I tell people that I teach a class in law and meditation at UC Berkeley’s law school, I often hear snorts of disbelief. “It’s easier to imagine a kindergarten class sitting in silence for half an hour,” a friend said to me, “than two lawyers sitting together in silence for five minutes.” Charles Halpern (left, foreground) leads a Qigong exercise at a retreat for 75 lawyers at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California.Richard Boswell But the class is no joke. In fact, it’s part of a ground-breaking movement that has quietly been taking hold in the legal profession over the past two decades: a movement to bring mindfulness—a medi... posted on Jan 27 2017 (12,338 reads)

is fast becoming a fashionable tool for improving your mind. With mounting scientific evidence that the practice can enhance creativity, memory and scores on standardized intelligence tests, interest in its practical benefits is growing. A number of “mindfulness” training programs, like that developed by the engineer Chade-Meng Tan at Google, and conferences like Wisdom 2.0 for business and tech leaders, promise attendees insight into how meditation can be used to augment individual performance, leadership and productivity. This is all well and good, but if you stop to think about it, there’s a bit of a disconnect between the (perfectly commendab... posted on Jul 7 2013 (39,149 reads)

lawyers? It's no joke. Charles Halpern has been leading a movement to promote empathy and mindfulness in the practice of law. When I tell people that I teach a class in law and meditation at UC Berkeley’s law school, I often hear snorts of disbelief. “It’s easier to imagine a kindergarten class sitting in silence for half an hour,” a friend said to me, “than two lawyers sitting together in silence for five minutes.” Charles Halpern (left, foreground) leads a Qigong exercise at a retreat for 75 lawyers at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California.  But the class is no joke. In fact, it’s part of a ground-breakin... posted on Mar 31 2011 (12,747 reads)

during their day-to-day activities and found that 47 percent of the time, their minds were not focused on what they were currently doing. Even more striking, when people’s minds were wandering, they reported being less happy. This suggests it might be good to find ways to reduce these mental distractions and improve our ability to focus. Ironically, mind-wandering itself can help strengthen our ability to focus, if leveraged properly. This can be achieved using an age-old skill: meditation. Indeed, a new wave of research reveals what happens in our brains when our minds wander—and sheds light on the host of cognitive and emotional benefits that come with increased focus... posted on Apr 18 2015 (151,689 reads)

His work has appeared in more than a hundred literary journals worldwide. He's the author of the books Beamish Boy: A Memoir, Letters to Early Street, and Walking Tooth and Cloud. With Sounds True, Albert Flynn DeSilver has written a new book called Writing as a Path to Awakening: A Year to Becoming an Excellent Writer and Living an Awakened Life, where he invites the reader on a year-long journey of growth and discovery to enhance writing through the practice of meditation while using the creative process to accelerate spiritual evolution. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Albert and I spoke about the difference between the creative pursuit of ... posted on Sep 20 2018 (10,340 reads)

buy iPhones to be universally connected and have a ton of cool functions and features at their fingertips.  But as the wise monk Rev. Heng Sure once said, everything we create in silicon already exists in carbon.  I’d add that the silicon technology is a poor facsimile at best.   So how exactly do you tap into the wonderful carbon technology you carry around with you all the time? Meditation is a phenomenal tool to do just that. Here are five areas where meditation beats an iPhone.   1. Connectivity   The truth is that you can’t really connect to anyone else unless you’re in touch with yourself.  The iPhone allows and enc... posted on Nov 22 2011 (46,383 reads)

recently, meditation was a very fuzzy concept to me. Growing up in a pretty homogenous, East coast suburb, I never knew anyone who meditated. My understanding consisted of abstract and puzzling instructions, like ‘sit, quiet your mind, and think of nothing.’ “Nothing! Why would you think of nothing?! What a waste of time,” I thought. Hence, meditation wasn’t at the top of my list of things to try. But I felt a bit stuck in life. While I had many happy parts of my life, I didn’t feel a baseline of contentment. External things would unglue me more easily than I would like, and negative thoughts and emotions would too often creep into my mind. I ... posted on Feb 3 2012 (26,429 reads)

part of. On the 7th day, my mind was flowing at the speed of sea fog. Or maybe that was the description of my nervous system. I felt so present with a gentle flow — and my mind felt open to whatever arises. Good stuff. I had been camping in solitude in nature — on a hill over the ocean on the coast of California — as I have done twice a year for the past 20+ years. I jokingly call it my “People Fast”, which I have always assumed I needed since, as a meditation teacher and an actress, what I do in the world involves intense and intimate interactions with people, and I figured that we always need an opportunity to “clear out” and refres... posted on Apr 13 2020 (6,809 reads)

virtual retreat I signed up for with her on one of this year’s many bad days. It was called “Shelter for the Heart and Mind.” And she has created some shelter for me, at once grounding and energizing, through all of the highs and lows that have followed. I’ve been in conversation with Sharon since this show began, and I invited her to come back to mull over the matter of being alive in 2020 with me and with you. Sharon Salzberg is one of the most esteemed teachers of meditation in the world. And she’s credited as one of the founding three who introduced Buddhist practices into mainstream Western culture in the 1970s; its psychological acuity, contemplative d... posted on Oct 24 2020 (7,516 reads)

of the Earth to wake up and engage with the great work of our time: to participate in restoring balance and harmony to the web of life. The Earth Treasure Vase Global Healing Project lies at the heart of this community – planting clay vases filled with offerings of protection and healing around the world. The project’s Gaia Mandala Sangha — a spiritual community grounded in Buddhist tradition but open to all — exists as an in-person and online community with regular meditation and retreat offerings, including a monthly full moon meditation and opportunities to participate in stewarding Earth Treasure Vases. Founder Cynthia Jurs, spoke with us to share more about ... posted on Aug 2 2020 (8,221 reads)

few years ago Americ Azevedo sat in a college classroom with about 15 students. It was a meditation class and he was the instructor. This past fall, that same class enrolled 603 students and took place in one of the largest lecture halls on the UC Berkeley campus. A philosopher, author and lecturer of peace studies, Americ slips through all of these categories. Serendipitously he became the acting CEO of a company in a field for which he had no formal training. He's taught an unlikely mix of university classes (philosophy, religion, leadership, finance, business and information systems), developed several virtual companies, directed the Innovation Center at Golden Gate Univer... posted on Nov 12 2013 (29,014 reads)

startling physiological effects of loneliness, optimism, and meditation. In 2013, Neil deGrasse Tyson hosted a mind-bending debate on the nature of “nothing” — an inquiry that has occupied thinkers since the dawn of recorded thought and permeates everything from Hamlet’s iconic question to the boldest frontiers of quantum physics. That’s precisely what New Scientist editor-in-chief Jeremy Webb explores with a kaleidoscopic lens in Nothing: Surprising Insights Everywhere from Zero to Oblivion(public library) — a terrific collection of essays and articles exploring everything from vacuum to the birth and death of the universe to how the concept of zer... posted on Sep 13 2014 (26,991 reads)

long suggested what neuroscience is now revealing: Our experiences are formed by the words and ideas we attach to them. Naming something play rather than work — or exercise rather than labor — can mean the difference between delight and drudgery, fatigue or weight loss. What makes a vacation a vacation is not only a change of scenery, but the fact that we let go of the mindless everyday illusion that we are in control. Ellen Langer says mindfulness is achievable without meditation or yoga. She defines it as “the simple act of actively noticing things.” What follows is the transcript of an On Being interview between Krista Tippett and Ellen Langer: ... posted on Apr 2 2018 (17,266 reads)

requires a minimum of effort, so how could other aspects of our existence, such as attention or altruism, require no effort and be developed from the beginning? It’s absurd. All our abilities are developed until they reach a certain level. Therefore, to develop our capacity of altruism requires a constant exposure to a certain way of thinking that can change our brain. And you also mentioned that there is a technique that helps people to develop their altruism: it’s through meditation… The term meditation is mystical, exotic, but its meaning is to educate oneself, to become familiar with a new way of thinking and acting while developing one’s qualities. L... posted on Jan 27 2014 (7,811 reads)

meditate. He said, "This level of rage," and even in that audience with him I was extremely angry in describing the work that I did and really raging about it and very angry. He said, “A mind that is this rageful is just out of your own control and so you need to meditate in order to reign it back in.” The first piece of advice was to meditate, really learn to be the master of your own mind. So I was, "Okay, that one I can do;" right? "I'll sign up for meditation course."  His second piece of advice was to in some way open my heart to those who have done me harm or do harm. “Open your heart to your enemies or those you perceive to... posted on Jan 27 2015 (44,362 reads)

may have been the year of the "mindful revolution," but 2015 proved that mindfulness is here to stay. The more we learn about mindfulness -- the cultivation of a focused awareness on the present moment, most commonly through meditation -- the more health and well-being benefits we discover. This year, researchers delved further into the science of meditation and uncovered even more surprising evidence of the practice's powerful effects on the mind and body. Here are the five most incredible scientific findings on mindfulness of 2015. We figured out how mindfulness improves health. We know that mindfulness is linked to a number of physical and mental health ben... posted on Jan 25 2016 (22,675 reads)

yourself whether you’re at work or at play in basically the same way. [music: “Seven League Boots” by Zoe Keating] KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: Ellen Langer is a social psychologist who some have dubbed “the mother of mindfulness.” But she defines mindfulness with counterintuitive simplicity: the simple act of actively noticing things — with a result of increased health, competence, and happiness. Her take on mindfulness has never involved contemplation or meditation or yoga. It comes straight out of her provocative, unconventional studies, which have been suggesting for decades what neuroscience is pointing at now: our experience of everything is forme... posted on Mar 28 2016 (25,199 reads)

way. Sure, it was Christian based yet it was a model for me of how one might have a deep devotional commitment to practice a discipline—a practice that would be a support for doing the difficult work in the world. My grandmother cleaned houses for other people. She did not have a glamorous job but because of her contemplative and religious commitment she had a sense of her own wholeness and value. Fast-forward to me today—the practices I engage in are heavily in eastern meditation and traditions of study, primarily Buddhist meditative experience. So my practice every day is kind of a sitting meditation practice accompanied by study. I am also involved primarily in on... posted on Jun 1 2017 (13,558 reads)

Simon: You’re listening to Insights at the Edge. Today, my guest is Sharon Salzberg. Sharon is a beloved meditation teacher and a New York Times bestselling author. She’s the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, the host of the Metta podcast. And she’s created several audio meditation guides and courses with Sounds True, along with being a wisdom teacher, featured as part of Sounds True’s Inner MBA program, where she teaches on loving-kindness at work. For Sharon, the practice of meditation and inner inquiry are deeply connected to working on real change in the world. Here, she talks about what it ... posted on Apr 8 2022 (2,598 reads)

interest areas. As some examples, their work led to the banning of the harmful insecticide, DDT, and to an increase in the accountability of corporate boards. Charlie continued the work of a social entrepreneur by serving as a founding member and dean of the City University of New York Law School (CUNY), a rather unique law school due to its public interest and curriculum. As Charlie notes in his book, it was during his challenging time at CUNY that he was exposed to the practice of meditation. For Charlie, meditation really opened up a space for the cultivation of wisdom, which is the heart of our discussion today. Since then, Charlie has come to see the practice of wisdom as... posted on Jul 13 2017 (6,457 reads)