Hello and welcome everyone. Today on Episode 74 of Your Mindful Life podcast, our topic is the pause. We know that pausing is a good thing. It puts us firmly in the present. It is that moment of equanimity in which we can take in everything without reacting or judging. It allows us to get the big picture and to direct our energy thoughtfully and creatively to what is meaningful. Pausing our hearts have the time and space to open wide to receive and to give. So, now, after more than 70 episo...

How do ethics affect our daily lives? Do all virtues resonate equally with us? How has our conditioning as children in our families, communities, and cultures formed how ethics play out for us now as adults? Hello and welcome everyone. Today we’re exploring ethics and how our motivations and behavior reflect our personal ethics. As children we are conditioned by the ethics of our family, community, and society at large. We were probably taught how we should behave when confronted with ...

Today we’re investigating how to practice mindfulness meditation when we feel it is too hard or not possible. Or some other difficulty arises and gets in the way. Mindfulness is key to managing the difficulties and challenges of life. It is how we are in the world. It can be difficult to be mindful. We practice mindfulness meditation so that our mindfulness strengthens, deepens, and opens our hearts. Sometimes it is difficult to meditate. We have pre-conceived ideas about what it is an...

Hello and welcome. This week we explore the fourth face of love—equanimity. Equanimity is the state of mental calmness and evenness of temper in which the mind is steady and balanced and judging is absent. It is a state that allows us to take in the whole picture of a situation without coloring it and reacting to it, and to be fully aware in the moment. With equanimity our minds are even and imperturbable while at the same time fully engaged with the circumstances of a situation and aware...

Hello and welcome. Today we're talking about the third face of love -- Appreciative Joy. Appreciative joy is the quality of love that recognizes the full worth of joy in our and others lives. It is about being happy with other people—delighting in the joy of others and creating joy in ourselves. Appreciative joy blossoms when we recognize our reciprocal and interconnected humanity. We might think that it is easy to feel happiness for the happiness and good fortune of others and oursel...

Today we’re talking about compassion and what gets in the way of our acting compassionately. Compassion is the second face of love. Compassion is the recognition of suffering, the desire to relieve suffering, and the acting to relieve it without any expectations of anything in return. Check out out Episode 8 that also talk about the four faces of love. Compassion comes naturally but is difficult when obstacles get in the way. Being able to recognize obstacles allows us to mindfully be ...

Today we’re exploring the First Face of Love—Lovingkindness. The practice of lovingkindness cultivates our natural capacity for an open , alive, and loving heart. When we dedicate ourselves to a lovingkindness practice, we feel our heart opening and staying open even when troubles happen. It might be hard to get our heads around the word lovingkindness. Maybe the thought — What other kind of kindness is there? Or, “What has love got to do with kindness?” arises. When we are loving...

Can you be with delays without getting upset? When trouble hits can you accept it without getting angry? When you become ill can you tolerate it, even accept it? Join me! Announcing a four-week meditation class, The Four Faces of Love, meeting once a week on Zoom beginning June 7, 2023. In this class we will explore lovingkindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. For more information and to register click here or paste https://yourmindfulpractice.com/book-a-class into your bro...

Do you ever find yourself making excuses such as “I didn’t have time.” “I had to do errands.” “I got busy and forgot.” Hello everyone and welcome. Today we’re investigating the practice of diligence and how it can not only help us get things done—like for example, our daily meditation—but also how it is about opening to our natural joy and how cultivating a joyful attitude towards what needs to get done helps us complete our tasks and makes us feel good. We look at the reasons we need to ap...

Do you have a favorite place or time of day to meditate? If the space around you is noisy, do you feel that you can’t meditate? Or maybe you feel that other conditions are necessary to be able to meditate? Do your preferences dictate your experience? Today we’re talking about how preferences can intrude on our ability to be with it all—to be mindful—in our practice and everywhere else. We are continuously striving for comfort—even in our meditation practice. We like what we like. Maybe a ce...