Mindful Boston

At one point I had the intention to blog each week.  I did succeed in accomplishing a weekly post during the 8 weeks of the Fall 2010 MBSR.  And then I really just felt done with that intention...   Now I blog when I can.   And I've asked some fellow practitioners if they are interested in helping out here and there.  A good friend who goes by MindfulRookie submitted this blog post.   Many thanks to MindfulRookie for being my first guest blogger! -GB Out of Practice The dentist said to make sure to brush every tooth individually. That should be no problem for a practitioner of mindfulness, I thought but was I a practitioner? It had been-- phew-- a while since I took the time to sit and meditate. As I brushed my teeth I started to daydream about beginning my practice again. I remembered how good I felt when I practiced every day. I had so much more energy. I started thinking about all the things I could do with my extra energy. I w...

For my city apartment, the "back yard" consists mainly of the space between the fire escape and the chain link fence. A while ago, I put up a hammock there. One end of the hammock is attached to the fire escape. The other end of the hammock is attached to the post of the chain link fence. I hang out there on a regular basis, sitting on the hammock maybe with a cup of coffee. For some days, I have one minute. Other days I have time for a nap. Some days, I bring my headphones and listen to the MBSR body scan. I can lie down and look at the sky, I can sit up and look around me. My family has come to call this my Hammy Time, shortened from Hammock Time, so named because there was a rap song in the 80's called "Hammer Time" by MC Hammer.  The theme is that this is time that's all about me. In between the buildings, trees, and fences, sunshine does fall on my hammock.  And the timing of direct sun, and the sun's intensity shifts with the seasons. Right now i...

Today's MindfulBoston Blog is dedicated to a couple of yogis out there who have asked me the following question: What's the difference between a Yoga Nidra practice and an MBSR Body Scan? If you don't know what Yoga Nidra is, then you haven't been spending much time in a Kripalu Yoga Sudio.  Yoga Nidra is a meditation that is sometimes done at the end of an asana practice as part of shavasana time.   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As an MBSR teacher I lead a lot of body scans and as a yoga teacher I lead regular Yoga Nidra workshops. I do see that there are a few surface similarities between the two practices that might lead to confusing them. From my direct experiences of teaching each practice, I am of the opinion that the two are distinct and that each has a different purpose.  I have studied at Kripalu with Yoganand Michael Carroll and have taken a specific Yoga Nidra Teacher Training workshop at Kripalu with Tarika Diana Damelio. From ...