Mindfulness Matters

The other day I had an unusual Thursday. My typical Thursday involves an afternoon of clinical practice. This particular Thursday, in addition to my clinical hours I had a number of extra-curricular activities. It was a concatenation of extrovert-like activities intensified in a day. First, I volunteered to man the booth for the Coaching Center…

I read an interesting piece on spending time alone recently by Cassandra Bodzak. In a culture dominated by extrovert values, being alone might seem like alien territory and mostly to be avoided. Introverts crave it, but everyone needs it. Meditation gives us a chance to be alone with ourselves for at least a little while…

I am pleased to share that Oprah.com has published an excerpt from The Awakened Introvert. It’s on the “Shift Your Life” section of Oprah that provides interactive ways to make changes in your life. They took an excerpt from the energy chapter and provide an interactive energy chart that you can use to chart your…

A recent cartoon in The New Yorker portrays a couple having coffee on a sidewalk cafe. The female member of the couple is lying prostrate in her chair, being attended to by EMTs. One EMT says to the other, “She’s in a conversationally induced coma.” Can you relate? This cartoon is similar to the 1878…

It is always a joy to discover a new poem that captures the spirt of mindful living. The late poet Galway Kinnell said, “To me, poetry is somebody standing up, so to speak, and saying, with as little concealment as possible, what it is for him or her to be on earth at this moment.”…

I had the pleasure, again, of being Mark Johnson’s guest on WDEV for his morning call-in radio program. Mark and I connect as fellow introverts. Click here to listen to the show. We talked about the differences between introverts and extroverts, what it means to be an awakened introvert, and how to practice meditation. There…

I was recently turned on to Louis CK’s epistle on cell phones during an appearance with Conan O’Brian. Louis CK is very funny and he captures the sense of infomania that afflicts so many of us. We turn to our devices to avert the raw feelings of life. His insights are very consistent with the…

I recently read Abigail Thomas’s new book, What Comes Next and How to Like It. It’s a poetic reflection on a lifelong friendship and life itself. You can read it, as I did, on the span of an airplane ride. After the death of her husband, Thomas has chosen to live a life without romantic…

A recent article in the Sunday Times is critical of the mindfulness movement. I read through some of the comments to the article and they thought the piece was cynical or misinformed. I think the presence of a critical, high profile, article such as this highlights that mindfulness is maturing as a concept and a…

I am reading with strong interest David Brooks’s new book, The Road to Character. In this book, he argues that this generation has lost its connection to character. We are in an age of self-promotion, self-aggrandizement, and self-importance. Masters Champion Jordan Spieth is an exception to this. He merges resume values with eulogy values. He…

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