Tag: The Boston Buddha

Commit to Sit 2015 – The 250 Work Day Meditation Challenge

TBB_transformMeditation, much like exercise isn’t always easy.  Most people don’t like it, but if we can get past a certain point together – usually it takes about two weeks to a month of workouts – you’ll get committed.  So to help you stay committed you can connect with us every week.

The Challenge:

Meditate, twice a day – for 10 minutes, Monday through Friday, 5 days a week. Take the weekend off.

Who:

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced meditator, if you want to harness the power of meditation to manage stress, lower blood pressure, improve focus, get better sleep, or explore your own inner landscape, this is an exceptional opportunity to learn with some of the most accomplished leaders in the field of mindfulness and meditation. We welcome everyone to be part of this amazing journey.

When:

Starting January 6, this meditation challenge will be open to everyone. We will kick it off again this year at Monday’s Move & Meditate 6:30 PM at Stil Studio. Invite your friends!

The Path:

We will break each week down into themes. The theme is designed to help us focus on one aspect of meditation and mindfulness that we can work on for that week. Each theme will have a corresponding quote – that we can come back to and read. It should help us remember to practice mindfulness in our everyday life. We want to keep the theme of the week in our awareness all week long so we suggest people print it our or post it all over your home/work, etc. The 250 work day challenge is designed to show you how easy it can be to work meditation into your day – integrating a new mindful attitude – changing your choices and life.

Throughout the WHOLE YEAR we will explore many different meditation styles and practices – and play around with different techniques, time periods, and provide tools that keep you inspired to commit to sit. The goal is to find a mediation practice that works for YOU, so you can sustain it throughout the whole year. You can have access to our special Move & Meditate Facebook Group where we can support and encourage each other the whole year, share our experience, the breakthroughs and roadblocks, ask questions, and offer ideas and theme suggestions for future classes.

We encourage everyone to share their own personal experiences each day on the fb page so we can keep it central, and you can see your own growth over time, you can also share tips and suggestions from your personal experience.

The Method:

• daily tips, posts, and inspirational quotes.

• more BuddhaBreaks and takeaways tools to assist you in creating lasting change through meditation.

• got a question about meditation? “Ask Andy” anytime.

Please join us on our heartfelt mission to bring meditation and mindfulness into your daily life and into the lives of those around you.

Why:

Since August of 2005, my dharma has been simple and clear – make meditation accessible to as many people as I can so they can connect more fully to the present moment and be happier in their lives.

I hope to see you in class!

-Andy

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BuddhaBreak: Simplify Your Meditation During The Holidays

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The holiday rush can add a ton of stress to our already too busy day.  Think about it, there are now seemingly way more things to do, more things to buy, more disruptions in our usual routines – it can be a heavy price to pay on our body and mind.

I feel like I’m going through this now. As all of my classes are wrapping up for the year, I’ve had this feeling of not having enough time to do what is needed – to connect fully – without thinking of all the stuff I need to get done, or didn’t get done.  In the beginning of some of my meditations this week, I’ve felt restless and anxious and will notice one of my restless legs tapping (a sure sign for me that my body and mind is saying saying, “hurry up, Andy… get this over with.” .

No matter how busy the holidays get, we need to take time each day to stop and be present with our life – as it is – even if it’s restless.

If you can’t meditate for 10 minutes each day, don’t throw in the towel. Meditating for 5 minutes can be just as an effective practice – even better for you, if you can schedule it in a few times a day.

Above all, remember our mantra for this year – be kind to yourself.  Inner peace is the best place to make sure we all make it hOMe for the holidays;).

I hope this helps.

Commit To Sit 2014 – The 250 "Work Day" Meditation Challenge with Stil Studio and The Boston Buddha

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“Don’t think. Feel.”  – Bruce Lee

 

The Challenge:

Meditate twice a day – for ten minutes – Monday through Friday, 5 days a week.  Take the weekend off.

GOOD NEWS: Yoga and Shavasana count as a meditation, so come to yoga with us at STIL STUDIO!

Who:

Whether you are a beginner or have years of experience, join us to manage your stress a little easier, lower your blood pressure, improve your focus, enjoy better sleep or explore your inner landscape – this is an exceptional opportunity to learn with some of the most accomplished leaders in the field of mindfulness and meditation. We welcome everyone to be a part of this amazing journey!

What: Meditate with The Boston Buddha and Stil Studio.

When: Continue reading “Commit To Sit 2014 – The 250 "Work Day" Meditation Challenge with Stil Studio and The Boston Buddha”

Why it's awesome if you think you're "bad" at meditating.

“For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. ” – Shakespeare

A common misunderstanding about meditation I often hear is, “I can’t stop thinking” – but thinking is actually a good thing.  Our mind’s job is to produce thoughts.  And, thoughts are a very important part of the meditation process.  The more you try to force them out, the faster the thoughts will rush right back in.

When we meditate we actually need the mind to be distracted in order for us to see the process at work.  When we’re focusing on our breath, a mantra, or some other object of our meditation – we need to be able to catch ourselves distracted about the past and the future. We need to observe the fidgeting around and notice wanting to stop the timer.  We have to be aware that we’re tired and restless – notice what our mind is doing – and then find a way to come back to our breath, or the object of our meditation.

Understanding and noticing you are having thoughts is a breakthrough in your practice, because you’re beginning to shift your awareness (that internal reference point) from your ego to YOU, your real authentic self. Continue reading “Why it's awesome if you think you're "bad" at meditating.”

Connecting Beyond The Classroom

June, 2012 – Taken by my Special Photographer – Anika

I had the pleasure of seeing one of my students yesterday, Tiye, who is now up at the middle school.  She was picking up her younger sister from school and came right over to me with a big smile on her face.  She told me how she still remembers to use her breath to come back to the present moment when she’s feeling stressed.  Tiye holds the record for taking our Morning Mindfulness classes – four sessions in a row.

I’ve seen Tiye’s confidence grow over those two years and now it seems that she can jump hurdles that would stop most of us adults.  Just seeing her enthusiasm smile made me smile, proof that kindness is truly contagious.

Peace IN.

-Andy

 

 

Start The School Year With Less Stress

The summer is almost over and it’s time to get ready to send the kids back to school!

Fall is my favorite season – the cool crisp air, the return of Patriots football, The Boston Celtics and new Morning Mindfulness Classes starting back up.  So while I’m excited for the new school year, I feel it’s important to remember that it can be a stressful time for our kids.

Outside of the obvious stresses that accompany a new school year – new teachers, advanced material, homework and after-school activities – most kids are just out of practice and have trouble switching gears… getting back into a structured schedule, without feeling some added stress.

Factor in the social and emotional growth that comes with being a kid – dealing with self image, appearance, peer pressure, trying to fit in and the pressure they put on themselves to do well, and you see there’s a lot more involved with going back to school than picking up some new clothes and back to school gear.

So what can we do to make these transitions as smooth as possible for everyone in the family?

Continue reading “Start The School Year With Less Stress”

Embrace The Detours On Your Path

“A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.” ~ Anonymous.

Over the years I have been teaching meditation to students, I’ve noticed that the ones who keep practicing day after day all experience similar detours.  These detours are inevitable to becoming balanced – fully integrated – and usually come in phases.

Continue reading “Embrace The Detours On Your Path”

Connecting With Community

Below is an incredibly sweet note from a student who recently attended a TBB Meditation Challenge.

Hi Andy,

I was endorsing your workshop to the nice woman working at STIL STUDIO the other day. I told her I had attended one of your workshops and that I was a complete novice, and that you are wonderful (which you are!) and that she should certainly attend. You get my thumbs up, way UP!

I started my yoga practice a little over 10 years ago, but it wasn’t until the past year or so that I noticed I needed something else other than asana. Don’t get me wrong, I love the asana part of my practice, but something inside of me told me I needed more, that I deserved more.

So, I began seeking out ways to get in touch with with the real me, my authentic Self. I started practicing another style of yoga (Para Yoga), focusing on pranayama and realized that beginning a meditation practice might be what I need the most. But where was I to begin?

Continue reading “Connecting With Community”

Face Your Own Personal El Guapos

“In a way, all of us have an El Guapo to face.  For some, shyness might be their El Guapo.  For others, a lack of education might be their El Guapo. For us, El Guapo is a big, dangerous man who wants to kill us.  But as sure as my name is Lucky Day, the people of Santa Poco can conquer their own personal El Guapo, who also happens to be *the actual* El Guapo!”

– Lucky Day,  The Three Amigos

El Guapos

Whatever you want to call it… threats, problems, obstacles, hopes, worries, struggles, anxieties, suffering – we all have our own triggers for our emotions and fears.  These fears clutter our thought process – they block our creativity, constrict our choices, and force us to react in predictable ways.

If we don’t learn to face our fears head on, and work with these powerful emotions as they bubble up, they can have a negative impact on our mental, physical, and spiritual health – tripping our fight or flight response and actually shaving years off of our lives.

So, how can we overcome some of our personal obstacles and fears?
Continue reading “Face Your Own Personal El Guapos”

"Meditation – does it get easier with practice?"

This was the subject line in an email I received from a fairly new student of mine – one that had been meditating twice a day for about three weeks.

It’s a great question and one that students, friends and colleagues ask me often. There are plenty of days I ask myself the same thing.  My answer is that for me personally, some days are easier than others and we need to try to accept the present moment as it is – without trying to change it or make it different.

When you’re trying to create a new healthy habit like meditation, the first thing you need to do is accept that every meditation will be different.  This is true for anything we do in our lives.  In whatever we do, we have good days and bad days.  Some days at work our mind just isn’t as focused – we need to accept it without judging it good or bad.  If we play basketball, our timing may be off when we shoot the ball. Other days everything comes very easily – it flows and our shots seem to fall naturally.

Highs and lows are a part of life.  We need to accept them without holding on to the feeling that something isn’t as it should be.   Meditation is the same way –  some days we experience more mental turbulence than others.  As we practice meditating, and let go of trying to control or change things to make it better- over time, we’ll find that those highs and lows even out.   But, we’ll always be practicing.

After all, I call it my meditation “practice”… because I will always be practicing to accept what’s happening right now… as it is.

Peace IN.

-Andy

“Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.  Always work with it, not against it.” – Eckhart Tolle

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