We are indeed faced with many new challenges these days. Learning to cope with all of these unsolicited changes in our lives and their domino consequences is of paramount importance to our emotional and physical health.

If you lived in a childhood such as mine, these words were expressed to me quite frequently by a parent, a teacher, or even a stranger. Those words now have such a different meaning. Now I have come full circle as I teach my Mindfulness-Meditation students about the importance of stillness and of silence...to sit still!

Grief from the physical death of a loved one, friend or acquaintance is something we all have either experienced or understand. However, grief comes in many forms and always constitutes a loss of one kind or another.

During this time in our lives, it behooves us to hold in awe all of our fellow citizens who have placed their own lives at risk for the well-being of others, for their courage, sacrifice, resilience and unselfish gestures of kindness.

Experts have recommended several prophylactic measures we can take to ward-off this virus such as handwashing, social distancing, refrain from handshaking, covering sneezing and coughing, etc.

If your days are filled with emotional perpetrators such as stress or anxiety, depression or low self-esteem, worry or other such suffering, then blame your thoughts. It’s never the situation we are in nor can we blame others for our state of mind.

Once upon a long, long time ago when I was a college student, a few friends and I went to visit a Fortune Teller/Psychic who lived in a trailer just outside Hagerstown, Maryland.  As I curiously looked into her froglike bulging eyes, she told me 3 things that affected my future reactions…

This is flu and cold season. Lately I have observed how individuals respond when they are asked how they are feeling.  

Take a jar. Fill it with water. Add a scoop of dirt.  Fasten the lid.  Shake the bottle. After a few shakes, place the jar on a table.  Allow it to sit in stillness.  What happens?  The mud settles to the bottom and clarity rises to the top.

Neuroscience has also established that these thoughts (messages) we send to our brains are then delivered to our whole body. What the mind does, the body does!

When  I am asked about it or when we read about the many benefits of a daily Mindfulness practice we will learn most frequently that Mindfulness is a tool we can use to relieve ourselves of  anxiety, stress, worry, self-doubt, depressed moods, chronic pain and emotional suffering….to name just a few.

When we refer to pests, more often than not, we think of mosquitoes, flies, ants, roaches, wasps, and other assorted creatures that invade our homes. And, of course, they do cause us a degree of uneasiness and sometimes some pain. (in the you-know-where and elsewhere)

A daily routine of establishing a Mindfulness Meditation practice can be fraught with self-created hindrances. Here are just a few tips and suggestions that may aid you with such a challenge.

The advantages of a meditation practice can vary depending upon their personal objective. They can include physical, psychological and spiritual well-being depending upon your personal goal.

Regardless of where you live…Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, Thousand Oaks, Santa Clarita, etc., you can’t escape the tricks your brain can play on you!

An illusionist will tell you…you can’t believe everything you see!

How many times have you thought, “I need to make some changes in my life”?  Yet, the recognition of that thought is all there is. We think it over and over again: and there, in our thoughts, it remains.

A daily practice of Mindfulness Meditation brings countless benefits.  The most significant change is an increased sense of AWARENESS.  Awareness is the root of opportunity; for without it, change, personal self- discovery and improvement is stifled.

If you are revolving, then you may be going in circles, repeating the same patterns of behavior and thinking, creating feelings of stagnation or a lack of motivation, leading to feelings of anxiety, stress, worry or depression.

I can always predict the answer by the look on their faces when I ask students; “how’s your practice” going?

This is a question I am often asked.  Although there are many forms of meditation that result in feelings of peace, calmness or stillness of the mind, a daily practice of Mindfulness goes a step further.