One Heart One Mind

This week I talk to Diane Hamilton of Two Arrows Zen Center about her new book, The Zen of You and Me. Diane epitomizes how beautifully a mature mindfulness practice can show up in an elegant, integrated and dynamic human being. Listen in as we talk meditation, adult development, working with pain and difference, and becoming your biggest self. She leads us in a closing meditation that is signature Diane “Musho” Hamilton.    

In a mindfulness practice, eventually we realize the importance of opening the heart. Whereas “Mindfulness” stresses making empowering distinctions in awareness, “Heartfulness” implies sensing into the unity that lies beneath all the differences, otherwise known as “Love.” Thomas shares an intriguing piece of scientific research in this podcast and offers a practice to help you start living more fully from your heart today. Also, check out lowerlightsslc.org to learn about offerings to deepen your practice.

Once a month Thomas chooses a particular theme that has come up in discussions and offers a longer guided meditation around it. Enjoy this month’s extended meditation that will help you not just be more present in daily life, but actually have the experience of being Presence.

It’s so easy to go through life believing that we are alone and separate. Listen to this podcast as Thomas relates some touching examples of just how connected we really are. Connection is not without its risks, of course–with true intimacy always comes vulnerability. But we find that vulnerability is a small price to pay for the experience of participating in the great flow of Life.

Sir Ken Robinson, in a stirring and hilarious Ted Talk, jokes that university professors relate to their bodies as though they were simply vehicles for getting their heads around from meeting to meeting. The rest of us are not far off. In this episode you will learn about both the challenge and opportunity of remaining embodied throughout adult life. Thomas offers a simple guided meditation for unsticking awareness from the head and healing this classical body-mind split.

Have you wondered how mindfulness as a practice can transform you? Or what the benefits of practicing in community versus practicing alone are? Join us for our first video broadcast on Mindfulness+ to discuss these questions with three long-time members of the Lower Lights Sangha (Igor and Madison Limansky, and Gloria Pak). Each of them shares in a very personal way what mindfulness practice has meant to them and why the time is NOW for you to really commit to practice.

Once a month, Thomas guides a longer meditation to give you an opportunity to go a little deeper and discover new territory in your mindfulness practice. Find a quiet place for this episode where you can sink in and let go. Thomas gives instruction on the basics of using a mantra (a word or syllable repeated to increase concentration) as well as a taste of expansive flavors of concentration.

Would it surprise you to learn that your brain has evolved over millions of years, only to misrepresent reality? To systematically exaggerate danger and underestimate reward? Neuropsychologist, Rick Hanson, argues exactly this point. Why does it matter? He says that positive experiences slip off our brains like “teflon” and negative experiences grab on like “velcro.” This is good for purposes of survival but bad for quality of life. Start turning the tables on this tilted evolutionary game with mindfulness. Learn to soak in positive experiences and start to recognize what a rewarding world it really is. You’ll be happy you did.

Mindfulness can be a challenging practice. All too often we get discouraged and feel like “I’m never going to get to where I need to be.” Listen to Thomas’s words of encouragement in this episode: No matter how challenging the practice or how challenging your life–in any given moment you are just a one degree shift in awareness from freedom.

Mindfulness practice is more popular than ever in Western culture. But how has mindfulness been westernized, not necessarily for the better? In this episode, listen to Thomas as he discusses the medicalization of mindfulness: “Take 10 minutes of body scan 3 times a week and call me in two months.”  He stresses the all-important relationship with a skillful teacher combined with finding the right technique to make significant progress on the path.