RESOURCES

When Awareness Becomes Natural 

You have to play,  play with awareness  and the mind.  Then it becomes very interesting.  Use your know-how and wit.  If meditation feels like a responsibility, it'll just be a burden.  Create your world. 

​―    Sayadaw U Tejaniya, author of “When Awareness Becomes Natural”

Adaptive Yoga: Improving Patient Care Where It Is Most Needed

Perhaps the coolest thing about the program is that instead of being a traditional yoga or meditation class, it’s a half hour show, broadcast live once a month from the hospital’s on-site television studio directly into the patient’s rooms through the hospital’s broadcasting network,   Kidzone TV.

Sirulnick and Bibiano came up with the idea to use the broadcasting network because many of the patients in these 90 rooms are confined to their beds or rooms. The network allows them to reach as many as possible without asking parents to leave their children.

―   Allison   Richard, yoga teacher, YogaCity NYC contributor

I Play a Game With My Kids Called Meditation

Sometimes, it's the first time of the day that I get to really look into my kids' eyes and engage with them. They're not moving, eating or watching something. They are just focused on the task at hand, and we can have a meaningful exchange.

―   Dr. Amy Shah, double board certified in Internal Medicine and Allergy & Immunology

Exploring the RMA with Mindful Intention

My two boys and I are exploring   The Rubin Museum of Art, absorbing the various paintings, sculptures and architecture. We are tasked by mindfulness expert, Archimedes Bibiano, to move through the space, sans electronics, and take mental snapshots of whatever inspires us in the moment. There are no rules — only a time limit — and everything from the chairs in the cafe to the color of the walls is worthy of consideration.

― Gail Hoffer-Loibl,  mother of two, personal blogger 

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

― Patañjali

How Teachers Can Use Trauma-Informed Mindfulness Practices to Support Their Students 

The school year is under way and as educators, students, and families fall into a new, yet familiar rhythm, the business of learning begins. Despite many teachers’ best planned lessons, best decorated boards, and most innovative stations, they may be dismayed to find that some of their students are simply not learning, are having trouble paying attention, or are even too emotionally dysregulated to engage in the basics of math, writing, and reading. There are a lot of good reasons this could be going on, and we often jump to ADHD, ODD, laziness, or any number of common “culprits” behind such behaviors. While we’re quick to label, we often forget to investigate why those behaviors might be showing up in the first place, and frequently overlook the impact of toxic stress and trauma on our students.

―   Poonam Desai, PhD, mindfulness  instructor,  psychologist and specialist in school psychology  

The Monk Manifesto
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Like many people, my practices cross boundaries and   include yoga   and a love of Jewish rituals. What would it be like to create a common language about what it means to live in meaningful ways in the modern world?

― Christine Valters Paintner, author of   "Water, Wind, Earth, & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements"

How Exactly a Deep Breath Changes Your Mind

Breathing is traditionally thought of as an automatic process driven by the brainstem — the part of the brain controlling such life-sustaining functions as heartbeat and sleeping patterns. But new and unique research, involving recordings made directly from within the brains of humans undergoing neurosurgery, shows that breathing can also change your brain.

―   Moran Cerf, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

The Reality Below Thoughts 
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When we let thoughts come and go without clinging, we can use thought, but we rest in the heart. We become more trusting and courageous.  There is an innocence to the heart. We are the child of the spirit.  And there is an innate wisdom. We are the ancient one.  Resting in the heart we live in harmony with our breath, our body.  Resting in the heart our patience grows.  We do not have to think it all through.  Life is unfolding around us.

​― Jack Kornfield, author of "Wise Heart:  A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology