So Special/So Wounded: Navigating Our Hopes & Fears
We all tend to seek out and hope for gain, status, praise, and pleasure, and resist or fear loss, disgrace, blame, and pain – even though all are inescapable, and visit each of us in different forms throughout our lives. And how we relate to these hopes and fears – often called the 8 Worldly Winds – often dictates how we experience our entire world. This talk explores how our meditation practice can help us to pay closer attention to these various winds so that we can learn how to better allow them to rise and pass without clinging so tightly to them, and therefore, discover more freedom and ease in our lives. It includes a meditation at the end.
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50:28
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50:28
Just Thinking, Sweetie: Working With Busy Mind
Often during our meditation practice, we encounter a state known as “busy mind,” which is when there’s a kind of ongoing flow of anxious or repetitive mental chatter that tends to keep us locked in the realm of the past or the future, and therefore, mostly distracted from the reality of the present moment, or … the life we’re actually living. This talk explores how this particular mind state is created, and how we can use our mediation practice to mindfully observe and slow down the flow of thoughts, and in turn calm both the mind and body. It includes a meditation at the end.
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49:18
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49:18
BREATHE: Right Now, It's Like This
During difficult times, allowing ourselves to pause, breathe, and come back home to the present moment is exactly how we can regain our footing, become more grounded, and shore up our ability to more wisely respond instead of automatically react to whatever’s happening. This talk offers us a variety of ways that our meditation practice can help us learn to rest our attention in awareness itself, and discover more calm, compassion, and wisdom in the face of our challenges. It includes a brief meditation at the end.
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46:46
TRY SOFTER: Working With Change & Grief
An essential aspect of our meditation practice involves training ourselves to very consciously and compassionately navigate the truth of constant change, instead of allowing ourselves to become so unconsciously distracted by the swirl of it that we end up missing out on the life we’re actually living. This talk explores how we can use our mindfulness practice to discover more kindness, presence, and a sense of safety - especially during the more major periods of change and grief in our lives. It includes a 10-minute meditation at the end.
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43:54
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43:54
THIS IS IT: Now What?
Instead of resisting, denying, or trying to ignore a big change in our lives or in our world, the Buddhist teachings invite us to open up to it and deeply acknowledge: “This Is It,” and then ask ourselves: “now what?” Meaning, what’s the wisest, most compassionate response to this change? How can I relate in a way that is going to open my heart, rather than shut it down? This talk explores how we can use our mindfulness practice to help us remain calm in the midst of chaos, and discover the most beneficial answers.
Insight Meditation teacher, Shell Fischer, founder of Mindful Shenandoah Valley, offers her 25+ years of study and experience in these weekly talks about meditation practice, and how it can help us nurture more compassion, kindness, joy, and calm in our lives.
Portugal