“What can you do to create more love and intimacy in your life?  On one level we’re separate.  You’re you and I’m me.  On another level we’re part of something larger that connects us all.  When we help other people,  it frees us from our own pain, our own separation. Everything you do can become a form of meditation. So when you heal, you heal those around you.  So it’s not selfish to take time for yourself because it affects everyone around you. It’s like dropping a stone in the middle of a pond and the waves that ripple out become waves of peace and health and transformation. And you become an example of this, so that people look at you, they see the light within you and they ask you, “What did you do? How can I learn to do that?”  And so by your example you helped to transform the world  in your world and the world around you.”

 

 

“When you practice meditation, and other similar techniques on a regular basis, it can help you rediscover inner sources of peace and joy and well-being. In a community, when you can help other people, it helps you.  Because it frees us from the suffering and the isolation and the things that we’re doing that disturb our own inner health and well-being.  One of the most powerful techniques for transforming our lives is meditation. Meditation is found in all cultures, all religions throughout the world because it’s so powerful and so effective.  

 

“What’s interesting is that most cultures meditate on a sound that sounds very similar. It tends to be something that starts with an ‘oh’ or an ‘ah’ and ends with an ‘m’ or an ‘n’.  Like ‘Om’ or ‘Shalom’. Salaam, Amen, Amin.  Even the word ‘one’ has been found to work.  And mothers and fathers intuitively know this when they hum to their babies.  So, meditation is very easy to learn even though it takes a lifetime to master.  But even a few steps in the right direction can make a powerful difference. To meditate, begin by closing your eyes. Just focus on your breathing as it goes in and out. Now your mind will wander, but when it does, just bring it back gently but firmly, bring it back to observing your breathing without trying to control it. Then just say a word. Let’s just use the word ‘Om’ because it’s so fundamental.  

 

Ommmmmm…..

Ommmmmm…..

Ommmmmm…..

 

And just repeat that over and over again.  The focus is on the humming sound at the end. Now your mind will wander.  When it does, just keep bringing it back to the sound over and over again. When you do this, a number of good things begin to happen.  First of all, your mind quiets down so you feel more peaceful.  You begin to get better at focusing so anytime you can focus better or concentrate better,  you can perform better, whether in school or athletics or in the boardroom.  When you can focus better, you do better. Anytime you can focus energy, and your brain is just a form of energy, you gain more power.  

 

“A magnifying glass can focus the sun’s rays and burn through a piece of paper. A laser is nothing more than focused or coherent light and you can burn through steel.  So when you focus you focus your mind, the effect of your mind on your body becomes enhanced and can be used to help heal. And when you begin to quiet down your mind and body, you begin to experience what it feels like to be more at peace and to be more joyful.  Not because you got something you thought you needed. But rather for the moment you’re letting go of the things that disturb your natural state, which again is to be peaceful and joyful and healthful.”

 

 

“When you practice meditation and other, similar techniques on a regular basis it can help you rediscover inner sources of peace and joy and well-being.  In a community, when you can help other people because it frees us from the suffering and the isolation and the things that we’re doing that disturb our own inner health and well-being.  Sometimes we talk about opening our hearts. Opening our hearts is just another way of being compassionate, of being loving, of being giving to other people.  In a community, when you can help other people because it frees us from the suffering and the isolation and the things that we’re doing that disturb our own inner health and well-being.”

 

 

“When you practice meditation it can help you rediscover inner sources of peace and joy and well-being.  Yoga is from the Sanskrit meaning union, to bring together.  The word health and healing comes from the word to make whole. When we reconnect ourselves to parts of ourselves and to other people and to the world in general, on one level we’re separate. You’re you and I’m me.  On another level we’re part of something larger that connects us all. These practices, as simple as they are, are powerfully transformative because they give us the direct experience of what it’s like, to not only to be separate, but also to be part of something larger that connects us all, which is powerfully healing.”

 

 

“When we help other people, it helps us. `Our natural state is to be peaceful and joyful.  What can you do to create more love and intimacy in your life?  All the spiritual teachings really, once you get past all the differences that people use  to divide each other in the name of religion, they really aren’t so different. They talk about love, altruism, compassion. When you do something to help somebody else,  it helps you. So in a way it’s the most selfish thing you can do because when we help other people it frees us from our own pain, our own separation and even from premature death and disease.  So when you love somebody, when you forgive them, when you’re compassionate towards them, it’s the most healthy thing you can do—not only for them, but also for you. It’s as true between countries as it is between individuals. And so if we can model in our own lives what it is that we’re trying to teach others, we can become examples of peace and joy and healing rather than separation and isolation and loneliness.”

 

 

“Meditation is the practice of paying attention.  Even a few minutes a day can have powerful impacts. When we practice different spiritual practices like yoga, meditation, prayer and whatever religion is comfortable for you, these are ancient traditions that are powerfully transformative. The ancient swamis and rabbis and priests and monks and nuns didn’t discover and practice these techniques just to lower their blood pressure or unclog their arteries even though it can help do those things. They’re not just stress management techniques. They’re much more than that. While they can help manage stress better than just about anything, they’re really power ways of transforming our lives quieting down our minds and bodies enough to experience an inner sense of peace and joy and well-being.  

 

“And they can help us understand from our own experience that these techniques are not something that bring you a sense of peace and joy and well-being,  rather that’s our natural state is to be peaceful and joyful  and happy until we disturb it. And so what these techniques do is they help us to let go of these things that are disturbing our lives.  That we can quiet down our minds and bodies, experience more of an inner sense of  peace and well-bring and joy and then go out in the world and accomplish even more—not to get something that’s going to bring that to us because we have it already—but enables us to accomplish things at an even higher level without getting so stressed and sick in the process.

 

“These are ancient ideas that  find themselves manifested over and over again because they’re true.When you practice these techniques they give you that from your own direct experience.  Not because somebody else told you  but because you can experience it for yourself. And even if you only get a glimpse of that, it can transform your life.”

 

    

“Yoga is from the Sanskrit meaning union, to bring together.  Opening our hearts is just another way of being compassionate, of being loving, of being giving to other people.  What can we do about this epidemic of loneliness?  Many people don’t have an extended family that they see regularly.  They don’t even have a nuclear family. They may not have a job that feels stable. They may not have a church or synagogue they go to regularly.  They may not have a neighbourhood where they know their neighbours.  And we all know these things affect the quality of our lives but they actually affect our survival.

 

 

 

“Awareness is always the first step in any kind of healing.  Any time you can focus energy you gain more power. When you practice meditation, and other similar techniques on a regular basis, it can help you rediscover inner sources of peace and joy and well-being and to realize you have those already until you disturb them. This is not a way to blame, but a way to empower because if you’re doing something, you can do something about it. You don’t have to blame bad genes, bad folks or bad karma or other things.  You say, “If my peace of mind is being disturbed, what am I doing that’s allowing that?” So you can keep that from happening.”

 

 

“Opening our hearts is just another way of being compassionate, of being loving, of being giving to other people.  The time that we spend with our friends and family, with our loved ones, is transformative.  Love is the most powerful of human emotions. It’s celebrated in art, music and song because it makes such an important difference in our lives. But did you know it affects not only how well we live, but also how long we live. People who are lonely, depressed and isolated are many times more likely to get sick and die prematurely than those who aren’t. In part because they are more likely to do things that harm themselves and in part through mechanisms that we don’t fully understand. But what can we do about it? The perennial wisdom that goes through all  religions and all cultures teaches us that when we love other people it not only helps them, it helps us. When we’re giving, when we’re altruistic, when we’re compassionate to other people .  It not only helps free them from suffering, but it helps free us from our own.”