Meditations...

I don't know if this makes me old-fashioned, or new-fashioned, but I think meditation is the single most important thing you can do in your day (next: eat a good breakfast). I'm not an expert by any means, but even 2 minutes of trying makes my day go in a whole different direction.

In April, The New York Times (magazine) conducted an interview with hip hop guru and mogul Russell Simmons, who is a great believer in meditation and yoga (which he focuses on in his recent book Do You!). Anyways the reason the article stuck in my mind is because it highlighted, unintentionally, how little we understand what meditation means, however commonplace the topic has become:

Your book basically advocates for old-fashioned American values — i.e., work hard, don’t give up. The book doesn’t say just work hard. It says meditate. That’s the most important thing in the book. I go to yoga every day. I meditate every morning. Do you meditate?

I prefer reading in bed. That for me is meditation. No it’s not. It’s noise. It’s the opposite. To be awake is to be fully present, no noise, just you and God. Most of us only have seconds of full consciousness. To live in a state of samadhi — that’s what we’re here for.

Yeah, he said it. Noise. The absence of meditation. I bet a lot of people think meditation means reading in bed. It's nice, but maybe not what they were going for...

This lens gives a quick intro on what meditation can mean: http://www.squidoo.com/preksha/ - its goals, its benefits, and how it can work.

There are a lot of lenses on meditation on Squidoo, all featuring different techniques, tricks, philosophies and beliefs of how it's done, and all good. I'm giving you this one because it shows you the possibility of what meditation can mean for you. Once you're hooked, you can go looking for more.

So get hooked.

A Guide to Grief

No matter how much emotional intelligence you may subscribe to yourself, or how many times you may or may not have experienced loss, grief is not something any of us can "handle" or "manage", even if we're just consoling a loved one on their loss. No one can tell you what your or your friend's grief will feel like, or what the grieving process will entail or how long it will be, or what the right thing is that can fix you or help you move on. What is universally true is that loss unleashes powerful emotions and feelings that are far outside our normal range of functioning. They will manifest themselves differently in each of us, and we'll all have different paths to take to get through our loss, but the enormity and otherness of the emotion remains the same. Whether you shut down completely, or you flounder in a sea of emotion where a river once ran, grief is uncharted territory for us all. We're not given a map or a 'get out of jail free' pass that takes us right to the finish line, but we can bring a guidebook along for the ride. If nothing else, it makes the journey less scary - or maybe it just gives us a place to start... http://www.squidoo.com/coping/ http://www.squidoo.com/groups/grief-and-loss-club (Note: apart from a-guide-to-grief lenses, you'll also find many tribute lenses dedicated to people lensmasters have lost. Squidoo also features specialist lenses devoted to a variety of sub-topics including helping children cope, and dealing with the loss of a pet. I encourage you to use these lenses as a starting point, and further explore the resources listed within them such as recommended books and videos, and suggestions for types of centres/helplines worth talking to.)