South Korea. It has arrived. Red, burnt orange, orange, yellow, ochre, green, and light green fill the streets of Cheonan. Today, being a sometimes-sunny, sometimes-cloudy day, I wanted to get out on Tang San Mountain with my camera and hiking shoes to enjoy the day. I did not leave my room till about 3:30, which was fine. It is getting dark around 6:00 these days, so I would have plenty of time to explore and take pictures of the trees and whatever else caught my fancy. I got some great shots of the top of the white cement apartment buildings, foreshadowing all the mountains in the background that surround the city of Cheonan. I had not seen this view before; it was the first time I made it to this trail. This trail was more vigorous and inclined, with better-unobstructed views of the city....
Conscious coupling seems to be getting a lot of press these days; celebrities tend to make this sort of thing happen -
Madonna at The Kabbalah Centre and
Julia Roberts with Hindu are examples of when they speak openly about religion or spirituality. I am not sure why this happens, but it does. I have never seen celebrities as people I wanted to be like, at least not those in the entertainment industry. Growing up, many athletes gave their time to worthy causes that I looked up to for that reason in the 60's and 70's. I have never felt drawn to the fact that "so and so" said something means it is something important or of value.
However, it does seem that Richard Gere's My Journey with Buddhism has really committed to the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism without making it feel like a publicity stunt. I happened to be participating in the
Kalachakra with
The Dalai Llama back in 2000 with Richard Gere and other famous people present for the ten days of spiritual training. They all kept a low profile with no autographs or photos, just like everyone else receiving the training....
What is mindful dating? Mindful dating is bringing all of you to the present, including your Highest Self, to dating. Dating is often thought of as an exercise in wanting to convince someone you are good enough for them; what if we flipped this around to say, "I want to bring all of me to dating and see if we are going to be sensational down the road after we get to know each other, not just during the honeymoon phase of dating?" What would that feel like for you?
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