Charlotte Center For Mindfulness // Podcasts

We tend to think of ourselves as solid separate entities but just a bit of investigation into our true nature we find we are part – physically, not metaphorically – of a flow of changing elements related to everything else around.

Last week we looked at Bhikkhu Analayo’s understanding of sati or mindfulness as a good friend always available to us.  This week, we come back to this with a personal reflection or contemplation practice for examining– what do I do when seeking to be “mindful?” Right away from the moment of waking up in the morning our good friend sati can already be there, as if waiting f...

Being aware of the physical elements of Earth, Air, Sun and Water in the body can be an opening to seeing into a more intimate relationship with ourselves and all around us that is naturally wise and compassionate.

This sharing draws from teachings of Andrew Olendzki’s lovely short article, What’s In A Word, Sati , from Tricycle and Bhikku Analayo’s book, Satipatthana Meditation, both of which make clear that our usual understanding of the word mindfulness is inadequate for opening the true radical transformative potential inherent in the opening of a “mindful” mind. (Please exc...

Drawing from a teaching from Bhikku Analayo, respected Buddhist scholar and monk, on a feminine nature of mindfulness, this meditation is an opportunity to explore mindfulness as an open, understanding receptivity to whatever arises: Right away from the moment of waking up in the morning our good friend sati can already be there, as if waiting for us. She is ready to accompany us throughout the re...

Drawing from the poem, What It Is, this meditation explores noticing the judgmental mind and its story, as well as the possibility of settling back into a radical wise accepting love. “It is nonsense says reason It is what it is says love It is calamity says calculation It is nothing but pain says fear It is hopeless says insight It is what it is says love It is ludicrous says pride It is fo...

“.. To every grain that enters: ‘Welcome.’ To every parting mote: ‘Be blessed.'” From: Earthworms , poem by Lynn Ungar, www.lynnungar.com Please note: no accompanying talk.

Classical Zen Story shared by Tara Brach in Radical Acceptance : An old woman had supported a monk for twenty years, letting him live in a hut on her land. After all this time she figured the monk, now a man in the prime of life, must have attained some degree of enlightenment. So she decided to test him. Rather than taking his daily meal to him herself, she asked a beautiful young girl to deliver...

What happens when we totally let go of an evaluation of our meditation as a “success or failure,” or it “working” for me or not “working” for me?  In opening to the dance of energy in this human life, we can’t help but learn a wise compassion to what it means to be human and a spacious awareness that can hold it all.

Medical Sociologist Aaron Antonosvsky studied the relationship between stress, health and well-being focusing on people who had survived extreme stress with an intact sense of coherence. His work provides another beautiful lens into the resiliency building skillful of offering generosity and service in the world.

Working with insight into change as a means of freedom through a human heart.

Learning how to skillfully work with fear, anxiety, worry or any other difficult emotion is fundamental for resilience in challenging times.  One way to do this is by exploring compassionate action, or what Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander call “ Being a Contribution. “

The Buddha taught the Metta or LovingKindness Meditation as an antidote for fear. In this meditation we explore grounding in the elements of the body to turn with compassion to whatever needs to be met.

Generosity is considered a fundamental practice of mindfulness. How do we practice with a spirit of generosity towards our own selves in our meditation practice itself?       Please note: no accompanying talk for this podcast.

This is a sharing of how mindfulness became an unexpected core part of my own spiritual journey and path  into and out of practice as a physician.

This is a meditation on Fredrick Buechner ‘s beautiful words. “…Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”  

The Tibetan teacher , Shabkar, said:   To meditate without kindness is simply to inflict hardship on yourself. What does this mean for you in this practice, right now?   Please Note: The meditation ends at 18:10 and starting 18:11 is a small talk regarding the quote above.  

The softness of bamboo and water offer interesting teachings on strength and resilience. In this sharing we explore how bamboo houses and water can inform even the intensity of something like anger.

The radical turn of mindfulness meditation is to meet whatever is here, instead of worrying about how to “fix” ourselves to stop whatever is coming up. This practice explores “The Welcoming Prayer.” If “God” language doesn’t work for you, please feel free to substitute as best for you. The Welcoming Prayer Welcome, welcome, welcome. I welcome everything th...

Gravity is a mysterious connecting force that is always available as an anchor. In this meditation, we open to a contemplation on the relation between time/space/gravity and this moment now.   Please note: there is no accompanying talk for this meditation.

Gratitude is confidence in life itself. In it, we feel how the same force that pushes grass through cracks in the sidewalk invigorates our own life.  -Jack Kornfield In this sharing we explore both the openings and challenges of gratitude practice ending with an Inquiry Practice.

Gratitude can be a useful resource, but is not always accessible. In this practice, we start where we are, experimenting and exploring the region of gratitude.  

here are different ways of relating to the “tigers” we encounter in this life.  In this sharing we explore two possibilities. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”  ― Viktor E. Frankl

This is a practice on the sanity of grounding with our inter-relatedness.

This is a practice in noticing how mindfulness naturally arises on its own and how to tap into that arising skillfully.   Please note: no talk this week.