•Chewing On Mindfulness: Gum Is Your Secret
by: Maya Talisman Frost
My grandmother, a feisty and athletic woman in her younger years, was a gum-chewer. She was never without a pack or two of Wrigley's Doublemint gum.
She wasn't a snapper or bubble-blower--she viewed that as highly uncivilized. Grandma kept her mouth closed, thank you very much, and her chewing silent.
She insisted that it helped her concentrate. It turns out that she was right.
Research has shown that chewing does indeed increase our ability to concentrate and...
•Dial M for Mindfulness: Using the Golden Arches
by: Maya Talisman Frost
Looking for mindfulness? Who ya gonna call?
Try dialing M.
It's easy to be mindful. It's just hard to remember to be mindful. That's why it's so important to pick our triggers.
Here's a great trigger for mindfulness--the letter M. I'm a great fan of the letter M. For me, it stands for mindfulness, meditation, mediation and mind massage. It's soothing to say: Mmmmmmm. Add an H and you're thinking: Hmmmmm. Add an O and you're chanting: Ommmmmmm. It's hard to go...
•Tripping On Mindfulness
by: Maya Talisman Frost
One of the ironies of mindfulness is that it's still possible to be forgetful, klutzy, or even distracted while doing our best to pay attention.
Why? We are choosing where to focus and so there are, by necessity, bits of information that aren't getting the full laser treatment. It's simply not possible to be mindful of everything all at once.
That's the beauty of it.
You can shine your mental high beams on, say, fully connecting with every person you talk to...
•Mindfulness and Mammaries: Grinning With Gratitude
by: Maya Talisman Frost
I am truly inspired by a most mindful group of breast cancer survivors. Referring to themselves as The Golden Mammaries, these women gather weekly to support each other, share stories, and mostly, to laugh. In their fifties and sixties, they've lived through cancer--some more than once--and they never miss their cue to grin.
Picture this: white hair, no hair, carefully-coiffed hair, wigs. Pale faces, robust and beaming faces, tense and drawn faces, I'm-at-peace...
•Wireless Meditation: Top Five Tips for Wherever-Whenever Mindfulness
by: Maya Talisman Frost
The problem with meditation is attachment. We get in the habit of needing our altar, favorite cushion, incense, CD, certain time of day, necessary length of time, or particular style of sitting. If we can’t do it the “right” way, we tend to skip it altogether. We get so attached to the trappings that we get a little testy if we don’t have everything just so.
This is funny when you think about it. In Buddhism, the core belief is that life is full of suffering, and...
•Floating In Mindfulness: Dealing With Disappointment
by: Maya Talisman Frost
Feeling disappointed? It's time to float.
The time-honored approach to disappointment generally involves a fair amount of wallowing followed by a concerted effort to move on. Okay, this can work. But a more mindful approach includes an interim phase between these two. It's a unique opportunity to float.
When things don't go our way--whether we're talking about election results, a job interview, a proposal at work, or a relationship--we naturally feel...
•Alone In The Kitchen: Stirring Up Mindfulness
by: Maya Talisman Frost
Put on your apron! It's time to stir up a batch of mindfulness.
Julia Child, the trilling television chef who taught millions of Americans how to prepare French food without being hoity-toity, died in her sleep at the age of 92 recently. In dozens of articles, she has been glowingly eulogized for her spirit, her humor, and her ability to share her passion for cooking and fine dining.
I've never tried any of Julia Child's recipes, and I watched her show only on...
•Mindfulness: You're Soaking In It!
by: Maya Talisman Frost
Looking for a bit more mindfulness in your daily life? Relax. You're soaking in it!
Perhaps you remember Madge the Manicurist, a television commercial character who commiserates with her clients about their chapped hands. While she is filing the nails of one hand, she conspiratorially confides that her client is actually soaking her other hand in Palmolive dishwashing liquid. After all, It softens hands while you do the dishes.
It was a memorable pitch--good...
•Do-Sa-Do For Mindfulness
by: Maya Talisman Frost
When I was 12, one of my best friends was a square dancer. Twice a week, her family would pile into the Country Squire station wagon and head to the Grange Hall, where they'd gather with their square dancing club for an evening of music, friendship and do-sa-do. (That's the correct spelling, by the way. Visit www.dosado.com)
As a regular guest, I was fascinated by the form but, in the height of my coolness-conscious years, also acutely aware of the overwhelming...
•Big Wave Mindfulness: Surfing For A Connectiton
by: Maya Talisman Frost
Surfing is mindfulness in action. Riding the biggest waves is an all-out, fully-present-or-die-trying proposition.
Thanks to a persistent case of aquaphobia, I've never tried surfing. However, I've done my share of snowboarding, and I am trying to imagine what it would be like to carve the slopes with several tons of avalanche chasing me down the mountain. First of all, I would have to hike to the top and wait to catch the biggest avalanche, getting pummeled by...
|
