Meditation Articles Series

An old axiom: The Story of the Snake
Once upon a time, a holy man went from village to village visiting the people an...

Becoming Conscious
Meditation is an unfolding process in becoming more conscious.  Conscious m...

When it’s Cold… A Helpful Hint for Meditation
I received a wonderful gift.  It’s a big soft blanket.  My dear friend...

Sudoku
I have been introduced to Sudoku.  Now this is a game I would never have im...

“Women Have One Flaw…”
I watched a video showing how amazing women are, and what they do.   A...

Being Here Now
I’m here writing this blog and you’re out there somewhere on the planet reading ...

Footprints in the Sand
Today the sand on the beach was a sea of footprints.  There were the deep d...

Frugality
Yesterday my friend said he has started making soup for his evening meal.  ...

Inspired by Kindness
Following on from last week and blog on friendship, I found this beautiful poem ...

Blessed By Good Friends
Last night a dear friend and I had dinner together.  He brought a gift for ...

Take Time to Do Absolutely Nothing – Not even…
Do you ever just sit down and do absolutely nothing, no newspapers, TV, computer...

Colour, and Sensitivity
For the past six weeks I have been doing an Interior Design course.  I was ...

Afraid to Meditate?
If you have thought about a meditation practice but have quite a resistance, the...

Grieving
When there’s a death in the family there is grieving for the loss of that person...

When Grief Becomes So Overwhelming
My spiritual mentor has often said that our attachments keep us miserable. ...

Colour Awareness
Just recently I began a short course on Interior Design.  I want to underst...

Reduce Tension and Anxiety Simply
Are you sometimes bombarded with other people’s “stuff” that you pick up energet...

Qualities Worth Pursuing
The other day a friend of mine lent me a book to read called, “Are You the One F...

Reflections on Dementia and Meditation
When you’re with someone who is in the early stages of dementia you will notice ...

What Is Meditation?
A Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, who is also a philosopher and scientist named, ...

Emotional Addictions
The brain is hardwired to resist change.  There’s a saying in scientific ci...

Being Aware of Your Thoughts
As I so often write in these blogs the mind’s job is very specific.  It jus...

Qualities of a Spiritual Teacher
There usually arises at some point in time in the spiritual journey that there i...

Let Go of Clutter
Here’s an idea.  Look around your home.  Is it cluttered?  Do you...

The Changing Seasons…All Is Changing
Here in Auckland, New Zealand, it’s a warm balmy summer.  The cicadas sing ...

The Secret To Happiness Is…
The secret to happiness seems to lie in having no expectations.  Are you li...

Meditation Helps Us Become More Aware Of Our Thoughts
Many people project outwardly a very positive countenance.  They don’t voic...

Why People Give Up On Meditating
I met a person who had tried yoga and walked out half way through the class.&nbs...

A Thirteenth Century Story on Meditation
Do you have a book that is a well-thumbed, well-worn favourite, a book that you ...

Meditation... Getting Started
I receive a lot of emails from dedicated meditators all over the world who come ...

Thoughts... Are They All That Serious?
How seriously do you take your thoughts?  I notice that when I am meditatin...

Inspiration from Others
People who share their life experiences often offer others new ways of looking a...

Obsessive Thoughts
Have you ever had a bunch of thoughts woven into a problem or worry that never s...

Reflections on Loss and How Meditation Can Help
What does loss feel like for you?  Here are some reflections that I have ga...

Attachment Theory and Meditation
I have been reading about attachment in young infants.  All evidence shows ...

How Does Inner Peace Manifest in You?
When you experience inner peace through your meditation practice it will show in...

Meditation and Garbage
Last week I blogged about bringing more awareness into doing the “menial” tasks ...

From Meditation Practice to Daily Living Practice
How much thought do you give to what you consider to be the more unimportant thi...

Walking Meditation
Now and again you may consider walking as meditation and mindful practice. ...

Relax Your Way Into Meditation
If you are absolutely new to meditation I would encourage you to do some simple ...

Painkillers are Killing People. Can Meditation Help?
Addiction to prescription painkillers is becoming a serious problem in America.&...

Your Attitude Makes All the Difference
Your attitude to your thoughts and images throughout the day, and even in your m...

“Why Meditate?” – Another Point of View
I came across a very up to date book on all sorts of current topics in the field...

Following a Spiritual Path
Meditation is one route along the spiritual path.  Meditation leads to grea...

Meditation and Compassion
You may already be doing this, so here’s an idea to enhance your meditations.&nb...

Coming Out Of Your Meditation Practice
How do you finish your meditation?  What is that like for you coming out of...

Feel Your Feelings
In some traditional meditation practices there can be an emphasis on detaching f...

“Big Mind, Big Heart”
In July I attended a workshop called “Big Mind, Big Heart.”  It’s the work ...

Meditation and the Dilemma of Being a Westerner
I came across an article in a magazine written by Jack Kornfield, called “On Med...

Rhythm and Meditation
I’ve been thinking about how rhythm becomes a natural part of meditation and dee...

Research Findings on Meditation
From the same article on www.familyhealthguide.co.uk I also found some very inte...

Meditation Switches on Disease Fighting Genes
A friend of mine sent me this website, www.familyhealthguide.co.uk. It’s about ...

Taking Care of The Mind
Are you familiar with an inspiring website called, www.ted.com?  On it I ...

Nurturing a Relationship with Yourself through Meditation
Here’s a quote from the spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson.  She says, “...

The Feeling State
In June, Fragrant Heart presented a free guided visualization called “Bringing a...

Hints To Help You Into Meditation
Someone recently asked me if I had any ideas as to how they could settle into th...

Showing Up –The First Step
Tiger Woods, considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time said, “Peo...

Reactivity and How It Affects Us
When someone says or does something that triggers a reaction in you and you resp...

What May Be Hindering Your Meditation Practice
Inner child therapy has been around now for a few decades. It’s based on the ass...

Meditation and the Visual Pathway
I am going to see a man called Peter Grunwald, who has been working in the field...

Why Visualization Is So Powerful
I read that neuroscientists did research that proves visualization to be so powe...

Expanding Your Brain, Expanding Your Consciousness
Being called “a fat head” isn’t usually meant as a compliment.  Now with th...

More Breathing Tips To Reduce Stress
My mother who is eighty-five says she has worried all her life and will never st...

Feeling Stressed?
If you’re feeling stressed could you acknowledge that underlying stress is fear?...

Inward Calm
A Chinese man called Li Ching Yuen, is reputed to have lived to 256 years old.&n...

Another One Pointed Focus Technique
All that we need to live fulfilling lives resides within us.  For example, ...

Some Techniques to Help You to Focus
How often are you aware of your heart beating?  Of course, if you have just...

Bumper to Bumper and Breathing
I drive just about every day now in dense traffic.  Often it’s bumper-to-bu...

Quote from a Prominent Neurologist on Meditation
Dr Enescu is a prominent neurologist in New Jersey. He was interviewed in the bo...

The Inner Critic and Meditation
What is an Inner Critic that can often turn into a bully? A bullying Inner ...

Mantras and Meditation
Last week a friend and I went along to listen to a small group of visiting monks...

Dwelling in Stillness
Just imagine the day when meditation becomes mainstream like going to the gym. ...

Meditation Boosts Our Immune System
One evening I began to feel quite lethargic. My nose was stuffy and I had a sor...

Meditation Reduces High Blood Pressure
I’ve found more evidence as to why meditation helps so many people with high blo...

The Increase in Anti-Depressants
I read that 3.5 million people in the UK are given 13 million prescriptions a ye...

Walking Meditation
I’ve been doing walking meditations this summer. The weather here has been very...

An Alternative to Extreme Makeovers
Have you ever watched one of those extreme makeovers on TV? The person, usually...

WHY PEOPLE GIVE UP ON MEDITATION
Talking to others who gave meditation a go and then gave up on it, I learnt that...

DISEASE PREVENTION WITH MEDITATION
Yes, research points to lowering your stress with meditation. Stress it seems i...

ENLIGHTENMENT
For some meditators enlightenment is the goal. What is enlightenment? A friend...

DRUMMING IS MEDITATIVE
Late last year I began to learn how to drum. It’s taken me years to do it. I t...

LET YOURSELF BE QUIET
My meditation teacher used to say that if you meditate in the same place every d...

HOW TO MEDITATE WITH SIMPLICITY
As my daughter spins I observe that she demands nothing of herself. Her one poi...

MEDITATION ARISES OUT OF PRESENCE
It’s evening and my daughter Anna and I are sitting together in relaxed quietnes...

Introducing Meditation Into the Classroom
Recently I had an email from a teacher asking if I could give her some tips on i...

Tips for Mindfulness
It’s the holiday season, and I wish you all a joyful and peaceful time with fami...

Be Gentle On Yourself
Approach your meditation practice gently in all ways. There is a tendency in us...

Abdominal Breathing
Did you know that the way you breathe directly affects the levels of tension in ...

Smiling your way to peace in meditation and mudra
Throughout the Fragrant Heart website there is practical advice on adopting diff...

Let your smile become a part of your meditation practice as well as your life
I met a gifted healer, and spiritual teacher this week. In the course of the se...

Slow Your Breathing
In last week’s blog I wrote about attachment as the cause of suffering. At the ...

What Causes Suffering?
The Buddha worked it out when he said, “The degree to which you are attached is ...

Moving Through Your Daily Life in Meditation
In a group meeting I attended a woman said about her friend, half jokingly yet w...

Letting Go
It’s great to be able to blog again after a few weeks absence from Fragrant Hear...

From struggle to serenity, from hindering to healing
My friend and I have been emailing back and forth this past week. For three mon...

Meditation and "The Power for Expansive Change"
“The Artist’s Way” was written by Julia Cameron and first published in 1994. It...

Self esteem and Meditation
God in Self Esteem studiesIn my last blog I wrote about growing up in a religion...

Being in your body, being with the breath
In Learn to Meditate Over Five Days on our website, the one pointed focus is the...

Vipassana Meditation
It was great discovering a book written back in the 90’s, and stepping back into...

Mind Power: What else is possible?
I came across an article on an amazing experiment done by Professor William Brua...

The basic structure of a meditation practice
Whatever technique you decide to use in your meditation practice it will follow ...

The power of visualisation
I did a workout the other night with a chiropractor who has devised a series of ...

Your body is also your teacher
Where are you twenty-four hours of the day? Hopefully in your body, although in...

You Are Valuable
The feeling of being valuable – “I am a valuable person” is essential to mental ...

Awakening
From all the research that I’ve been doing lately around meditation and living i...

The Impact Of Our Words On Others
How many times have you said something to someone that you instantly, or later r...

How To Be Happy
Last week I watched a movie on Happiness with Deepak Chopra. Deepak Chopra is a...

I Want To Be Blissed Out
My friend Joe, (not his real name) who has been meditating for many years, told ...

Expanding Your Awareness - Part 3
This week’s exercise in Expanding Your Awareness lends itself to experiencing ph...

Expanding Your Awareness - Part 2
Last week in Expanding Your Awareness you could try the Open Focus exercise. Di...

Expanding Your Awareness - Part 1
Getting into meditation will help you to relax, become peaceful and calm and ene...

Meditation can slow down some diseases
Time Magazine August 4th 2003Not only do studies show that meditation is boostin...

Meditation can boost your immune system
Washington Times August 14th 2003A new study shows that people who underwent med...

Ten million people now claim to meditate daily
In the USA ten million people now claim to meditate daily. Meditation is fast gr...

Meditation helps Attentional Blink
Meditation helps Attentional Blink and prevents us missing what’s going on with ...

Stillness can be found anywhere
These past three weeks I have been staying in an apartment building in the city’...

How do I know if I’m meditating?
No, you don’t have to be having out of body experiences, meeting angels, seeing ...

Different Meditation Techniques
Just a reminder that one of the most powerful tools for change is meditation. T...

What is a Spiritual Practice?
This question comes up a lot and can cause confusion. Simply put a spiritual pr...

One person’s meditation experience over 45 years
Recently I talked with a man who has been meditating since he was eighteen. I w...

New meditation for March - Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra comes from the Eastern traditions and is a very powerful form of deep...

How meditation can change your emotional and physical health
There has been a lot of scientific research that now confirms the benefits of me...

Two simple ways to centre yourself before meditating
Before beginning meditation I often find it helpful to centre myself. Centring g...

Meditation can enhance your happiness
When brain scans are done on practising Buddhists it has been found that there i...

What is Beauty?
“… this whole phenomenon of the universe is the phenomenon of beauty. Every soul...

The Mind-Earth Connection
The Earth’s Resonance, Your Brain, and Meditation.Did you know that not only can...

Zen in a Tea Cup
How Green Tea can Help you MeditateEach morning I take my grandmother’s old bone...

Breaking the Insomnia Cycle
Did you know that one-third of all American and European adults suffer from inso...

Breaking the Insomnia Cycle
Tips for getting a good night's sleep.

Four Proven Reasons to Meditate
There are many reasons why it is beneficial to meditate. If you do not already have a meditation practice these four reasons could well motivate you to getting started.

Can meditation help relieve pain?
The simple answer is, yes it can. If you already have a meditation practice you ...

What are the ‘secrets’ of an ongoing meditation practice?
On my first meditation course the teacher told us to focus on the breath enterin...

Why use music in meditation?
Certain types of music like classical music or gentle lyrical music can be relax...

Why take up a meditation practice?
There are all sorts of reasons why people begin meditation. For me it was part o...

Where does meditation take you?
Accept and allow whatever is happening in your meditation practice. As I read th...

Add greater depth to your meditation practice
The other day I went into a healing centre and there above the doorway hung a li...

How the breath empowers you
We come into the world on the inward breath and we leave this world on the outwa...

How efficient is meditation in dealing with "baggage"?
Recently I had an email from a friend who said that his partner had decided that...

Overcoming resistance to meditation
Perhaps you have been meditating for a little while and you began with great ent...

Putting Fears into Perspective - How Meditation Can Help
During meditation, if a fear or worry is on your mind it can be very distracting...

How meditation can put your fears in perspective
What to do if fears and worries arise during your practice.

Transform Yourself with Stillness
"Stillness is the greatest achievement one can have in life."These words from an...

The Benefits of Meditation
How the power of meditation can lower your stress levels and improve your mind, body and spirit.

Meditation for Beginners
What you need to know before you start meditating.

Inspirational Quotes
Meditative words from sages, poets and wise ones.

What is Meditation?
Most likely you've heard of meditation. But what is it exactly? Elisabeth gives a brief introduction to the practice of meditation.

Common Questions about Meditation
Answers your most pressing questions about meditation.