Three Ways Mindfulness Reduces Depression by Emily Nauman

From The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, this is a summary of recent research demonstrating three ways that mindfulness can benefit depression.

Three Ways Mindfulness Reduces Depression

Research says that Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy is an effective treatment for depression. A new study finds out why.

By Emily Nauman | June 2, 2014

Our Mindful Mondays series provides ongoing coverage of the exploding field of mindfulness research. Dan Archer

Sixty percent of people who experience a single episode of depression are likely to experience a second. Ninety percent of people who go through three episodes of depression are likely to have a fourth. But help is available: The 8-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) program been shown to reduce the risk of relapse.

How does it work? To find out, researchers in the United Kingdom interviewed 11 adults who had experienced three or more episodes of severe depression, and had undergone MBCT within the previous three years.

They analyzed the interviews to create a model, published in the journal Mindfulness, to demonstrate how MBCT enables people to relate mindfully to the self and with others. The key, it seems, lies in the way MBCT enhances relationships: Less stress about relationships in turn helps prevent future episodes of depression. Three specific themes emerged from the study:

1. Being present to the self: Learning to pause, identify, and respond

Mindfulness practices of MBCT allowed people to be more intentionally aware of the present moment, which gave them space to pause before reacting automatically to others. Instead of becoming distressed about rejection or criticism, they stepped back to understand their own automatic reactions—and to become more attuned to others’ needs and emotions. Awareness gave them more choice in how to respond, instead of becoming swept up in escalating negative emotion.

2. Facing fears: It’s ok to say “no”

Participants also reported that they became more assertive in saying ‘no’ to others in order to lessen their load of responsibility, allowing them to become more balanced in acknowledging their own as well as others’ needs. The authors speculate that bringing mindful awareness to uncomfortable experiences helped people to approach situations that they would previously avoid, which fostered self-confidence and assertiveness.

3. Being present with others

Being present to others enabled people to bring more attention to relationships and to appreciate their time with others. They talked about how being present to others helped them let go of distressing histories, allowing them to relate to others in new ways. Disagreements also became more constructive, as participants were able to identify their communication problems, and were better able to take on another’s perspective and focus on potential solutions.

Study participants also described having more energy, feeling less overwhelmed by negative emotion, and being in a better position to cope with and support others. Getting through difficulties with significant others through mindful communication helped them feel closer, and having the energy and emotional stamina to spend more time with family members helped them grow together.

Many participants said that as time went on, the benefits of MBCT permeated their whole life. “Through relating mindfully to their own experiences and to others, they were feeling more confident and were engaging with an increased range of social activity and involvement,” write the authors.

The researchers write that in the future, interventions could place a more explicit focus on approaching relationships with mindfulness. This focus could reinforce the benefit of MBCT, and perhaps lead to even better outcomes in reducing the risk of relapse for people with chronic depression.

About The Author

Emily Nauman is a GGSC research assistant. She completed her undergraduate studies at Oberlin College with a double major in Psychology and French, and has previously worked as a research assistant in Oberlin’s Psycholinguistics lab and Boston University’s Eating Disorders Program.

More on Mindfulness & Depression

• Discover how a wandering mind can become unhappy.
• Christine Carter explains what to do when you feel unhappy.
• Explore how mindfulness is being used to treat sexual dysfunction in women.
• Read Paul Gilbert's essay on to mindfully turn your brain from anger to compassion.
• How mindful are you? Take our quiz!

Interesting talk on the efforts to define the "genome" of the flow state, a concept first introduced by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi in Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990) and expanded on in Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (1997).

The Genome of FLOW: Jamie Wheal at TEDxVeniceBeach

Published on Dec 26, 2013


Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, this positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields. Jamie Wheal of the FLOW Genome Project has decoded the genome of FLOW and presents its amazing potential to enhance human performance across a plethora of disciplines.

Jim Palmer - Your Life Is Your Spiritual Path

Jim Palmer is author of Notes from (Over) the Edge: Unmasking the Truth to End Your Suffering (2013), Divine Nobodies: Shedding Religion to Find God (and the unlikely people who help you) (2006), and many other books. He is an ordained minister who has left behind the traditional structures of religion.

"The idea of "being present in the moment" sounds right but can be a little elusive and frustrating when seeking to apply it. It can come across as though one should stop and have some sort of deep or spiritual experience. Instead, consider the possibility that the spiritual life is simply responding to situations as they require. If you need to walk from your kitchen to your bedroom, it's not necessary to stop at each step and "be present in the moment" and have a "spiritual experience." Life itself is spiritual and no moment needs you to do anything to add the spirituality to it. There are some moments, such as catching a beautiful sunset, when you experience deep feelings and feel a greater connection to God and life. But no not suppose that such a moment is more "spiritual" than walking from your kitchen to the bedroom. It's only that the two situations were different, inviting two different responses. Your life is your spiritual path... every part of it."

- Jim Palmer

Cayte Bosler - Jason Silva Wants Us to Make Time for Awe

According to Robert Plutchik's wheel of emotions, awe is represented as a combination of surprise and fear. According to Dictionary.com, awe is defined as follows:

noun
1. an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God; in awe of great political figures.
2. Archaic: power to inspire fear or reverence.
3. Obsolete: fear or dread.

verb (used with object), awed, aw·ing.
4. to inspire with awe.
5. to influence or restrain by awe.

Rudolf Otto is best known for his analysis of our direct experience of the divine that, he believed to be the foundation of all religion. He calls this experience "numinous," and says it has three components.

These are often designated with a Latin phrase: mysterium tremendum et fascinans. As mysterium, the numinous is "wholly other"-- entirely different from anything we experience in ordinary life. It evokes a reaction of silence. But the numinous is also a mysterium tremendum. It provokes terror because it presents itself as overwhelming power. Finally, the numinous presents itself as fascinans, as merciful and gracious.

This is the best definition of awe that I have ever found - and it is dependent on what comprises our understanding of the divine or the sacred. For me, it is usually connected to nature, pristine and wild. But it also shows up for me in genuine acts of kindness and compassion between human beings, or even animals.

Given that, I support all efforts to increase our experience of awe.

Make Time for Awe

Novelty and perceptual vastness force us into the present moment, which has health benefits.

Cayte Bosler | Dec 18 2013

 

kozumel/flickr

Jason Silva is a self-described epiphany junkie. He recently enthused to me about how some movies, for example, manage to capture attention and create a complete, immersive transformation for the viewer.

In his "Shots of Awe" YouTube series, Silva wants to interrupt your mundane existence with "philosophical espresso shots" designed to inspire you to live to the fullest.

It’s easy to get swept away by Silva’s vision of the future: a revolutionary convergence of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. He considers awe to be a pivotal ingredient in making ideas resonate. In his three-minute clips, he hardly takes a breath as he spouts rousing optimism over digitally animated film. Participants "who felt awe were less impatient, more willing to volunteer, and more strongly preferred experiences over material goods."

He may be onto something. A new study published in the journal Psychological Science shows there are residual health benefits to having your mind blown.

"People increasingly report feeling time-starved, which exacts a toll on health and well-being," states the study. Using three experiments, researchers Melanie Rudd and Jennifer Aaker of the Stanford University, and Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota, examined whether awe can expand perceptions of time availability. They found that participants "who felt awe, relative to other emotions, felt they had more time available, were less impatient, were more willing to volunteer their time to help others, and more strongly preferred experiences over material goods."

It can be hard to generalize what people consider jaw-dropping, but Vohs says research demonstrates what consistently creates an awesome experience. Travel ranks high. So does gazing at the cosmos on a clear night or watching a sensational film, as well as anytime we encounter massive quantities: colorful tulips in bloom, a bustling market in India, or a stunning school of fish.

Novelty and perceptual vastness forces us into the present moment. The study underscores the importance of cultivating small doses of awe in the everyday to boost life satisfaction.

"Awe is quite threatening in certain ways, and something that is challenging and unwelcome can border on fear," says Vohs, recalling an astonishingly big fish he saw while swimming in the ocean. "It was giant—no big teeth, and it seemed like a gentle soul just floating in the water—but still!"

The study describes awe as an experience of such perceptual expansion that you need new mental maps to deal with the incomprehensibility of it all. Awe is an experience of such perceptual expansion that you need new mental maps to deal with its incomprehensibility.

"The experience of awe is one where you are temporarily off-kilter in terms of your understanding of the world," explains Vohs. "People mostly walk around with a sense of knowing what is going on in the world. They have hypotheses about the way people behave and what might happen; those are pretty air-tight. It is hard to get people to shake from those because that’s just how the brain works. We are always walking around trying to confirm the things we already think. When you are in a state of awe, it puts you off balance and as a consequence, we think people might be ready to learn new things and have some of their assumptions questioned." Rudd, of Stanford, is currently working on a follow-up study to understand just how awe-inspired moments might open a person up to learning new information.

Vohs agrees that videos like Silva's could do the trick to inspire awe. In his study, volunteers watched videos of "awesome" things like nature scenes, whales, and parades, and they reported feeling like they had more time to spare after seeing these images.

"Technologies that capture and control attention, including storytelling, IMAX films, and video games, hijack the perceptual apparatus. They put you into a state of immersion—you lose yourself," says Silva.

He thinks we are predisposed to ignore everyday wonders. "Not being in a state of awe is a way to save energy. It is easier to run on autopilot. It takes energy to blow your mind, but being overwhelmed is worth it. It’s what gives life its luster."

Whether it’s making time for a walk through nature, meditation, or watching an amazing clip, he recommends rituals that elicit awe for a break in the day and an overall healthier lifestyle.

Silva does not shy away from the range of emotions one might have when considering something of magnitude. He grapples with the tinge of sadness in his personal epiphanies, such as the realization that everyone and everything we find beautiful and magnificent will one day end. That’s a theme he explores in his video "Existential Bummer," his video about loss and impermanence.

"We are simultaneously worms and gods," he says, an idea that drives him to produce more creatively. "Man is literally split in two: He has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness, in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground ... to blindly and dumbly rot and disappear forever."

In the meantime, Vohs wants to continue working to understand how humans derive meaning in the day-to-day.

"Experiences are non-replicable in terms of what kind of an outcome they can give," she says. "So there are reverberations of awe in my current work."

Tara Brach - It's Not What's Happening, It's How You Respond

Tara Brach is a clinical psychologist and Buddhist teacher. She is the author of Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha (2004) and True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart (2013). This short article is adapted from Radical Acceptance, a book that I found quite useful when I first read it.

It's Not What's Happening, It's How You Respond

Posted: 05/03/2013


By Tara Brach, Clinical Psychologist, Author, Teacher of Buddhist Mindfulness

One of my favorite stories took place a number of decades ago when the English had colonized India and they wanted to set up a golf course in Calcutta. Besides the fact that the English shouldn't have been there in the first place, the golf course was not a particularly good idea. The biggest challenge was that the area was populated with monkeys.

The monkeys apparently were interested in golf too, and their way of joining the game was to go onto the course and take the balls that the golfers were hitting and toss them around in all directions. Of course the golfers didn't like this at all, so they tried to control the monkeys. First they built high fences around the fairway; they went to a lot of trouble to do this. Now, monkeys climb -- so, they would climb over the fences and onto the course... That solution just didn't work at all.

The next thing they tried was to lure them away from the course. I don't know how they tried to lure them -- maybe waving bananas or something -- but for every monkey that would go for the bananas, all their relatives would come into the golf course to join the fun. In desperation, they started trapping them and relocating them, but that didn't work, either. The monkeys just had too many relatives who liked to play with golf balls! Finally, they established a novel rule for this particular golf course: The golfers in Calcutta had to play the ball wherever the monkey dropped it. Those golfers were onto something!

We all want life to be a certain way. We want the conditions to be just so, and life doesn't always cooperate. Maybe it does for awhile, which makes us want to hold on tight to how things are, but then things change. So sometimes it's like the monkeys are dropping the balls where we don't want them, and what can we do?

Often we react by blaming -- ourselves, or others or the situation. We might become aggressive. Or perhaps we feel victimized and resign. Or sometimes we soothe ourselves with extra food or drink. But clearly, none of these reactions are helpful.

If we are to find any peace, if we are to find freedom, what we need to do is learn to pause and say, "Okay. This is where the monkeys dropped the ball. I'll play it from here, as well as I'm able." So, how do we do that?

What if you pause right now, and take a moment to be quiet. Can you think of a place in your life where things are not cooperating with how you would like them to be? Whatever unfortunate place the monkeys have dropped a ball in your life, bring your focus to that. It could be something that happens in a relationship with another person, where you get reactive. What would it mean to "play the ball" here? If you could tap into your deepest wisdom, your true compassion, how would you like to respond to these circumstances?

One of the great teachings in spiritual life is this: It doesn't matter what is happening. What matters is how we respond. How we respond is what determines our happiness and peace of mind.

So how might you respond with presence, when you find the monkeys have dropped the ball in a difficult spot?

Enjoy this talk on: Surrender to the Monkeys

Adapted from my book Radical Acceptance (2003)

For more information visit: www.tarabrach.com

For more by Tara Brach, click here.

Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D. - Nine Essential Qualities of Mindfulness

Some good advice here - hope this helps for anyone still learning or refining their mindfulness practice (after 20+ years, that includes me). This comes from The Mindful Self-Express at Psychology Today, by Melanie A. Greenberg, Ph.D.

Nine Essential Qualities of Mindfulness

Learn how to say "yes" to the present moment.

Published on February 22, 2012 by Melanie A. Greenberg, Ph.D. in The Mindful Self-Express

Meditation is one aspect of mindfulness

Most people these days are stressed out by the fast pace of life, economy, and worries about the future. In a recent survey, conducted in the UK, a whopping 86 percent agreed that "people would be much happier and healthier if they knew how to slow down and live in the moment" (Mental Health Foundation, 2010).  It is no wonder that mindfulness has rapidly gained attention in the popular press and is one of the few complementary medicine techniques to be offered in  hospitals and clinics worldwide. But what exactly is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a mind-body medicine practice, based on ancient Zen Buddhist meditation techniques, that was popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. According to Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness is an internal resource that all of us already have within us. The idea is to channel or direct this resource to transform our relationships with stress, emotions, pain, and illness. Indeed, controlled research studies suggest that mindfulness-based interventions can effectively reduce symptoms in people with chronic pain, recurrent depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, binge-eating, and many other health conditions. Mindfulness interventions have also been shown to change the brain's grey matter and reactivity to emotional stimuli in ways that promote greater conscious control over emotion.

While most people seem to think that mindfulness is a good thing, many people are confused about what exactly mindfulness is. Does it involve emptying the brain of thoughts, inducing relaxation, or going into a trance? Do you have to go live in an ashram and retreat from the material world to practice it effectively?  Is it a kind of religion or cult, and is it potentially dangerous?  In fact, none of the above have been shown to be true. Below is a description of some key concepts that can help illuminate what it means to have a mindful attitude to life.

The beauty of the present moment

Focus on the Present Moment—When your thoughts get lost in thinking about the past or worrying about the future, you bring them back to what you are experiencing right now. You try to remain open to how things unfold in the present, rather than having preconceived ideas about how things will or should turn out.

Being Fully Present—You are spaciously aware of whatever you are experiencing in the present moment as you go through your daily life. What do you feel in your body? What are you seeing, hearing, doing - right now?

Openness to Experience—Rather than dreading and shutting out your own feelings and experiences because you think you can't handle them, you welcome with curiosity any thoughts and feelings that naturally arise, knowing they are merely sensations in the moment and the next moment can be different. You create mental spaciousness to contain these thoughts and feelings. Become aware of your experience as a flow of sensations, thoughts, and feelings and watch how these change and transform naturally over time.

Non-Judgment—You don't categorize your thoughts and feelings as good or bad, try to change them, or feel compelled to act on them. All feelings have a purpose, whether to protect you from danger or open you to love. You watch and accept whatever arises in consciousness with an open mind. You extend this non-judging attitude to other people and things.

Acceptance of Things as They Are—You don't try to force or change reality to fit your vision of what it should be, feel like a victim, or bemoan the unfairness of life. Instead, you try to see reality clearly and let it be as it is, knowing that you can tolerate whatever it is that comes up. You extend this acceptance to others, knowing they are the best judges of what is right for them.

Connection—You feel connected to all living things and nature in being part of a larger whole. You reflect on and feel grateful for the cycle of life and the food, beauty, and protection that nature gives us. You know that all living beings want to feel happy and secure and avoid suffering and you feel connected by similarity of needs and experience.

Non-Attachment—You do not try to hold onto things, people, or experiences, knowing that life is in constant flow. Attachment comes from fear and is the basis of suffering. You learn to surf the wave of life, going with the flow and being confident in your own ability to adapt. When one door closes, another opens.

Mindfully walking a labyrinth

Peace and Equanimity—You maintain an even-keel, not getting too swept up in life's highs and lows. You know that life is a cycle and you can't see the whole picture at any one moment. When things don't go your way, you stay firmly rooted in your own clear vision and values. You walk with a peaceful heart and adopt a non-harming, non-violent attitude.

Compassion—You deal gently, kindly, and patiently with yourself and others. Rather than judging, or condemning, you open your heart to really listen and try to understand your own and other people's experiences. You allow yourself to feel other people's suffering. You love people not for what they can give you or because you need something from them, but because you connect and empathize with their experiences.

With these concepts in mind, you can begin to introduce mindfulness into your own life, whether it is by deliberately directing attention to your breath and senses at different times during the day, taking a mindful nature walk, or beginning a simple meditation practice. You might want to center your attention on each in- and out-breath, noticing the length, quality, and sensations of the breath moving in and out of your body, without trying to force or change it in any way. You may also begin to become aware of the times in the day that you operate "mindlessly," and on automatic pilot, your head so busy with plans and worries, that you don't even notice what you feel inside or what is around you.

Developing an observing mind that watches your own daily experience, notices your automatic patterns, and gently redirects attention to the present moment is the beginning of growing a "mindfulness muscle" to help you navigate the winds of change and stresses in your life. "As Eckhart Tolle so eloquently said: "Always say "yes" to the present moment. Surrender to what is. Say "yes" to life—and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you."


~ Melanie Greenberg is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Mill Valley, Marin County, CA. She is also a researcher, author, and national speaker with expertise in life stress, relationships, mind-body health, and effects of society and media on human behavior.Visit my website at http://www.marinpsychologist.blogspot.com/ for original research articles and therapy services

Upaya Dharma Podcasts - Enkyo O'Hara: Occupy the Heart

From the Upaya Zen Center, Enkyo O'Hara muses on the occupy movement from a Buddhist perspective, but she makes it much more personal.

Enkyo O'Hara: 11-30-2011: Occupy the Heart

Speaker: Enkyo O'Hara

Recorded: Wednesday Nov 30, 2011

Enkyo Roshi has come to see the term “occupy” as being present, as bearing witness to what is happening. She cites the classic zen koan response: “Moment to moment, non-stop flow.” Enkyo concludes with a Rohatsu-inspired gatha.

Enkyo Roshi’s focus is on true self-expression, peacemaking, and HIV/AIDS activism. She holds a Ph.D. in Media Ecology and taught Multi-media at New York University for over 20 years.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Upaya Dharma Podcasts - Awakening Beginner’s Mind

Nice dharma talk from Tias Little.

Awakening Beginner’s Mind

Speaker: Tias Little
Recorded: Wednesday Oct 27, 2010

UPDATE Nov 3rd 3:35 PM: Episode summary notes added.

UPDATE Nov 2nd 2:58 PM MDT: Due to an internal mix-up, this episode (show # 368) was published on Nov 1st with an erroneous title (“The Sword That Splits Into One (2)”). It is being re published on Nov 2nd with the correct title (“Awakening Beginner’s Mind”). The “auto download option (in iTunes, iPods etc.)” subscribers, will see a “second download” of this episode. Please use this updated version (duration: 58:50) and …. please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience.

Tias begins tonight’s talk with a koan, where the teaching lies in the question … What? When we begin to embody the dharma we go back to the freshness of “what?” In the beginning of our practice, there is a structure that eventually is let go of and what is left is a readiness, or a freshness that can’t be choreographed. We begin to realize that our experiences are passing like bubbles. Beginner’s mind is about staying open to whatever arises. “Now” is continuous and ongoing.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Tags: Upaya Zen Center, dharma, podcasts, Awakening Beginner’s Mind, Tias Little, koan, openness, awakening, Buddhism, presence

David Nichtern - Real World Meditation: Why Being Present Matters

Excellent article - the most important practice any Buddhist can have, in my opinion, is how we conduct ourselves in our daily lives. Coming away from the cushion or returning from retreat, the key challenge is to bring our presence and wakefulness with us to the rest of our lives.

Real World Meditation: Why Being Present Matters

By David Nichtern, Senior Shambhala Buddhist teacher

Posted: July 1, 2010

Last Wednesday night I completed a 12 day silent meditation retreat at Karme Choling, Shambhala International's Buddhist Meditation Center in Vermont. Literally as soon as it was over at 11:30 p.m. I said my goodbyes, got in my car with a friend and drove the six hours back to New York City. After driving all night I arrived home at around 6 a.m. I slipped into bed with Cyndi and Leroy Brown (our chocolate toy poodle) and took a nap for an hour, then got up, re-packed my bag, put on my black suit, and grabbed a taxi to go to JFK Airport at 10 a.m.

Landing in LA, I picked up a rental car and drove straight to the Beverly Hilton just in time for the ASCAP Film and TV awards. The very next night I headed over to the Westin Bonaventure for the Daytime Emmy Awards. I was up for one for the music we composed for One Life to Live.

This trip provided perhaps an unusually stark contrast coming out of retreat, but even in less stressful circumstances, the experience of participating in an intensive meditation retreat and then returning to our ordinary life can provide an extremely vivid transition, and with that a chance to see our habits and patterns in high relief.

On this occasion my perception was that people are just people -- we are all basically living in a dream of expectation and disappointment, with an occasional moment of wakefulness shining through. In the retreat, the awake moments were accented; at the Emmys the expectation and disappointment felt thick and solid and heavy by comparison. Anyhow that was my perception in transition.

From a certain point of view, going on an intensive meditation retreat is a radical thing to do. There are so many ways we can spend our time, so many vacations we still want to take, so many places to go, things to see and do. The idea of dedicating a weekend, a week, or longer to practicing meditation can easily slide to the bottom of the "to do" list.

It can be so helpful to understand the "view" of any particular practice we undertake, particularly retreat practice -- what are we going to be working with, how are we going to go about it and how can we manage whatever dramas unfold, both internal and external.

The essential quality of meditation practice on retreat is that by simplifying our world to the bare essence of simply being present, we have an unparalleled opportunity to see how our own mind works -- to actually see the lenses and filters through which we experience our reality.

It is the one activity we participate in that is reductive rather than additive. There may be some techniques involved -- we may be cultivating mindfulness or loving kindness and compassion, but essentially we are simply resting naturally in our present awareness and seeing whatever arises with an open impartial mind.

Along the way we may experience intense boredom, frustration, emotionality, peace, happiness, spaciousness and all the rest of it, but the one thing that is clear is that whatever we are experiencing is being generated by our own state of mind. The practice is a mirror so we can see ourselves more clearly and accurately, and hopefully develop more compassion for ourselves and thereby for others as well.

Re-entering our everyday world after a period of 20 minutes or two weeks of meditation practice, we have the opportunity to see ourselves entering the action. Of course, we may also have a heightened sensitivity to the obscurations, fear and cloaking -- what we call in Shambhala the "cocoon" -- the web of habitual patterns and manipulation that passes for authenticity but is really a kind of camouflage.

Unlike short bursts of meditation, retreat practice allows us to go much deeper into our exploration of what is really going on in our mind and heart. Coming out of retreat is an equally challenging and important part as we begin to integrate what we have gleaned into our everyday reality.

If you've done any kind of retreat practice and feel like chiming in about it, let's hear what it was like for you!

Follow David on his website (www.davidnichtern.com), facebook (facebook.com/davidnichtern), twitter (twitter.com/davidnichtern), or youtube (youtube.com/davidnichtern)

Tags: Buddhism, meditation, presence, David Nichtern, Real World Meditation, Why Being Present Matters, Huffington Post, retreat, daily lives

Sogyal Rinpoche - Being Fully Present

This is the Glimpse of the Day for today on being present in our daily lives - sitting in meditation is great, and it helps us see the mind more clearly, but the really practice is in how we live in relationship with others.

What really matters is not just the practice of sitting but far more the state of mind you find yourself in after meditation. It is this calm and centered state of mind you should prolong through everything you do. I like the Zen story in which the disciple asked his master:

“Master, how do you put enlightenment into action? How do you practice it in everyday life?”
“By eating and by sleeping,” replied the master.
“But Master, everybody sleeps and everybody eats.”
“But not everybody eats when they eat, and not everybody sleeps when they sleep.”

From this comes the famous Zen saying, “When I eat, I eat; when I sleep, I sleep.”

To eat when you eat and sleep when you sleep means to be completely present in all your actions, with none of the distractions of ego to stop you from being there. This is integration.

Tags: Buddhism, presence, Zen, Sogyal Rinpoche, Glimpse of the Day, meditation