#335 Avoiding Extremes - The Middle Way

     It's remarkable how we tend to oscillate back & forth between extremes. Emotionally, when we're not "on top of the world" or "down in the dumps", we often feel bored! With our sense of control over our environment, we either pretend to have "complete control" or none whatsoever, knowing full well that we need to work together intelligently to maintain reasonable control, over some things, most of the time. The same is true in health care: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2013/06/eliminating-medical-error-through.html

     And so too in mindfulness practice. Never practicing sitting meditation at home is one extreme that's quite common in those just starting out. Rarely, some folks spend way too many hours per day doing sitting meditation practice. Clearly, 30-50 minutes, once or twice per day, is ideal for most people who have jobs, families etc. Establishing a regular meditation routine takes some effort initially (at least partially because it's replacing some other well-established routine), but it's very important. You and your loved ones will clearly recognize continuously accumulating benefits from regularly practicing mindfulness meditation.

EMP Building by Frank O. Gehry, Seattle WA

#37 Embracing Challenges

     “But the amazing thing, which you can find out only by practicing mindfulness fairly regularly over time, is that paying attention in a particular way to the very sensations, emotions, and thoughts that together constitute the experience of pain – in the present moment and as nonjudgmentally as possible (which may be very judgmental a good deal of the time) – actually has within it the seeds of freedom from suffering. This is totally counterintuitive I know; nonetheless, it seems to be the case…."          Jon Kabat-Zinn

 
       Gardner-Nix, J. “The mindfulness solution to pain. Step-by-step techniques for chronic pain management.” New Harbinger Publications Inc, Oakland CA, 2009.

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