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How a simple reflection transforms your attitude towards food

Is that chanting or just a chore? Wh en I spent time in Thailand in a monastery (Wat Pah Nanachat), we had our meals just once a day at around 8.30 am. And right before every meal, we sat down and chanted a food reflection in Pali. To be honest, it felt kind of strange and back then, I did not yet fully grasp the full power of this chant. Or maybe it was just the hunger creeping up on me after 23 hours and 30 minutes of fasting that clouded my brains. So here goes the chant in my favorite translated version: "With wise reflection I eat this food, n ot for fattening, not for beautification, o nly to maintain this body, t o stay alive and healthy, t o support the spiritual way of life. Thus I let go of unpleasant feelings, a nd do not stir up new ones. Thereby the process of life goes on. b lameless, at ease, and in peace." It felt like an empty chore. And I just took it as just one of the things you have to do. A month later I left the monastery and went on a 10 day silent re...

How to start your meditation practice? Just do it!

So you are motivated to start your first meditation, but somehow you can't get yourself to sit down on a cushion and to close your eyes? Here is a little secret that the NIKE brand has used for decades as a marketing slogan: "Just do it!". There is no away around pushing yourself over the edge to get the deed done. Here are 8 tips, how to get yourself over the hump: 1) Make a strong resolve to do a meditaton today. Right after you wake up and get up out bed, think about the things you want to achieve today. And make sure you include meditation in your planning. It could be something like this: "Today, I want to sit down and meditate." 2) Pick a specific time, when you want to meditate. When you do the strong resolve, make sure you include a specific time, when you want to do it. So it should be something like: "I want to meditate today, when I get back home after work." or "I want to meditate at 10 p.m.". Being specific helps your brain to...

Concentration, Insight and Loving-Kindness: The Swiss Army Knife of Meditation Practice

Concentration, Insight and Loving-Kindness: The Swiss Army Knife of Meditation Practice Today I want to shine a light on basic meditation practices, how they work and why you should use them. I would consider this to be the tip of the iceberg and just a first introduction. There are basically 3 types of meditations for different purposes, which I would consider to be the "Swiss Army Knife" of meditation. Just like this multi tool has different blades for different purposes, these 3 meditation techniques have certain use cases. And like a Swiss Army Knife, they should be seen as a package, they last you a life time and never go out of fashion. 1) Concentration Meditation helps you to focus, relax and enjoy yourself (Samatha) Concentration Meditation (Samatha) uses an object to focus the attention on. It is like one of those old school Maglite flashlights, which you can twist at the top to bundle all of the light in one spot in the distance. There are various objects that ca...