Rabbit Hole

There are two big meditation approaches out there, two buckets, discovered and rediscovered many times in many different traditions. One is active. It’s about bearing down, about trying to get somewhere, to build some skill, to make something happen. The other is passive. It’s about easing off, about not trying to get anywhere or make […]

This is the first meditation in the book Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, coauthored by Dan Harris and Carlye Adler. This and the dozen or so other meditations can be found – with video and extra stuff – on the 10% Happier app. Concentration is the foundational skill of meditation. It stabilizes the mind, and eventually it can […]

Something a bit different. It is a meditation designed for kids, not adults, complete with cool sound effects and animated vocals and continuous appeals to the imagination. The idea of Colourland is to help kids move from the low energy blahs, to more optimistic and cheerful bounce. Should they wish to! They may not; it’s […]

Something a bit different. I created this meditation for kids, aged 5 – 10. It is a meditation designed for kids, not adults, complete with cool sound effects and animated vocals and continuous appeals to the imagination. The idea of Calmland is to help kids move from hyperactive agitation to a more relaxed and self-regulated […]

10% Happier asked me to write this meditation for Apple employees. They took my script and recorded it in the voice of the iPhone. Personally, I think the voice should be slowed down by a third, to make it more hypnotic and meditative. The meditation “object” here is the sound of silence, the “space between commands.” […]

MEDITATION:  Welcome to the Party INTERACTIVE:  Three Views of Reality OK, for this weekly instalment of our monthly exploration of devotion, we’re going to explore what it means to be goo-goo ga-ga in love with the hottest sexiest meanest and most ass-kicking entity in all of reality – that is, reality itself, aka the existential wrapper thing […]

An online version of my Way of the Consciousness Explorer course is in the works. If you want you can plug your email in here and I’ll let you know when it’s ready.  

I love pop music. My friends play me some hip electro banger I’m like ‘ya ok,’ but when I hear Carlye Rae Jepsen Cut to the Feeling my inner teenage girl goes mental (never mind when Selena Gomez samples the Talking-Heads – sick!) I love these songs because they make me feel free. They make me realize that at anytime I can actually kick off my leg warmers and do cartwheels down the sidewalk. That in a million different ways I imagine I’m limited and constrained and that I must act or be a certain way but really, really, at anytime I can just … step off. Step off the ride. And the world will hold me.

TALK: What habits of mind are you building? GUIDED MEDITATION: Habits of mind You hear teachers say it again and again, in every tradition: explore for a bit, and then choose one practice and commit. They’re right – sort of. It’s absolutely true that if you want to build a new habit, you have to […]

For this weekly instalment of November’s devotion month, we’re going to explore what it means to be goo goo ga ga in love with the hottest sexiest meanest and most ass-kicking entity in all of reality – that is, Reality itself, aka the existential wrapper thing that you, me, and everyone seems to find themselves inside, now and always, for reality just keeps on being real.

Wow, lots of caveats around action this month, I guess we are a tender bunch – learning about self-care, about boundaries, about humility. But let’s not let our humanist realism trump our contemplative hearts, because, as everybody knows, love and service are still the only real games in town. Is there a place for this kind of idealism in our mangled modern world? What might it look like, and how can we help each other come to it in our own ways?

This is a classic meditation drawing on the ideas of equanimity, concentration, and ending with loving-kindness.

Well, it’s one day before the US election and the moment the Western world is thrown into our next Dark Age. Are you worried? I am. It’s hard to be an informed person and not feel some concern for the intense divisiveness and acrimony radiating up from our southern neighbours. Fortunately, when it comes to meditation, that’s just fine: we WANT reactions. We need something to work with here.

GUIDED MEDITATION: Neti-Neti INTERACTIVE: Crossing the Line There’s no getting around this paradox if you want to grok spiritual practice. On the one hand, you are definitely a unique little weirdo. On the other hand, you’re also the irreducible sum of all unique weirdos, and / or none of them. It depends on your perspective. Whether […]

MEDITATION: Psychic Shrink-Wrap INTERACTIVE: The Right Practice for the Right Time Our theme this month is different strokes for different folks. This seems to be every bit as true for meditation and spiritual practice as it is for everything else. When I first started practicing mindfulness, I was all about deconstructing myself. A lot of […]

TEACHER: Jeff Warren THEME: The Practice of Perspective MEDITATION: Layers of Our Discontent INTERACTIVE: The Art of Moving Out This week, we explore perspective from two directions: in sitting practice, where we’ll tease out some of the understated and not-so understated ways we find our moments lacking (and in the seeing, a subtle freeing), and, for part two, a […]

TEACHER: Jeff Warren THEME: The Senses MEDITATION: Sensory Flow GROUP PRACTICE: Crystal Singing Bowls – more Deep Relaxation

TEACHER: Jeff Warren THEME: Attention MEDITATION: Non-attachment GROUP PRACTICE: Yoga Nidra and Deep Relaxation

TEACHER: Jeff Warren THEME: Impermanence MEDITATION: Flow GROUP PRACTICE: Discussion: Soulful in the City – How to Find Big Mind in the Big Smoke

TEACHER: Jeff Warren THEME: Compassion MEDITATION: Turning into a little kid GROUP PRACTICE: Eye-gazing (touchy-feely night!)