The World Will Never Slow Down—But You Always Can

If you’re a human alive on this planet right now, you’ve likely noticed the immense sense of turbulence in the air.

The world feels more divided than ever. Fingers are being pointed in all directions. Everyone claims to have answers, but clarity remains elusive.

It’s easy to feel trapped in a vortex with no way out.

But here’s a truth you can always count on:

While the world will never slow down for us, we always have the power to slow down for ourselves.

Staying plugged in is seductive.

It feels comforting, necessary even.

We want to read the latest headline, watch the cute cat video, laugh at the newest meme.

But ultimately, it's all just adding fuel to the fire.

Instead, in the face of uncertainty, the answer is to take back control of what you can.

Unplugging from the noise isn't just rebellious; it's essential.

It can give you the clarity you've been searching for.

Here is my invitation for you.

This weekend:

Unplug: Put down your phone. Turn off the news. Give it a break.

Connect: Get back in your body. Go for a long walk. Try a Yin Yoga session—there are dozens on my YouTube page. Do something physical.

Be Still: Sit in meditation for at least 5 minutes. Try for even longer if you can.

Reflect: Observe any changes in your mood or clarity. Consider jotting down your thoughts in a journal.

While we can't control the world, we can always control our response to it.

By taking charge of your environment and behaviors, you can craft the life of clarity that you’re seeking.

It doesn't take much; just honest intention and a little time.

I’d love to hear how this experience goes for you. Please coment and share your thoughts!

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For those ready to dive deeper, I'd like to invite you to join me for my new Embodied Mindfulness Membership.

It will give you the tools and the guidance you need to thrive in this turbulent time.

What's Inside:

• Live Yin Yoga Sessions Twice a Week; all added to an ever-growing practice library.

• Guided Meditations and Talks.

• Supportive Community.

• Optional 1-1 Guidance.

The program begins on December 1st. Sign up before January 1st to receive 50% off your first month.

Click here to schedule a meeting to see if the program is a good fit.

The Sneaky Little Jerk Messing With Your Meditation

The Struggle of Showing Up

It’s 6 am, and while the world outside is still dark and quiet, you’re awake and sitting on your meditation cushion.

Your neck is stiff; your back is sore.

Your mind swirls with half-thoughts—yesterday’s to-do list, fragments of dreams, and a fog that just lingers.

And then there’s that nagging doubt: 'Why am I even here? What’s the point?'

But here’s the thing: transformation in practice doesn’t happen when everything feels perfect.

It happens because you keep showing up, especially on the days when it feels challenging.

Doubt is a Sneaky Little Jerk

Doubt is sneaky.

It whispers that you’re wasting your time, even when things are going well.

And while tension and restlessness hit you directly, doubt creeps in quietly.

It’s that voice that tells you to quit. The one that tells you to constantly shift your posture. And the voice that tells you that none of it is working.

Remember—all meditators experience doubt, and it’s often a sign that the practice is working.

But if you’re feeling doubt, you’ve already cleared the toughest hurdle: showing up.

Because the consistency and motivation to show up day after day is undeniably the most critical factor in a transformative practice.

Consistency is the Key

A famous Japanese proverb says:

“Even dust, when piled high, can make a mountain.”

Chiri mo tsumoreba, yama to naru

ちりも積もれば、山となる。

I heard this proverb years ago, and it struck me because it speaks to the power of the smallest actions. It reminds you that each time you show up, you add another grain of dust to the mountain of practice—small efforts that build something monumental over time.

But this metaphor goes even further when you consider the infinite potential moments of mindfulness throughout your day.

So, the next time you’re stuck in traffic, can you feel the texture of the steering wheel under your hands? While waiting in line, can you feel your weight shift as you stand or notice the sounds around you? Even right now, can you notice your next breath?

Each mindful moment adds another grain of attention to your day.

The more you weave these moments in, the stronger your focus becomes.

And this will lead to more presence and less doubt when you sit down on your cushion for formal practice.

Small Steps, Big Changes

Getting lost in your head and stuck on your expectations about practice is easy.

But the most crucial part is the intention to keep going and to keep showing up, day after day, month after month, year after year.

Just like drops of water can slowly smooth out a rough rock, your daily practice gradually softens and smooths out the rough edges in your mind.

I see this all the time in my students.

The ones who most consistently commit to showing up on the mat are the ones who experience the most profound changes in their bodies and minds.

And all of these profound changes are built during each unit of practice.

Because, in the end, transformation isn’t sudden.

Keep showing up, and those small moments will create something life-changing.

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While showing up is the most crucial factor, having a guide can accelerate your progress and help you to truly thrive on the path.

This is where the Embodied Mindfulness Program helps you stay consistent over the long term.

This ongoing membership will give you access to regular practices, support, and a community to help you succeed in your practice.

Let’s chat and see if the program is the right fit for you.

The Toughest Practice You’ve Probably Never Tried

The Misunderstood Practice

Yin Yoga just doesn’t get any respect…

In my 15 years as a teacher, I’ve had to explain what the practice is all about more times than I can count.

Even after countless explanations, people still don’t seem to grasp its depth.

They shrug it off as nothing more than a deep stretch class.

Or they assume it’s a restorative session meant to simply help you unwind.

Sure, deep stretches and relaxation are part of Yin Yoga, but they only scratch the surface of what it truly offers.

The most frustrating misconception is the idea that Yin Yoga is a beginner’s class.

That it doesn’t measure up to the more dynamic practices like Ashtanga or Vinyasa.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Yin Yoga is a complete practice, and in many ways, it’s more potent than some of its more athletic cousins.

If you think Yin Yoga is simply ‘gentle,’ you’ve got the completely wrong idea.

Today, I want to show you why Yin Yoga is one of the most demanding practices and how it can cultivate an unshakeable sense of strength in everything you do.

The Challenge of Yin Yoga

Whenever I hear someone dismiss Yin Yoga, I have to assume they’ve never truly dived into it or taken a properly taught class.

Because if you’ve ever held Dragon Pose for four minutes, you know it’s not for the faint-hearted.

The intention of Yin Yoga is to teach you how to play at your edge.

Not at your absolute edge but to a place of discomfort that will absolutely make you notice.

Because it’s at that intersection where discomfort meets stillness that you’ll get a real chance to transform.

Physically, that discomfort is a sign that you have gotten past simple relaxation and into working with your deeper connective tissues.

These tendons, ligaments, and fascia often get ignored in more active practices.

But even more importantly, you will test your ability to remain calm against resistance.

In Yin Yoga, your primary challenge isn’t in the body—it’s in the mind.

Building Mental Resilience

Your mind will resist.

It will spin stories and try to make you quit.

It will tell you that you’re too uncomfortable, that you can’t hold the pose any longer, that you need to move.

This is where you have the opportunity to meet that resistance with stillness instead.

(This doesn’t mean you should ignore pain, but rather that you learn how to honestly assess and navigate everyday resistance.)

You’ll learn to find true mental resilience that few other practices can cultivate.

You’ll find a different kind of strength, one that’s quieter but no less powerful than brute force.

It’s ironic how so many ‘tough’ guys who brag about pushing through in the weight room couldn’t make it through a 4 minute Dragon Pose.

Because being still—truly still—requires real toughness.

But Yin Yoga is more than just a mental challenge; it’s a practice that physically rebuilds your body to be stronger, more resilient, and more balanced.

Strengthening the Body from the Inside Out

The long, deep holds in Yin Yoga create positive stress on the deep connective tissues, which are responsible for the body’s structural integrity.

Unlike muscles, these tissues don’t respond to quick, repetitive movements. 

They demand slow, deliberate tension or pressure.

There are no quick fixes here.

This is exactly what Yin Yoga provides.

When you stay in a pose for several minutes, you’re giving your body the time it needs to adapt and strengthen these tissues.

And it’s not just about being flexible. 

You’re building a body that’s resilient and adaptable.

This goes far beyond what a simple deep stretch can give you.

But the benefits of Yin Yoga go beyond the physical.

Hidden Emotional and Energetic Benefits

Each session acts as an energetic tune-up, clearing blockages and stimulating the energy channels in your body.

It’s even been said that Yin Yoga is like getting acupuncture without the needles.

The practice opens up these energy pathways, ensuring that your subtle energy, or “qi,” flows smoothly throughout your body.

When energy flows freely, you feel more vibrant, more alive, and more in tune with yourself.

There are emotional and psychological benefits too.

When you hold these deep stretches, you inevitably encounter repressed emotions.

As your body releases tension, old emotions rise to the surface, giving you the chance to process and heal.

The physical release becomes a bridge to deeper emotional healing.

You might find yourself suddenly overwhelmed with sadness or anger in a pose that seems innocent on the surface.

That’s not a sign that something’s wrong; it’s a sign that something’s finally being released.

The emotional release that comes with Yin Yoga can be as transformative as the physical benefits.

It’s a form of therapy that works from the inside out, addressing issues you might not even know you were holding onto.

On a more practical level, your Yin Yoga practice serves as a laboratory for how you handle stress in daily life.

Applying Yin Yoga to Daily Life

If you can cultivate patience in a long-held pose, you’ll find yourself more patient the next time you’re stuck in traffic or dealing with a difficult situation at work.

Yin Yoga teaches you to breathe through discomfort, to find stillness in chaos, and to stay centered no matter what’s happening around you.

It’s the ideal setting for developing the mental grit that will carry over into all areas of your life.

It’s a prime example of how working gently can actually make you stronger.

The Missing Piece in Your Strength Routine

If you’re already working out regularly to build strength, adding Yin Yoga to your routine could be the missing piece to completing the picture.

It’s the lesser-known, underdog practice that can elevate your wellness to a new level.

And it doesn’t take much to start seeing the benefits.

Just 2 sessions a week to start is enough to start noticing massive changes. (This is why my Embodied Mindfulness program is built around two weekly Yin Yoga sessions.)

You can start right now using these videos on my YouTube page.

The True Power of Yin Yoga

Stillness is misunderstood.

You might tend to think of it as ‘giving up,’ but it’s actually more like diving in.

Diving deep into your mind, into your body, into all the forms of the present moment.

Commit to regular practice, and you’ll uncover a strength within you that goes beyond the physical, extending deeply into your mental and emotional resilience.

Yin Yoga isn’t merely about flexibility; it’s a path to fortitude, resilience, and the enduring strength that sustains you in every aspect of life.

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If you want guidance on your own journey towards awakening, please consider joining The Embodied Mindfulness Program.

Contact me, and we’ll set up a call to see if the program is right for you!

How to Face Your Darkest Meditation Moments – And Find Power By Letting Go

Entering the Dark Night

It’s a cold Massachusetts evening in December 2012, and I’m sitting in the meditation hall at the Insight Meditation Society.

I have diligently followed the practice instructions for the past five days.

Each meditation session has brought me deeper and deeper.

But in the last 24 hours, things have unraveled.

As I try to observe my experience, wave after wave of intense emotions crashes over me.

The feelings run deep into my gut, hitting me on a visceral level.

I can’t hold back the tears; they stream down my face like a faucet.

And yet, for all the intensity of what I feel, I am not sad.

These aren’t tears of sorrow but more like tears of relief.

Little by little, wave by wave, I am working through some of my deepest held emotions.

And with each passing wave, things feel a little bit lighter.

A few days later, by the end of the retreat, it’s as if I’ve gone through years of therapy.

I have worked through the most challenging part of the Dark Night of My Soul, and the experience has forever changed me for the better.

Today, I want to explain this phenomenon and give you the tools to navigate your own Dark Night or any other challenging meditation experience.

Understanding the Dark Night of the Soul

The term ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ originally comes from the writings of St. John of the Cross, a Catholic monk and mystic.

He described it as a profound period of spiritual reckoning, where one must confront the very essence of their relationship with God.

In the mid-2000s, Buddhist teacher Daniel Ingram repurposed this term to describe the Buddhist concept of the Dukkha Ñanas.

The term ‘Dark Night’ is particularly fitting, as in the Theravada Buddhist maps of meditative progress, this phase is recognized as one of the most arduous and transformative experiences a meditator will endure.

Navigating the Dukkha Ñanas

While actual practice is rarely as tidy as the maps suggest, the Dukkha Ñanas usually follow a phase of strong, confident practice.

When a meditator truly grasps the impermanence of their experience and learns to release their attachment to it, they’re ready to peel back another layer.

This stage is often called the ‘rolling up the mat’ phase because many feel like their progress has suddenly vanished, and the urge to quit is strong.

But, as challenging as the Dukka Nanas are, they are actually a sign of progress.

The challenges stem from your no longer avoiding the subtler, more elusive parts of your experience.

Everything you’ve suppressed or ignored now has the space to surface.

This, combined with your sharpened ability to observe, makes the intensity even more direct.

Recurring Cycles: The Depths of the Dukkha Ñanas

The Dukkha Ñanas aren’t a one-time event but a recurring phase you’ll pass through again and again.

Each cycle digs deeper, peeling back more layers and letting go of even more resistance.

In my case at IMS, the retreat’s conditions pushed me fully into this phase.

I was no longer holding anything back, and the full intensity of my Dark Night hit me head-on.

Now, over ten years later, I can confidently say that retreat was the most grueling part of my meditation journey.

But the insights I gained were worth every moment of challenge.

Because once you’ve navigated through your Dark Night, you’ll reach the phase of Equanimity.

In this phase, you meet your experience without clinging or aversion.

You gain a new confidence in meditation and find balance amidst the turbulence.

The mind becomes an unwavering witness, calm and clear.

You’ll have trained your mind to be present, to let go even in the toughest moments, and find contentment in stillness.

Eventually, you’ll move beyond this into the level of Stream Entry—but that’s a story for another time.

Essential Skills for Navigating Your Dark Night of the Soul

Your practice might not feel like a full-blown Dark Night right now, but I promise that tough moments will arise sooner or later.

This is why the wisdom of the Dukkha Ñanas is crucial at every stage.

These skills will help you navigate the rough patches with steadiness and clarity.

And mastering the ability to work through difficult experiences in meditation is key if you want to dive deeper.

Here’s how to handle those challenging moments when they come in your practice.

Focus on Sensations, Not Content

When harsh emotions arise, we often spin stories around them, adding layers of reactivity.

While these stories might seem like they help us make sense of our experiences, they’re actually distractions.

At their essence, emotions are just collections of sensations that come and go.

Whether you’re happy, sad, or angry, etc., break it down to the bare physical experience.

Where do you feel the emotion in your body?

How does its intensity shift over time?

Are you adding reactions beyond the raw feeling?

These questions help you zero in on the core sensations behind your challenging experiences.

On the level of pure sensation, emotions become more manageable.

It’s the stories and reactions that give them their power, not the feelings themselves.

The more you see this, the easier it becomes to relax and let go during tough meditation sessions.

However, an important caveat:

If you’re unable to view your emotions at this level, or if the intensity feels overwhelming, please seek help from a trained therapist.

Meditation can support your psychological well-being, but it isn’t a replacement for professional treatment.

A therapist can help you manage your emotions at a conventional level, allowing you to delve deeper into meditation safely.

Please take this advice seriously!

You Will Want to Give Up - But Don’t!

When meditation gets tough, your mind becomes a master of excuses.

It starts spinning stories, trying to convince you to quit.

(Are you seeing the pattern yet?)

Doubt, resistance, and restlessness peak when discomfort arises.

This makes sense, of course; nobody likes the unpleasant.

But here’s the key: when meditation feels challenging, it’s not an obstacle; It’s actually an opportunity.

The friction you feel points directly to something you’re resisting in your mind.

Learn to see that resistance clearly, and you’ll eventually be able to let it go.

By embracing the discomfort, you transform it into the very fuel that propels your practice forward.

Use Physical Practices to Help You Get Out of Your Head

When seated meditation gets tough, physical practices can be a lifeline.

Practices like Yin Yoga are powerful tools that support the first two points.

Observing your body anchors you in your present-moment experience.

Because the body is tangible, connecting with it directly is easier. (This is why Yin Yoga is the backbone of my Embodied Mindfulness Program.)

In this setting, you can also release the physical manifestations of emotions.

Emotional resistance always manifests in the body, but practices like Yin Yoga help you confront it head-on.

Sometimes, even a simple walk outside can loosen the grip of resistance.

So while it’s vital to commit to your seated meditation, integrating physical practices when things get challenging can be a wise move.

Accept Absolutely EVERYTHING

The Dark Night only holds power over you if you fight against it.

It’s the act of resisting that sharpens the pain, turning discomfort into suffering.

The tension of pushing back intensifies the challenge, making it feel unbearable.

When you find complete acceptance, challenges transform into opportunities.

You will still face tough times, but they’ll become just another part of the journey.

But if you try to compartmentalize or bypass the difficult stuff, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

You’ll only delay the process, allowing the unresolved issues to fester and grow.

The more you push them away, the more intense and overwhelming they’ll become when they resurface.

As Ajahn Chah said: “If you let go completely, you will find complete peace.”

Letting go is always the path to liberation.

The more you practice it, the more peace you’ll experience—even in the face of your most challenging meditation moments.

The Journey Through Darkness

While meditation can bring deep peace, it’s also a journey into your deepest challenges.

So remember, the Dark Night of the Soul isn’t a barrier; it’s a pathway to transformation.

Embrace the discomfort, and you’ll turn it into the driving force behind your growth.

The deepest power of your practice lies in your ability to accept absolutely everything.

Welcome it all—joy, pain, resistance, and release.

Each challenge invites you to look deeper and let go of your most conditioned patterns.

So when the urge to quit creeps in, remember that the real work happens during these difficult moments.

Let go completely, surrender to the experience, and you’ll discover a profound peace beyond the chaos.

Because the lessons of the Dark Night are just the beginning of something far more significant.

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If you want guidance on your own journey towards awakening, please consider joining The Embodied Mindfulness Program.

Contact me, and we’ll set up a call to see if the program is right for you!

How To Survive The Digital Zombie Apocalypse

The Day I Saw The Zombies

While vacationing in Japan in 2019, I got my first warning of the coming Zombie Apocalypse.

I saw otherwise normal-looking people turned into mindless husks in the blink of an eye.

And the infection rate has only skyrocketed since then.

Danger lurks around every corner, and if you’re not careful, you might get trapped yourself.

So, if you want to survive the Digital Zombie Apocalypse, read on, and I’ll tell you how.

Vacationers or the living dead?

This all went down in a small tourist town in Hokkaido called Otaru, where my wife, Carrie, and I stopped for lunch.

We found a tiny sushi shop - so small it could only seat about 16 people.

We arrived just before the tiny sushi shop opened and joined a line of eager diners.

After the shop opened, every seat was filled, and the servers quickly took everybody’s orders.

But once we placed our orders, we immediately noticed something bizarre.

Ours were the only voices cutting through the silence in this tiny, packed restaurant.

As we looked around, we saw that literally everyone else in the shop had pulled out their phones and was staring mindlessly down at them.

Not a single group was talking to each other. Every person was utterly transfixed by their phones.

And to be clear, these were not busy employees taking a break from work.

This was a super-touristy area, so I was confident they were also on vacation.

But instead of enjoying their precious vacation time, they just stared mindlessly at their screens, ignoring each other.

They had been turned into Zombies by Big Tech and were missing out on their own lives.

These were no longer vacationers —they were the walking dead, lost in the glow of their screens.

The meal was indeed delicious - some of the best sashimi I have ever had - but the experience left a deep impression on me.

And back then, I didn’t realize how much this epidemic would spread over the next five years.

The Spread of the Zombie Epidemic

These days, I see multiple tables of Zombies every time I go out to eat.

Groups of people, including whole families, completely ignoring one another throughout the entire meal.

Instead of enjoying time with their friends and family, they spend it consuming the same old content that is always available at home.

The tech companies have clearly won.

The allure of their products is strong enough to make them prefer it to spending time with their friends.

But I fear there may be something worse going on here.

People are so uncomfortable without stimulation that they can’t even handle sitting through a meal.

And they are so disconnected from themselves that they don’t feel comfortable engaging with each other.

It’s safer and easier to reach for the comforting glow of the screen.

The issue has gotten so out of hand that I’ve even seen people post online, flabbergasted by people on public transit who are NOT playing on their phones.

There's a woman on my Edinburgh to London train just doing the journey raw. No book, no laptop, no music, scrolls her phone a few minutes every hour or so, but otherwise just looks out the window. Incredibly powerful and kind of terrifying

— John Duncan (@Johntheduncan) June 24, 2024

Sitting and just being seems like a foreign concept in this modern world.

The walking dead aren't a fantasy—they’re sitting next to you in the restaurant or on the train.

It’s time we wake up before it’s too late.

The Death of Presence

The problem is that phones are too easy to grab, always available, and endlessly distracting.

Because of this, we are conditioned to reach for them at the first feeling of discomfort.

This is a mistake.

Your phone's greatest trick is making you think you're missing out by putting it down.

But actually, it’s what’s causing you to miss the most important parts of your life.

If you constantly take in new inputs, your brain won’t have time to process anything.

And if you reach for your phone every time you are bored, you’ll never have the focus you need to do deep work.

Learning to let go of your phone might be one of the best Life Hacks you can do, even if it goes against the mainstream.

Practices like meditation can give us some well-needed quiet to help calm things, but they’re not enough.

You need to make regular periods of disconnection a normal part of your routine.

A truism I’ve noticed is an inverse relationship between the amount of time I spend on my phone and my general level of contentment.

Indeed, my best days are the ones when I am out there directly experiencing my own life.

Ditching your phone will remind you of the simplicity of just being.

While Big Tech has tried to rob us of this time, taking it back is easier than expected.

Here are a few simple rules to help you survive the Zombie Apocalypse.

Breaking Free from the Zombie Spell

Don’t grab your phone during every bit of downtime.

For so many of us, it’s become a forgone conclusion to whip out our phones at the first sign of boredom.

This is a trap!

Can you resist the urge and instead just let yourself experience the moment of waiting?

Every time you reach for your phone, ask yourself: is this really how you want to spend this moment?

Initially, it might be uncomfortable, but you are training yourself to be present.

Little by little, you are eliminating the spell of technology.

Regularly leave the house without your phone.

A great way to make this habit more automatic is to have times when you go out without your phone.

This could start with a simple short walk, but eventually, you can go for longer and longer periods.

When you do, notice any irritation or anxiety that comes up.

This is direct evidence of your addiction to it.

But like anything, it will feel more natural after a few tries.

You’ll realize that the phone is an accessory, not a necessity.

Practice the “Phone Foyer” Method when you’re at home.

This is a technique I learned from Cal Newport, but it’s super simple and immensely effective.

At home, always have a designated place to leave your phone.

This should be somewhere that you can’t easily reach during your typical downtime, such as your house’s foyer.

Make it a rule to keep your phone in this spot.

The phone will still be there if you actually need it, but if you need it, you’ll have to get up.

The secret is always leaving it there and resisting the temptation to move it to your seat.

This one trick alone will massively reduce your screen time at home and give your brain some much-needed space.

Forbid using the phone while eating.

This is probably the most straightforward rule to implement because it’s so simple, but it’s the idea that inspired this entire post.

Simply don’t use your phone while eating. Ever!

You’ll enjoy the taste of your food so much more.

You’ll actually be present with your family and friends.

And you’ll be practicing yet another opportunity to weaken the Zombie curse that has been put on you.

Let yourself be present in the world.

The final step is the glue that holds all of this together.

As you wean yourself away from tech’s pull, you now have a golden opportunity to practice presence.

Notice the world around you and all of its input.

Take in all of the various sights and sounds that appear.

This perspective shift will make you the exception to the masses.

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

The world wants to keep you distracted and disconnected.

Choosing to swim against the stream is not going to be easy.

But it might be one of the most rewarding things that you can do for yourself.

You’ll be rewarded with a better sense of focus and attention.

Life will move more slowly, and you’ll make more meaningful memories.

You will realize all the many ways you have been distracting yourself from something much more wonderful.

Most importantly, you’ll have survived the Digital Zombie Apocalypse—reclaiming your life from the undead grip of Big Tech.

From Fidgety Kid to Mindfulness Mentor: My Journey to Calm and How You Can Achieve It Too

My first-grade teacher couldn’t handle me.

I was so completely unable to sit still during class that my parents had to seek professional help.

What followed was an ADHD diagnosis and years of different attempts at calming my hyperactive energy.

It seemed that sitting still was just not for me.

And yet, as I write this, I have regularly practiced seated meditation for almost 20 years.

I’ve even made sharing stillness my career and have helped thousands of students master their inner calm.

So what changed?

It certainly wasn’t my condition; I still have many of the symptoms of adult ADHD.

What shifted was my approach.

Instead of starting by trying to sit still for long periods, I mastered micro-doses of stillness within the physical practice of Yin Yoga.

This indirect approach allowed me to dip my toe in the water before I took a dive in the pool.

Today, I’d like to explain the power of this physical practice and why it might be the secret to finding stillness in this increasingly distracted age.

Common Struggles

If you’ve struggled with seated meditation, you’re not alone.

So many students give up after a few sessions, and the reasons they give are often the same:

• Too many wandering thoughts.

• Too much physical discomfort.

• Too much restlessness.

These are understandable.

We live in a world of endless distractions where stillness seems non-existent.

This is where Yin Yoga can become the secret sauce for breaking through these initial barriers.

Why Yin Yoga Works

While being still in a seated posture for 30 minutes might sound impossible, holding a relaxed pose for 3 minutes is much more accessible.

This is the exact methodology of Yin Yoga.

Each pose becomes, in essence, a mini-meditation.

Once you’re in the pose, you can focus on the physical sensations.

The ever-evolving experience will give you more than enough to remain interested.  You will become increasingly attuned to the sheer variety of things that will show up for you.

You are, in essence, mastering mindfulness of the body.

You are also creating micro-doses of stillness.

While you should not hold yourself rigidly, you should do your best not to move more than is necessary. 

With practice, fidgeting will become a thing of the past.

Moderate discomfort will show up, but this is a blessing in disguise.

You will master relaxing through discomfort instead of getting stuck in it.

Furthermore, the physical releases that the poses bring will allow you to feel far more comfortable with your seated practice.

The deeper, longer-held poses allow for an opening that is much more than a simple stretch. You are working with the deepest and dense tissues on a fundamental level.

This will unlock your seated practice, making it far more comfortable.

You Can Do It Too

Even just a single Yin Yoga session will do wonders for preparing you for longer seated meditation.

A regular practice, over time, will make sitting still a breeze.

In my journey, twice-weekly Yin Yoga practices allowed me to move into longer, more consistent seated meditations.

The more profound calm I found there also fed into my Yin Yoga practices. 

It became a positive feedback loop that served me well over the years.

If I can master stillness, so can you.

I’ve evolved from a hyperactive child into an adult who doesn’t think twice about sitting still.

And Yin Yoga was the practice that brought me there.

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If you want to start your Yin Yoga journey right now, please try one of the many practice videos on my YouTube Channel.

If you want custom instruction on Yoga, Mindfulness, Fitness, and Lifestyle, I have a few spots left for private coaching. Please send me a message here, and we’ll set a time for our first meeting.

The Sublime Beauty of This Mundane Existence

When you are new to practice, it can feel like discovering the Holy Grail.

For so many of us, the sense of lightness and connection that we feel is unlike anything that came before it.

If you’ve ever experienced the calm bliss of a long savasana after a challenging class or the sense of clarity after a deep meditation, you probably know what I’m talking about.

In my own journey, practice allowed me to finally reconnect with my body and mind after years of struggling with the numbness of depression. It was like taking a thick veil off from over my eyes. It reminded me of what it was like to feel good.

So, I was convinced that if I felt this good as a beginner, surely, if I stayed with it, my daily life would be a non-stop bliss fest.

The reality, of course, was not quite like this.

The highs of the beginning stages became muted over time — more subtle, less intense.

At first, this frustrated me. I felt as though I had somehow backslid in my progress.

But as my practice matured, I came to realize that the highs, for all their beauty, were never the goal at all.

Ultimately, this mundane reality — with all of its flaws and all of its monotony — is where the real magic of mindfulness can be found.

And through consistent practice, you can actually realize this for yourself.

The Actual Reality of Practice

I could chalk it up to youthful optimism, but I should have known that these things couldn’t possibly last.

For years, I read teachings that awakening was “Nothing Special.” I had heard tales of the utter normality of it all. The lesson was right there in front of me the whole time.

And yet, I thought it would be different for me.

I had the idea that practice would lead me up a never-ending staircase of higher states. 

But really, this was just another form of seeking. 

And any time you are seeking, you are going to suffer.

Because, as the Buddha taught, it’s the act of chasing itself that creates the stress. 

The more you embrace this idea, the more you will realize that many of the things you once saw as problems are not actually problems at all.

This Mundane Reality is the Most Beautiful Thing There Is

If we ignore the world around us, this is our own loss.

And yet, the world we live in makes this easier than ever.

When was the last time you went somewhere without your phone? When was the last time you just sat on a park bench?

The more you can allow yourself to fully be in this life, the more amazing it can become.

The more you practice letting things be, the more beauty you will see everywhere.

It’s there in the crack in the sidewalk, in the rain cloud, and even in the car alarm that won’t stop honking.

It’s there when we let ourselves fully experience each moment just as it is.

The Deeper Wisdom of the Mundane

One of the classic Zen Proverbs reads, “‘Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”

The lesson here is that what you are trying to awaken to is this actual reality — not some idealized fantasy.

The world we live in — with our jobs, with our chores, with all our challenges  — this is the world that we are meant to 'Wake Up' to.

By practicing mindfulness, we can learn how to be fully within our experience yet not entrapped by it.

…

If you want help developing your mindfulness and yoga practice, I have two open coaching spaces right now.

Please send a message on my contact page, or setup an initial meeting on my schedule page and we’ll figure out how I can best serve you.

How I learned to do nothing.

The Tao Te Ching famously says: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

But the often-forgotten second half adds: “When the student is truly ready... The teacher will Disappear.”

The wisdom here is that true understanding lies beyond what can be taught.

If you remain fixated on what you learned in the past, you will never be ready for the future.

Over the past few months, I’ve been able to let go of attachment to some of my old techniques.

And I’ve discovered the immense power of simply being with things as they are.

Today, I’d like to reflect on this evolution and show you how you, too, can practice simply being.

My New Teachers Appear

Recently, I’ve been working hard to make new connections and expand my online contacts.

If you’ve been following me on social media, you may have seen some of this.

It was through this process that I had the pleasure of connecting with fellow mindfulness teachers Dan Goldfield and Alex Pappas.

While we first connected for networking, their distinctive energies and teaching styles quickly made a lasting impression on me.

Dan has a cool and relaxed composure like I’ve never seen before. He effortlessly spouts calm wisdom in a charming British accent.

Alex is one of the most empathetic teachers I’ve ever met. In his IG reels, he’s like a close friend talking directly to you, letting you know that everything is okay.

Both of them are well-trained in many meditation styles, but their current methods are far more minimal.

For them, the essence of practice is to allow one’s experience to simply unfold naturally in each moment.

This is true both in formal sessions and in daily life.

The more I spoke to them, the more I realized how fixed I was in some of my own views.

Of course, I was aware of how to rest in a state of natural awareness. My teacher Josh has been sharing these ideas for years now.

But in my own personal journey, I was subconsciously holding myself back.

Some of the modalities that had helped me so much in the beginning had, over time, become a form of hindrance.

I realized that it was time for some of my old lessons to disappear.

Creating a Solid Foundation

When you first come to meditation, techniques are the foundation that holds your practice together.

Most people are so detached from their minds and bodies that they need a strategy to make sense of it all.

Approaches like anchoring with the breath or noting can help you immensely with learning to find a deeper sense of awareness.

(I go in-depth into techniques like these, as well as how to move beyond them in my 8-week immersion: Embodied Mindfulness.)

As you become more familiar with them, these practices become even more profound.

When the mind becomes more focused, you will start to see many of your mental patterns.

You can see the things that you are attached to and the things that you are resisting.

By seeing these things more clearly, you will be able to let them go.

Releasing Unnecessary Duality and Effort

However, over time, these methods can become a form of attachment in and of themselves.

Because, by their very nature, they create some level of reification of our experience. They require you to create dualities between different categories of experience and require you to be actively engaged in the processes of your mind.

This engagement and influence prevent the mind from fully showing all of its movements and reactions.

In effect, the practices themselves actually prevent us from seeing some aspects of our experience.

Because of this, over time, it can be necessary to let them go.

Doing Nothing

The heart of the great Zen teacher Dogen’s teachings is that the simple act of sitting in meditation creates a state of enlightenment.

The practices of his Soto Branch of Zen are based around just that - sitting (Zazen 坐禅)

Not noting. Not becoming absorbed with the breath. Not solving koans. Just resting in experience.

This ultra-minimalist way of practice can allow for a more direct level of connection than more applied systems.

And when you let go of techniques, you will begin to see the subtler levels of resistance that you are still holding on to.

Rather than try to label them or fixating on them, you can just let them be.

By letting them be, the resistance will naturally run its course.

The more you let things be, the more peace you can experience.

It is this way of practicing that will allow you to unlock the deepest levels of realization.

How to Systematically Do Nothing

Over the past few months, I have made this simple act of sitting the core of my daily meditations.

While the practice’s intention is straightforward, a basic framework is still helpful in the beginning.

Here is how you can adopt a simple practice of Just Sitting (Zazen 坐禅):

• Find a comfortable seat facing close to a blank wall.

• You will practice with your eyes open, softly focused on the wall in front of you.

• Find a posture that is comfortable and upright but not rigid. Relaxation is a crucial factor to this work.

• Sit in relative stillness and notice what happens.

• Do not direct the attention towards anything in particular. Just notice everything.

• Over time, thoughts will inevitably come up. Don’t engage with them, nor push them away. Feel the thoughts. Notice the thoughts. But leave them completely alone.

• You will notice a similar process in the body. Discomfort will arise, but don’t resist it. Encourage the body to relax, and adjust your posture if needed. But let the body just sit in stillness.

• Stay like this for the desired time of your session.

Embrace Simplicity

The power of this practice comes from its supreme simplicity.

We are not fighting anything; we are just sitting and being.

Sometimes, it will feel easy; others, it will feel hard. None of these are problems.

Practicing like this is the first step towards training yourself towards greater acceptance and less resistance.

If you can learn to give yourself permission to simply sit and be, you will feel much less stuck in the usual turbulence of daily life.

And without the attachments that can come from more applied techniques, the mind will be able to naturally equalize itself over time.

Because ultimately, the nature of our mind is to be pure and clear.

We don’t need to fix it or make it different from its natural state.

The ultimate wisdom is to simply allow it to unfold its natural radiance.

Doing nothing is the direct path towards revealing everything.

——

Thank you for reading!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop me a line or leave a comment.

If you want me to guide you on a comprehensive 8-week journey that includes the power of techniques as well as how to move beyond them, please join me for my course: Embodied Mindfulness.

Step Out of Meditation Stagnation by Making Each Day a Mindful Retreat

The Spring of 2013 was one of the most rigorous points in my meditation journey. 

I was spending 2 hours a day on seated practice, but I still felt like I was missing something.

I felt a glimmer of hope in the fact that I had an extended meditation retreat scheduled in a few weeks. I was eager to escape from all the usual disruptions of my daily life. Surely, then I would finally be able to find true calm and develop some deep mindfulness.

When I mentioned this to my meditation teacher, Beth, she said something that would forever change the way I looked at practice:

“Why are you waiting for perfect conditions to be more mindful? Why can’t you bring that level of attention to your regular life at home?”

This change of perspective was one of the most critical turning points in my mindfulness journey.

I realized that I had been so focused on formal practice that I was ignoring the infinite other opportunities I had.

Everything changed once I took my practice off the cushion and into every aspect of my daily life. My life and practice were never the same. I saw that full integration was the actual breakthrough I was searching for.

While this might seem like a daunting task, it’s actually easier than you expect.

Here are three easy ways to be more mindful all day, every day.

Anchor in the physical.

Regardless of where you are, the physical sensations of your body will always be present.

What you feel in the body is a direct ticket to present-moment awareness. You can notice the contact with the ground beneath you or the sensations of your breath. The physical sense is always there to be observed.

Anchoring in the body will keep you anchored in the present.

Always be on the lookout for pauses.

While life can feel like a non-stop barrage of stimulation, there are infinite little pauses if you pay close attention.

Consider the time you spend stopped at a traffic light or waiting in line at the coffee shop. In these moments, the default is to just space out or grab your phone — but this is a wasted opportunity. Instead, you can make these spaces a mini-meditation.

Any time you find yourself waiting or just pausing, use that as a moment to bring some mindful attention to the moment.

Let it go.

But simply noticing your experience is not enough; you need to find a sense of ease within it.

This level of practice is a bit more subtle than the previous two, but it’s the one that will make the most significant difference.

Notice the moments when you feel stuck or tense. Is it possible to let go instead? Each time you let go, you suffer less.

If you let go completely, you won't suffer at all. (This is the very first lesson of my 8-week immersion, Embodied Mindfulness.)

Change Your Relationship With Practice.

Infusing your daily life with mindfulness will completely shift your relationship with practice.

You will no longer hold rigid boundaries between formal and informal practice. Every moment can become a chance to be more aware.

But most importantly, you'll feel more connected, more calm, and more alive on a daily basis.

And it will even help infinitely when you do come back to more traditional sitting.

As I said before, it was a profound turning point in my journey. 

I hope that you, too, can join me on the path.

….

What are your favorite ways to be more mindful during the day? Please let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it on your preferred social media so that all of your friends can benefit from greater mindfulness during their day!

If you’d like me to guide you through an 8-week immersion that fuses daily mindfulness, yin yoga, and meditation for a true transformation, please join me for Embodied Mindfulness.

A Warning About Your Mindfulness Practice

Warnings are everywhere, from the FBI warning you used to see on your VHS to the do not remove warning on the tag on your pillow.

Also, according to the state of California, pretty much everything will give you cancer.

But what we don’t often hear are the necessary warnings about mindfulness and meditation.

So, in the spirit of safety and full disclosure, today, I’d like to do my due diligence and give you a few crucial warnings about your mindfulness practice.

Heed them, or you might regret it down the line.

It might make you stop wasting time on pointless things.

Mindfulness is like a light that shines brightly into all areas of your life.

When you start to incorporate mindfulness throughout your day, you will notice many patterns and habits that previously flew under your radar. Because of this, you’ll suddenly be made aware of the many habits that are dragging you down. Essentially, mindfulness is like a good friend telling you when you’re acting like an idiot.

The upside to this is that from awareness of our problems, we can start to replace our crappy habits with new, better ones.

It might make you question your conditioned reactions.

Mindfulness is also an excellent dispeller of illusions.

Without a clear sense of awareness, we can find ourselves wholly trapped in the spell of our emotions and reactions. While we shouldn’t deny our feelings, we shouldn’t get stuck in them either. Learning to see that the fluctuations of our minds are always temporary can cause you to react to them less and less.

Over time, mindfulness empowers you, teaching you how to let go when feeling stuck and how to cultivate calm during challenging times.

It might finally set you free.

Complete freedom from suffering is the ultimate promise of mindfulness, offering you a path that many have found liberating across various meditation traditions.

The more clearly we can see our reality, the better decisions we can make. The better decisions we make, the better a life we can build. And who doesn’t want to live a better life?

But these circumstantial benefits are only part of the picture; regular mindfulness can help you to completely break free from the chains of discontent and live more fully in the present moment.

The Ultimate Practice

Diving deep into mindfulness practice has been, without a doubt, the most rewarding practice I have ever brought into my life.

It’s taught me to let go of the many things I didn’t need and to live with more calm and presence every day.

If you want to start your mindfulness practice TODAY, sign up using this link for a free preview of my 8-week immersion, Embodied Mindfulness. The preview has almost two hours of content and is everything you need to start your journey!

Early bird pricing ends TOMORROW, April 6th; sign up using the code “EMEB10” to get 10% off.

Covert Meditation - Become a Mindfulness Ninja

Revealing My Secret

For the past 15 years, I’ve been playing a trick on every single student in my Yin Yoga classes.

Most are completely unaware of this, and yet they fall for it every single time.

The students think they are just signing up for a Yoga class, but that’s not actually what I teach them.

They think they are coming to relax their bodies and de-stress their minds — and they do, but that’s not my primary intention.

What I’m really up to is something more profound than that.

You see, what I’m really doing is leading them through a session of covert meditation.

Whether they realize it or not, 90% of my instructions in Yin Yoga classes relate to mindfulness.

And by learning these skills in the lower friction setting of a Yoga class, they are setting themselves up for a deeper awakening down the line. 

It’s my favorite trick and the secret sauce to my teaching method.

But first, let’s unpack some myths about meditation…

Unfortunate Stereotypes

Meditation is often misunderstood, and pop culture has done a great job of reinforcing many of these misconceptions. 

We have all seen images of the lone monk perched high on the hill, spending countless motionless hours in deep contemplation.

Because of this, we think that in order to meditate, we need to find a hut in the middle of the woods. Or maybe we need to find some cave and seclude ourselves for a few days.

Whatever stereotype we have in our minds, we don’t think we have the right conditions to start the practice.

I’m a keen believer that mindfulness can ultimately happen anywhere, including in many areas outside of formal meditation. 

One of the greatest skills we can develop is the ability to tap into our mindfulness at any point throughout our day. 

It is often also thought that meditation has to be boring and uncomfortable. 

We think it has to involve long periods of sitting still completely still, regardless of what we are feeling in our bodies.

You may have even heard stories about mean Zen masters whacking their students with sticks if they slip in their posture.

Ouch!

While all of these stereotypes have some basis in reality, the truth is that mindfulness is meant to be an all-terrain practice.

We don’t need to limit ourselves to a rigid definition of what meditation should or should not be.

And as I’ll discuss in the next section, Yin Yoga provides the ideal training ground for learning mindfulness without some of these confines.

Covert Meditation Gives You A Unique Edge

Meditation and mindfulness can happen in literally any place and in any posture.

While the traditional forms are seated, standing, walking, and lying down, there is no reason to limit ourselves to this.

Each of the diverse cavalcade of Yin Yoga postures is a good place to develop our attention skills.

In many ways, Yin Yoga can actually be a superior place to develop mindfulness.

The dynamic feedback of the poses gives us a rich and evolving experience to explore, rather than the more static nature of a seated posture.

Since we change postures every few minutes, there is always something new to experience. This breaks the monotony that can make seated meditation challenging at first.

Yin Yoga also provides just the right amount of discomfort—not too much, not too little—to teach us how to be equanimous with whatever arises.

(Learning to master comfort with discomfort is one of the hallmarks of my 8-week immersion: Embodied Mindfulness.)

But while we can experience some discomfort while working within the poses in our Yin Yoga practice, the poses themselves are actually preparing us to be more comfortable in traditional seated meditation.

Because of the long, slow holds of Yin Yoga, we can release deeply-held tension - especially in the hips and hamstrings.

If you’ve found seated meditation uncomfortable in the past, you might be surprised at how much more accessible it can be after a few weeks of Yin Yoga practice.

Given the substantial advantages, diving into Covert Meditation practice is a no-brainer.

Become A Mindfulness Ninja

If you’d like to work through this in a more coordinated way, I’ve set up an easy two-week immersion that will help you to more deeply understand the connection between mindfulness and Yin Yoga; please follow these steps:

Step 1 - Sign Up For The Free Preview of Embodied Mindfulness:

Within the course, watch/read the lesson titled “Anapanasati - Mindfulness of the Breath,” and then do the 1st Yin Yoga practice.

This will set you up for success in seeing the relationship between Yin Yoga and traditional meditation.

Step 2 - Within 2 Weeks, Take These 3 Yin Yoga Classes From My YouTube:

You can take them whenever you have time and in any order, but make sure it is within a two-week timespan so that you have a sense of momentum.

Step 3 - Return Back To The Free Preview and Practice The Guided Meditation:

Notice how the physical practices of Yin Yoga have prepared you for your seated meditation.

Does it feel easier than your earlier attempts? How has the physical practice prepared you to be more attuned in seated meditation?

This is the power of Covert Meditation. 

—

After you’ve completed the challenge, please drop me a line and let me know how It went!

Like and comment on the YouTube videos to help give me a boost in the algorithm, and share the challenge on social media!

I am also beyond happy to answer any questions and give you feedback on your practice. You can even schedule a FREE 15-minute call with me if you ever want to discuss your practice. Schedule your call down below:

5 Lessons in Mindfulness From Over 500 Cold Showers

The Awakening Plunge

It’s the hardest 30 seconds of my morning. 

After spending the last five minutes awash in the warm, pleasant bliss of hot water, I am ready to make a drastic change.

As I stare at the shiny silver shower knob, I try to talk myself out of it. 

“Just skip it today.” 

“You can just go without it.”

But with a flash of courage, I take the plunge. 

I quickly turn the knob as far down as I can and turn my back to the water. After a brief delay, the change is complete. The once pleasant warmth of the water has transitioned into a sharp, stinging bite.

At first, my body tenses in response, but then I remind myself of my practice.

I take a few deep, calming breaths. I consciously relax my body and tune into the sensations.

After 30 seconds or so, a profound shift has happened.

The water is still unpleasant, to be sure - but I am no longer resisting it.

Instead, I turn my mind towards noticing the sensations — towards noticing my reactions.

What at first felt like an act of torture has turned into a moment of contemplation. I envision myself as a Zen monk under a waterfall in Japan. I allow myself to rest within the experience rather than fighting it.

My once restless mind has become more clear and focused.

Instead of resistance, I now feel a sense of calm equanimity.

And after a couple of minutes, even my physiology has changed.

My body has adapted, bringing more warm blood to my skin. My heart rate has slightly increased, and I am now wide awake. My brain has even received a rush of dopamine, that will help to power my day.

After several minutes, and making sure to rotate and cover all parts of my body with the icy streams, I turn off the faucet and dry off.

My morning cold shower ritual is now complete, and I am ready to face my day with a renewed sense of presence and vigor.

Such has been my routine for most days over the last two years.

Today, I’m going to tell you how you, too, can take the plunge into the mindful benefits of cold showers.

Beyond the Physical: A Spiritual Journey

While cold immersion has grown somewhat of a cult over the last few years, most people (especially my wife) think I’m crazy. 

This deliberate embrace of something most people dread is certainly not a popular option.

And even amongst cold immersion enthusiasts, many are mostly just suffering through it to get the physiological benefits.

(For those who don’t know, these include improved circulation, muscle recovery, dopamine production, and increased metabolism, to name a few.)

But the physical benefits are only part of why I put myself through this masochistic morning maintenance routine.

The thing is, for most of us, our 21st-century lifestyle has become a neverending stream of comfort.

We live in climate-conditioned homes, wear plenty of clothes to keep us warm outside, and often don’t even have to walk up stairs anymore!

How many times have you found yourself lying in bed on a Saturday morning, just lounging under the covers instead of getting up to conquer the day?

Or how many times have you gotten sucked into the rabbit hole of Instagram when you know you could be doing something more productive?

We’ve all had the experience of reaching for the chips when we know it will make us feel like crap afterward.

So, while it’s nice to be cozy sometimes, if it’s all we ever experience, it can become suffocating and limit our potential.

When we never face adversity, it becomes harder and harder to break out and do challenging things.

And a complete lack of discomfort can even cause us to become stagnant.

As a Yin Yoga and meditation teacher, I know all too well that learning how to safely work with discomfort is one of the most valuable skills we can learn.

Mindfulness is the secret that allows you to work with these challenges without getting stuck in them.

It’s also the skill that will help you to take the more challenging path in the moment of resistance.

And so, for me, my morning cold shower ritual has taken on an almost spiritual element.

It has become my morning practice of embracing discomfort, and you could even say it’s become my favorite life hack.

Lessons from the Cold

Having taken over 500 cold showers over the last 2 years, here are 5 lessons in mindfulness that I’ve learned:

1) How to Maintain Awareness Through Unpleasant Sensations.

When I’m first shocked by the cold blast, it is so tempting to try to distract myself. 

I can start daydreaming or spacing out. 

My mind wants to be anywhere other than within the bitter cold.

And yet, I can practice coming back. Noticing the sensations - noticing my breath.

Each time I come back, it becomes a little easier, and I stop fighting what is actually here.

This is a huge win when it comes time to go to the dentist or when I’ve fallen ill.

I am able to stay present, even when the going gets tough.

2) How to Stick With a Routine, Even When I Really Don’t Like It.

As I said in my introduction, making the shift to cold is one of the most challenging moments of my day. 

Almost every morning, I try to talk myself out of it.

And yet, I always make that burst and take the plunge.

This dedication has reminded me that I can always stick with my habits, no matter how difficult they may seem at first.

By starting my day by doing something hard, the other little challenges throughout my day seem like far smaller obstacles.

This has countless downstream effects throughout my day. It becomes exponentially easier to do the more challenging option when I know it’s the right thing to do.

3) Equanimity With Discomfort.

This is where we start to get deeper into the mindfulness part of this practice.

The fact is, the cold water will always be unpleasant.

Even as I get a rush of endorphins, the discomfort is still there underneath.

So, I’ve made a practice out of just noticing what I am feeling.

I’ve learned to be there with the discomfort rather than trying to fight it.

I’ve learned how to see the changing flow of sensations for just what they are - momentary discomfort.

This is invaluable in my daily meditation and yin yoga practice and even throughout my day.

There will always be moments of unpleasantness, but now I am able to relax through them.

4) How to Clear My Mind of Negative Reactivity

As a compliment to the last step, I also practice noticing the reactivity in my mind.

The conditioned response to discomfort is resistance and the flight response.

Most of the time, this reaction is a valuable instinct to keep us from harm!

But within this controlled setting, I know that the shower will not actually harm me. So I can practice letting go of these reactions. I can practice relaxing and softening the tension in my body.

These skills are identical to those I teach in my Yin Yoga classes—the ability to work safely with discomfort and to lesson reactivity.

(If you’d like to explore this idea in more depth, please check out my 8-Week Course Embodied Mindfulness.)

5) Greater Appreciation For Life’s Comforts

But this practice isn’t purely masochistic.

By working with controlled doses of negativity, I have found a new appreciation for the more pleasant parts of life as well.

Even when first drying off after the cold shower, I can feel the pleasant sensations of the towel on my skin, and the shift back to warmth.

As I go into my day, the normal twists and turns don’t disrupt me so much, and I’m better able to enjoy to splendor of the world around me.

It’s all about the contrasts.

That is why inviting periodic doses of deliberate discomfort into your day can actually make it even more enjoyable!

Embracing the Chill: Your Own Personal Guide to Cold Shower Practice

Are you ready to take the plunge and give it a try for yourself?!

Here is a simple process to help you get started:

1) Commit to just 1 minute of cold

Start with warm water. Wash your hair, body, etc., as you normally would.

But then, for your final minute, turn the knob all the way to cold!

These are called “Scottish Showers,” and I’ve found them to be the most sustainable way to begin the habit. Trying to go fully cold is often too challenging at first, and you might end up rushing at the expense of your hygiene. (Nobody wants that…)

Be sure to face your back to the shower first, and then slowly move around to expose the rest of your body—even your head and face—to the cold.

At first try to go for one minute. As you get more attuned to the process, you can consider adding more time, but start small. In the beginning, the important thing is just to get started!

2) Work with the experience with mindful awareness.

As I said above, it’s not going to be pleasant at first!

There will be a lot of reactivity, and you will try to rush out. Try your best to resist these temptations.

Take slow, deep, steady breaths. Try to relax any tightness that shows up. Know that this is temporary and that you are doing this intentionally.

Try to feel into the experience on a sensory level and let go of reactivities. 

Remember, it’s all just sensations, and we are practicing working with them with a sense of equanimity.

It may take several sessions to reach that point, but with practice, you will be able to make the shift.

3) Commit to the practice for at least one week.

Like so many habits, it will take time to really see the benefits. Try to give it at least one week to see how things unfold for you.

4) Notice how you feel throughout the rest of the day.

As we often say of Yin Yoga, this is a bitter practice with sweet results.

Notice how the cold showers affect your energy levels and how they may affect your interaction with the rest of the day.

It may take some time, but as I said earlier, they can start to feel like a superpower!

—

Once you’ve completed your 1-week cold shower challenge, please drop me a line to let me know how it goes! 

And if you enjoyed this post, please be sure to share it on social media.

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Mastering comfort with discomfort is the ultimate skill to master, and a deeper practice of Yin Yoga and Mindfulness is the perfect place to do it. 

Are you ready to fully immerse yourself in these practices?

Please join me for my new 8-week course, Embodied Mindfulness. 

You can sign up here for a free preview with almost 2 hours of content.

How to Conquer Your Insomnia using Brain Science, Mindfulness, and Yoga

The Endless Toss

It’s the worst feeling in the world.

You spent another restless night tossing and turning in your bed, barely scoring two hours of actual sleep. And yet, here you are, staring at your computer like a zombie, just trying to get through your day. But you can’t shake that dragging, foggy feeling. 

It’s draped over you like a cold, wet blanket. 

Even the two cups of coffee you pounded aren’t enough to break the spell.

And still, you continue to plow through your day, just trying to make it through to the other side.

The Real Impact of Sleep Deprivation

If you’ve ever felt like this, you’re not alone.

According to the CDC, over 35% of adults get less than 7 hours of sleep each night. And all of this sleep deprivation comes with a price. Poor sleep can lead to impaired cognitive function, high blood pressure, and even obesity!

As if you didn’t have enough keeping you up at night already…

Easing Into Restful Nights

But it doesn’t have to be like this. And this is where a proper Yin Yoga and Mindfulness practice will get you back on track.

In many ways, they’re the perfect antipode for restless nights.

If you haven’t tried it yet, Yin Yoga involves long, relaxed holds lasting several minutes each. During your time in each pose, you practice relaxing the body and letting go of deeply held tension. As you settle into stillness, the mind gradually becomes more open as well.

This deep physical release naturally activates the relaxation response in the body, allowing you to doze off easily.

Similarly, mindfulness meditation shows you how to let go of deeply held mental resistance and agitation.

As you work through your meditation session, you will notice what thoughts and other resistances arise. But rather than just suffering through them, you will actually practice letting them go again and again. The profound letting go is the core of how meditation relieves suffering in the mind.

Just as Yin Yoga provides the perfect release for the physical body, meditation creates a sense of deep calm in the mind. 

Three Steps For Better Sleep

If you’re ready to start exploring the practices and getting the restful nights of sleep you deserve, try this simple three-step action plan:

• Step 1: Track Your Sleep

You have to know where you currently stand if you want to improve. Start by keeping a log of your current sleep patterns. Take note of what time you go try to go to bed. In the morning, note approximately how long it took you to fall asleep. If you want bonus details, note what you did in the hours leading up to bedtime. This can provide powerful clues for what’s working or not in your overall lifestyle.

• Step 2: Try one Yin Yoga Pose each night before bed.

Find several Yin Yoga poses you like, and practice a different one for at least two minutes before bed. (1 minute per side for one-sided poses.) Notice which ones help you relax the most, and feel free to keep coming back to those if they work well for you.

• Step 3: Add some meditation to your routine.

I’d recommend starting with just 5 minutes. Sit in a relaxed posture and notice your breath. Relax the entire body and let everything calm down. If you’d like a guided practice, check out one of the ones on my YouTube.

Notice how you respond to the simple routine.

If you follow it regularly, I can all but guarantee that your sleep patterns will improve in just a few weeks.

Rewiring Rest

However, these surface-level summaries of the practices hide the immense depth within them.

If practiced regularly, intentional Yin Yoga and meditation practice will completely rewire how your body and mind operate.

Because while relaxation is great, it is temporary. You can relax as much as you want, but if the tension keeps coming back, something more deep-seated is going on. You need to get to the source of the problem.

And for most of us, the source comes from our automatic and unconsciously conditioned patterns.

So many of us are stuck in reaction. So many of us hold tension within our bodies that we’re unsure how to shake off. And this is where the introspective nature of this work sets it apart from simple relaxation exercises.

Yin Yoga and Mindfulness practice bring our deeply held patterns to the surface. 

They allow us to see where we are stuck but then allow us to move on from that place.

And this is the most restful feeling of all.

—

If you’d like a chance to go deep into these practices, my 8-week immersion course, Embodied Mindfulness, will take you there. 

If you follow the link, you can sign up to get access to a free preview, which includes almost 2 hours of content. It’s everything you’ll need to begin your journey through Yin and Meditation.

Break Out from Burnout: the Art of Doing Nothing

It happened again…

Somehow, it’s the end of the day, and yet again, there you are, feeling fried and burnt out.

Even though you gave yourself plenty of time to ‘unplug,’ your mind still feels like it’s gotten no rest at all.

Between the hours you spent on social media throughout the day and the two hours you spent watching Netflix after work, there was never really any pause at all.

It’s the same thing, day in and day out, and it seems like there’s no getting off the hamster wheel.

Does this sound at all familiar?

I’m sure it does for many of us.

Even for me, as a Yin Yoga and Meditation teacher, the web of distractions is seductive and omnipresent.

We like to tell ourselves that we’re unplugging, but really, we’re just stirring up our mental pot with more and more stimulation.

And how could we help ourselves?

Tech and media companies spend billions of dollars each year to capture and imprison our attention.

Our attention is their commodity, and they’re in a constant search for the best and greatest methods to extract it.

This has all sorts of consequences:

• We have shorter attention spans.

• We sleep less.

• We have fewer deep connections with our friends and families.

• We are left feeling depleted, even though when it seems like we’re resting.

It truly is the crisis of our current time.

But fortunately, there is a solution. One that’s free and always available.

Doing Nothing.

The secret is to develop the skill of doing nothing.

Not just doing nothing like vegging out on your couch watching TV.

Not just doing nothing like laying in bed on a Saturday morning.

But instead, we should practice the art of deliberately and intentionally doing nothing.

This is the most valuable skill you can master if you want to unhook yourself from the trap of digital diversions.

By deeply practicing the ability to unplug and reset, you will be able to navigate the modern landscape without getting sucked into the maelstrom of diversions.

There are infinite advantages to this, but here are just a few:

• You’ll be able to do your work from a place of clarity and focus.

• Your thinking will be more sharp, and ideas will pop up more easily.

• You’ll be more present with family and friends, and be able to deepen your time spent with them.

• You’ll feel less stressed, and burnout will become a thing of the past.

Below, I’ll give you a simple framework so that you can find some time to Do Nothing as skillfully as possible.

How to Skillfully Do Nothing:

1) Track How You Spend Your Time

Keep a log of what you do during your day, and log EVERYTHING. 

Do this for at least a week.

Pay particular attention to things like checking social media, which can easily suck away big blocks if you’re not careful.

This should include not just your time at work but also your leisure time.

2) Analyse What Activities Deplete and Distract You

From your time log, notice which activities take the most out of you or seem the least valuable. 

Which activities leave you feeling scattered rather than integrated?

I’ve already very strongly hinted at this, but pay particular attention to how much time you spend on things like doom-scrolling and binging TV.

3) Create ‘Time Outs’ From The Most Distracting Activities

You don’t have to eliminate ALL of the most distracting things completely, but try to give yourself clear “Time Outs” from them every day. 

A simple expression of this would be to have a distraction-free time before you go to bed. For example, any time after 8 pm or 9 pm.

A more extreme expression of this would be taking a Distraction Sabbath. That is a whole day of the week where you don’t engage in any of your most distracting activities. 

This is highly personal; if you’re new to this, take it slowly when you are first beginning.

4) Replace Distractions With Deliberate Time To Truly Do Nothing

It’s not enough to eliminate distractions; you need to give your brain a specific replacement for the stimulation.

Here are a few ideas you can try:

• Going for a walk outside.

• Sitting in a park, your yard, or other pleasant environment.

• Yin of other Yoga Practices.

• Meditation.

• Yoga Nidra.

You’ll notice that there is a spectrum here. You are not always “Doing Nothing” in the literal sense. But the idea is that you are removing most or all of the outside input for some significant amount of time. Over time, this can build into truly “Doing Nothing” in practices like meditation.

(If you want to work with me through an 8-week immersion that focuses on Meditation and Yin Yoga, join me for my new course, Embodied Mindfulness.)

5) Practice This New Routine For At Least 30 Days

It takes time to see the full benefits of this work. I would challenge you to try this new routine for at least 30 days. 

Please take a look at how you respond to this. 

Notice how the overall quality of your lifestyle and even your emotions will change.

Imagine how much could change by making this commitment for just 30 days.

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Drop me a line and let me know how it goes!

And if you want one-on-one support and a tried and tested framework for truly finding space in your life, join me for my 8-week immersion: Embodied Mindfulness.

Mental Fitness Is Physical Fitness

Back over the holidays, I had a chance to gather with some family for your typical Christmas gathering. 

There was the usual spread of snacks and treats, some Christmas music in the background, and a Secret Santa gift exchange - you know, classic holiday stuff.

While I was there, I had an interesting conversation with one of my family members. (I’ve changed some minor details here for privacy’s sake.)

Since I’m a yoga teacher, the topics of fitness and well-being come up frequently when I’m around.

People often ask me for advice or recommendations or want to share some of their experiences.

This family member told me that they really wanted to get in shape but that they were having a hard time doing it.

They told me about how they had tried exercise a bunch of times but that it never really worked well for them.

Despite doing a bunch of sessions, they never got any stronger, and they didn’t feel any better in their body after all the work they had done.

They were frustrated and decided that exercise wasn’t effective, so they had stopped doing it altogether.

Curious about this, I asked them what their exercise routine was like.

Well, they told me they tried exercising almost every day for a while. They would do a five-minute walk in the morning, lift weights for a few minutes sometimes, and things like that.

Despite their best efforts and countless attempts, they haven’t seen any results. 

So, I asked them, “Have you considered that maybe you’re not putting in enough time to actually see the results you want?”

——

I’m going to pause right here and clarify things a bit. 

The ‘minor’ detail that I’ve changed here is that the family member in the story wasn’t talking about exercise; they were talking about meditation.

I’ve actually had this conversation dozens of times over the years with many different friends and family members.

I hear all the time from people who have tried meditation but say it never worked for them. Or that they tried it and they didn’t feel like they could even do the practices in the first place.

The common denominator in almost every single one of these cases is that they were only putting in the bare minimum amount of time.

When we change the framework from meditation to exercise, the absurdity of the argument becomes much more obvious.

Of course, doing five-minute bursts of light exercise is not going to be enough to see significant results in your fitness. It’s common sense. Most people know that it takes more than just that to make major changes in the body.

And yet, when people talk about meditation, they only try these tiny doses of practice and then are surprised when it doesn’t seem to work for them.

The mind is a part of the body. As with any part of the body, it takes significant time to change our mental patterns.

Now, to be clear, I’m not trying to shame people who are genuinely trying out these practices.

Of course, 5 minutes or 10 minutes of practice is infinitely better than no minutes of practice!

I’m genuinely thrilled that so many people are getting interested in mindfulness and meditation.

I’m also a big believer in starting small. We can begin with these small units of practice while we are still learning, and we can see how to fit them into our schedules and lifestyles.

But, as with exercise, it’s important to quickly graduate and build up the volume so that we can see progress.

Progressive overload is the key to creating change in our bodies AND in our minds.

Mental fitness is not so different from physical fitness. It takes significant time and consistency to change the way the mind interacts with the world.

We can’t expect to see real results from simply dabbling in things; we need to make a serious commitment if we want to see real changes.

So, how much of a commitment?

In my experience, if you can commit to at least 30 minutes a day of dedicated mindfulness meditation over a month or more, you will start to see some noticeable results.

This is why 30 minutes of daily practice is my minimum expectation for students enrolled in my Embodied Mindfulness program.

Thirty minutes might seem like a lot of time to make for our practice, but I’d like you to consider how much time we waste on low-yield activities each day.

How much time do we spend scrolling social media or watching TV?

Could you borrow a little time from that for your meditation practice?

Like I said earlier, you can start small and build things up. You don’t have to come out the gate for a full 30 minutes.

And, just as with physical fitness, if you are consistent over time, you WILL start to see changes.

You’ll feel more focused and present throughout your day.

Your body will even start to unwind as the mind learns how to really let go.

Even simple things, like the flavor of our food, become more enjoyable. When we train ourselves to truly pay attention, the full spectrum of our experience starts to light up!

But you have to put in the time.

If you’ve struggled to see the progress you’ve wanted from your meditation practice, don’t give up!

It takes time and consistency.

But just like with physical fitness, you need to get past the minimum effective dose to really create a strong change.

---

Are you ready to deepen your mindfulness practice? Do you want to integrate it with Yin Yoga for a full mind-body transformation?

Join me for my new 8-week course: Embodied Mindfulness.

Don't Overcomplicate Your Practice

It’s incredibly easy to overcomplicate things.

This is especially true when dealing with traditions such as meditation, where we draw on thousands of years of history from dozens of major lineages.

The Pali Canon, widely considered the oldest surviving compendium of the Buddha’s teachings, is a whopping 2,708,706  words long!

No wonder we feel the need to complicate things.

This immense volume of information can be overwhelming when we first start on the path. Even after reading dozens of books, things can still seem confusing.

The good news is that beneath this seeming complexity, the fundamentals of practice are incredibly straightforward.

The backbone of all forms of meditation can be boiled down to one simple skill.

This simple skill is the ability to reconnect to this moment again and again.

While it may seem trivial, this is the pathway to ultimate liberation.

At its most basic, the entire path of liberation can be summarized in a few sentences:

• Notice each moment just as it is without resistance.

• Keep coming back to the moment, again and again, as many times as possible.

• Repeat until awakening.

These instructions might seem overly simplistic, but this is the path’s essence. All the other, more esoteric aspects stand on the foundation of this simple practice.

If you focus your intentions on mastering the simple process of noticing this moment, you will reap tremendous benefits.

The most powerful thing about reframing our practice this way is that it becomes something that can indeed be done at any time.

No matter where you are, waking up to this moment is possible.

Let’s try it right here and now.

Just pause reading for a few seconds and notice what shows up for you.

Can you feel your body, your breath? What is going on in the environment around you?

That simple moment was a tiny unit of practice.

The other secret here is that even when we undertake a more extended practice - such as a 30-minute meditation - that practice is ultimately just a collection of many smaller moments.

If you can commit to returning to this repeatedly throughout your day, that alone will transform the quality of your attention.

You’ll spend less time worrying about the future and less time ruminating on the past.

You’ll be able to appreciate what is truly happening right now. Even the simplest things take on a new depth when we genuinely pay attention to them.

This simple, repeated process will cause you to change your relationship to all aspects of your life.

Don’t let overcomplication cause you to miss out on the fundamental liberation of just being here for this moment. 

And this moment, too.

The moment of connection is the junction where it all comes together. 

If we can learn to be here as we are, without extra expectations, everything else can fall into place.

Please give it a try this week. See how many times you can remember to return and be here now.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Follow the links below for opportunities to practice with me:

If you'd like to practice with me right now, check out one of the dozens of free classes on my YouTube.

For live classes, either in-person or online - see my latest class schedule here.

To make the most optimal progress in your practice, contact me to schedule a one-on-one session.

And if you haven't yet, subscribe to my newsletter for regular insights about practice and life - 

3 Things A Consistent Yin Yoga Practice Will Teach You

Bitter Practice, Sweet Result

Your first Yin Yoga class is going to be challenging. Possibly very challenging.

After a lifetime of distraction, the simple act of slowing down is bound to be a struggle.

This is compounded by the challenge of the physical sensations that you will feel in the poses.

It’s our instinct to want to move or fidget at the first sign of discomfort.

Over the years, in the face of this struggle, I've seen a small handful of students walk right out in the middle of class. In one of the most extreme examples, I even had a student get up and start doing Vinyasa flows by herself in the middle of class!

To each their own.

And yet, despite the challenges, by the end of class, most students will start to get it.

Maybe it’s the calm they feel in a resonance pose. Or maybe how they feel later in the day after class.

When they see the results of simply slowing down and taking their time, it can feel as if an immense weight has been lifted off their shoulders.

As my teacher Josh Summers says of Yin Yoga: "Bitter practice, sweet result."

But even better is what you will see and learn after 10 classes - or 100 classes or more. Like so many things, the fruits of the practice will only blossom with more time and consistency.

Here are just three of the many things that a consistent Yin Yoga practice will teach you:

You'll Learn How To Truly Play Your Edge

The average person is almost entirely unaware of what their body is capable of. They don't know when to stop or when they can push.

The essence of Yin Yoga is learning to become comfortable with discomfort and knowing the difference between discomfort and actual pain.

While many new students tend to overdo it, experienced practitioners know right where their line is. They know just when to back away and just when they can push a little deeper.

This has tremendous crossover benefits. It will help you in other styles of practice, but also in any other activity that you use your body for.

You'll Be Practicing Covert Meditation

Yin Yoga IS a form of meditation. It's just one where we work with our body along the way.

Instead of just sitting, we pay deep attention to what we feel in our bodies in each pose.

So, just as with more traditional meditation, if you practice Yin Yoga regularly, your senses will sharpen. You'll learn to notice the finest details in each pose you practice.

And you'll also learn how to cultivate profound equanimity.

Poses like Dragon or Swan are bound to stir up resistance in the mind. At first, you may try to fight it or distract yourself, but this is a losing battle.

Instead, you will learn the power of letting go. You will learn to rest with challenges instead of pushing back against them.

This will give you a massive edge when facing the ordinary struggles of your daily life.

You'll Learn The Real Meaning of Balance

Most people are stressed, overworked, and unable to relax their bodies and minds.

Yin Yoga provides a powerful antidote for both.

By allowing yourself time to truly slow down and tune in, you'll be better prepared to face the challenges of your daily life.

Your Yin Yoga practice will become an invaluable oasis in the desert of your busy life.

The most exciting thing is that the busier you are, the more you'll benefit from the practice.

You'll start to learn just how important it is to slow down.

Start Now, Repeat Infinitely

I've taught thousands of Yin Yoga classes and done thousands of Yin Yoga practices.

However, after over 15 years, I am still learning from the practice.

It is an irreplaceable skill that you will carry with you for your whole life. The practice becomes even MORE intriguing with more time invested.

So, if you already have a regular Yin Yoga practice, awesome! Keep up the excellent work, and notice how you relate to the main points of this article.

If you are new, start now! While it may be challenging initially, I promise that the rewards are absolutely worth it.

---

Follow the links below for opportunities to practice with me:

If you'd like to practice with me right now, check out one of the dozens of free classes on my YouTube.

For live classes, either in-person or online - see my latest class schedule here.

To make the most optimal progress in your practice, contact me to schedule a one-on-one session.

And if you haven't yet, subscribe to my newsletter for regular insights about practice and life - 

You Are Not Your Thoughts

In 1637, Rene Descartes made a fundamental statement that shaped the course of Western Philosophy:

"Cogito Ergo Sum."

"I think therefore I am."

This idea was one of the sparks that ignited the Enlightenment in Europe and revolutionized the worldview of the Western World.

It was an important distinction at the time because it separated man from his soul and dependence on a divine creator.

It prioritized logic and rationality as the most fundamental human trait.

But what if Descartes got it completely wrong?

What if this view stopped many generations from seeing something much bigger and more meaningful?

What if it was the cause of undue suffering and frustration?

Sorry my dude…

---

2000 years earlier, and thousands of miles away, the Buddha and his disciples saw through this illusion. They realized that self and identity were something so much bigger than our mere, trivial thoughts.

As they saw it, thoughts were no different from any of our other senses.

We can experience our thoughts in much the same way as we experience sound, sight, or other senses.

They come and go, and we actually have much less agency over them than you might think.

Based on their direct observations of how the mind works, they came to a very different conclusion.

You are not your thoughts.

Your thoughts do not create your reality.

And so, they set out on a different path. One that I would like to discuss in today's blog.

---

To see how this works in actual action, I invite you to try a straightforward practice:

• Right here where you are, relax and close your eyes.

• Tune into the sensations in the body, creating a connection with the physical sensations.

• Sit as long as you can with that connection without deliberately thinking.

• As soon as you notice that you are having a thought, you can end the practice.

---

What happened to you just now?

Almost certainly, after some very short time, a thought appeared in your mind despite your intention for it not to.

You likely didn't even intend for the specific subject or content of that thought. It just appeared on its own, as if from nothing.

In this way, we can observe that thoughts come and go on their own, even when we intend for them not to.

If thoughts can occur just like any other sense, then we can see they are something entirely different from the self.

This is where Descartes got it completely wrong.

If we can't truly control our thoughts, and they appear without much direct control, then our thoughts cannot be our identity.

However, I am not saying that thoughts are not necessary, nor that they are meaningless.

Thoughts drive our ability to imagine and create. They are the source of all great art and philosophy. I am even using this ability at this very moment to write this newsletter!

Thoughts also allow us to analyze and make sense of the world. In this way, the ability to think and rationalize is a vital part of what makes us human.

This is the part that Descartes got right.

However, it is crucial to understand the limitations and potential pitfalls of the thinking mind.

When we fixate on our thoughts or give them too much weight, suffering is bound to follow.

By contrast, suffering will automatically lessen when we can let go of our thoughts and rest in the present moment.

You may have noticed this in the brief practice that we just did.

What happened in the moment between sitting down and the first thought arising?

Did you notice the pause?

What remained during that time?

The answer is awareness.

Independent of the thinking mind is our awareness and connection with this moment. It is always there if we make space for it.

Thoughts happen all the time for most people, but there are MANY pauses if we really pay attention.

The problem with excessive identification with our thoughts is that they cause us to miss the simplicity of reality. 

Awareness becomes more dominant as we practice letting go of this identification and simply resting in this moment.

As we learn to rest in this connection more and more, we can cultivate a sense of identity beyond mere thoughts and ideas.

This is the secret sauce of meditation.

The ability to decouple from the thinking mind is one of the most liberating aspects of deep meditation practice.

We can start to see that our thoughts do not need to control us.

We can live a life where we can use our thoughts without getting trapped by them. When we are not busy obsessing or daydreaming, we can connect more deeply with the reality of this moment.

It is then we can see that our thoughts are a key source of our suffering.

---

Stepping back from the thinking mind can be one of the most liberating practices to undertake.

By learning to see awareness itself, we can separate ourselves from the anxiety and confusion that our thoughts often create.

You are not losing your identity. You are allowing it to blossom into something more profound and deep.

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I'd like to end this post by spinning the classic quote on its head:

"I realize that I am not only my thoughts; therefore, I am free."

If you'd like to join me in practice, follow the links below:

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If you'd like to practice with me right now, check out one of the dozens of free classes on my YouTube.

For live classes, either in-person or online - see my latest class schedule here.

To make the most optimal progress in your practice, contact me to schedule a one-on-one session.

And if you haven't yet, subscribe to my newsletter for regular insights about practice and life - 

The Great Unbalancing Machine: Navigating Yin and Yang in Modern Life

The Great Unbalancing Machine

Modern life is the ultimate machine for throwing oneself out of balance, and it seems to get worse with each passing year.

We stay up later. We work longer hours. We sleep less than ever before.

On top of that, we are forever stimulated by our devices, and we rarely give ourselves a chance to actually unplug.

It's enough to make you feel crazy. I know it has for me...

And that's why it's essential to get back to the fundamentals.

Taoism

The ancient Taoists studied and observed everything in nature to see how it behaved.

Their observations showed that our universe is a constant dance of different forces. These forces are constantly interacting and finding their way into a natural balance.

They concluded that when things were in harmony, they function correctly and flow more smoothly.

When things become unbalanced, there is disharmony and dysfunction.

Yin and Yang

The most simple form they used to describe things is in the duality of Yin and Yang.

Yin and Yang are opposing energies or qualities that are present within all things and between all things.

Yin represents things that are more slow, grounded, cool, stable, etc.

Yang represents things that are more dynamic, fluid, warm, changing, etc.

All things can be described as some relationship of Yin and Yang.

Our Yang-Excessive Lives

As we take this back to reflect on our modern lifestyles, it becomes clear that we live with a nearly constant excess of Yang energy.

We are always on the go. Always doing things. Never stopping.

And when we don't allow our systems a counterbalance to this, the system breaks.

We develop digestion issues. Or headaches. Or insomnia. Stress.

From the Taoist perspective, much of the infinite list of modern ailments that plague us come from an excess of Yang.

When we don't allow enough balancing forces of Yin into our lives, we become unbalanced and suffer.

An Effective Dose of Yin

So what are we to make of this??

From the Taoist perspective, we can see the importance of making time in our lives for more Yin-dominant practices.

As a reader of my blog, you can imagine an obvious choice for this: Yin Yoga.

In fact, Yin Yoga gets its name from the Yin-dominant nature of the practice.

Yin Yoga is a perfect complement to balance our otherwise Yang-dominated lives.

But Yin Yoga is certainly not the only option here.

Anything that allows you a chance to unplug is a good candidate for these sorts of practices.

We could take up a meditation practice. 

Or allow ourselves time to sit in the park. 

We can go for a slow, quiet walk at the end of the day.

Reducing Yang Influences

In addition to making time for focused Yin practices, it can be equally valuable to remove Yang excess from your life intentionally.

Notice how much time you spend on screens.

Notice what time you go to bed.

See how you respond to these stimuli and how they affect your mood and energy level.

How many of these are necessary and could be easily eliminated?

Of course, getting rid of all of the Yang excesses in your schedule will never be possible. Still, every bit you can eliminate will make a difference.

With time and practice, you will tune into your natural balance of Yin and Yang and adapt accordingly around it.

Learning to Practice This For Yourself

The hardest part of these things is starting in the first place, so here's a list of ideas to help you find more Yin within your life.

If you follow these suggestions consistently for a week or more, I guarantee you will start to feel more balance in your life!

• ● Notice when you feel the pull to stimulate yourself with social media or mindless browsing. Can you put the breaks on that and take a few deep breaths instead?

• ● Schedule at least 1 longer Yin-dominant practice (Yin Yoga, A more extended Meditation, etc.) each week, and be sure not to miss it!

• ● Each week, take at least one long walk outside without your phone. Bringing a friend or partner is okay, but try to avoid unnatural stimulation.

• ● Take at least 5 minutes daily to just sit, ideally in some form of meditation. I have plenty of guided meditations on my YouTube that can help you get started... ;-)

• ● Set a lights-out time for your electronic devices (except perhaps a Kindle/reader) so your mind can unwind before bed.

Conclusion

While the concepts of Yin and Yang are relatively easy to understand, it can take a lifetime of practice to really hone in on balancing them for yourself.

For me, shifting out of balance is a regular challenge that I face.

However, when I take the time to implement the steps I listed above, I feel better in my daily life, and I'm refreshed and ready to take on new challenges!

Give it a shot, and let me know how it goes. I promise you will appreciate the results!

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If you'd like to practice with me right now, check out one of the dozens of free classes on my YouTube.

For live classes, either in-person or online - see my latest class schedule here.

To make the most optimal progress in your practice, contact me to schedule a one-on-one session.

And if you haven't yet, subscribe to my newsletter for regular insights about practice and life - 

From Frustration to Equanimity: Finding Inner Peace Amidst Life's Traffic Jams

A Familiar Occurence. 

The light has cycled twice, yet you're only a few car lengths further forward.

Each time the cycle changes in the other direction, a never-ending flood of cars crams into the road. You see there will be no space for you when the light turns green again.

Even though you left the house plenty early, you are still stewing. As you grip the wheel tighter, you start tapping your fingers and fidgeting in your seat. Your mind starts spinning with restlessness. 

"Ugh. Why am I stuck here?!"

As your heartbeat speeds up, you begin calculating how late you will be. You curse the drivers filling the road and how they are in your way.

But after a few more cycles, you get to go, and the traffic starts moving past the problematic light. It was a relatively minor delay on your overall trip, but still, the damage has been done.

You are worked up and spend the next several hours irritated and short-tempered.

But what if there was a different option in situations like this? What if you could have gone through that situation, not denying your frustration but not getting stuck in it either?

Equanimity - The Practice of Momentary Liberation.

In Buddhism, this concept is called Equanimity, and it is the essence of the entire path in many ways. It is a critical practice that leads to less suffering while allowing us to feel more connected with our lives.

As such, this is one of the most valuable skills for any Yogi to cultivate. It will pay huge dividends on the mat/cushion and daily life.

Equanimity is a lifelong practice to perfect, and this relatively short post will give you a taste of its meaning. I hope it will plant a seed that you will carry with you so that you can keep developing this skill.

Vedena: The Key to Understanding Equanimity.

To fully understand Equanimity, we must understand another Buddhist concept: Vedana.

Vedena is a fancy name for how something - anything - we come into contact with feels subjectively in our experience. It is often called Feeling Tone for this reason.

Vedana comes in three primary flavors: Pleasant, Unpleasant, and Neutral. And we have three typical conditioned responses to each of these when they arise.

• We are drawn to and get attached to things that are pleasant.

• We get irritated by and try to avoid things that are unpleasant.

• And we tend to ignore or miss things that are neutral.

Obviously, there are many levels and intensities to these sorts of reactions. Still, these are three primary ways in which vedena will show up.

Equanimity is the practice of mastering our relationship with these flavors of experience. It is about learning the skill of releasing our conditioned reactions to them.

Back to the car.

To illustrate how this can work in action, let's go back to the traffic scenario at the start of this post.

If we were to approach this situation with the intention of Equanimity, the actual events would be much the same.

You would still be stuck at the light. The cars would still be pouring in. And importantly, you would still feel the initial anxiety at the situation.

But the difference would happen in how you respond to that initial anxiety.

Rather than feeding into it, amplifying the emotion, and getting more stressed, you would instead feel the emotion in your body. You would catch it, notice it as it starts, and see how it develops over time.

You would become even more aware of the reactivity and tension beginning to arise. But rather than adding to the reactivity and getting more stressed, you could invite the body to relax instead.

You would likely have to do this some number of times as the feeling kept coming up. But each time, the reaction would get less and less.

The unpleasantness would remain, but it would no longer be a problem.

When the light finally turned, rather than having the episode ruin your day, you would be able to let it go rather than have gotten stuck in it.

Putting It Into Practice

While learning Equanimity in daily life is possible, yoga and meditation can help us to practice it more directly.

Yin Yoga, in particular, can provide a mini-laboratory to watch feeling tone evolve in real-time. 

Consider a challenging Yin Yoga pose such as dragon. For most practitioners, this will stir up intense sensations in the body and require a noticeable level of focus and effort to maintain. 

A non-equanimous mind might get stirred up by these sensations and spin into a similar reaction to the traffic scenario. They might tighten the body even more, making the unpleasant feelings worse. They would start counting the seconds until the pose was over, and each one would feel like an eternity. 

But by cultivating a sense of Equanimity, we can instead see these sensations for what they really are - just sensations. And we can learn to relax into the experience rather than fighting against them. 

And to be clear, we would still feel the challenge of the pose. It is not as if it suddenly becomes easy or an enjoyable experience. But like the traffic scenario above, we could work within the experience rather than trying to escape it.

(A key point here is to always be safe. We should never try to relax through pain or ignore it - so be careful when working with this in your physical practice.)

But what about things that we like?

This is a more subtle reaction because there is nothing wrong with enjoying things on some level. We are not trying to numb ourselves, but it can become problematic when we attach too much to things.

An example might be leaving a savasana at the end of class. After several minutes of calm bliss, the teacher calls the class out of the pose. You grumble internally at the thought of having to leave your little cocoon. 

Much of the calm quality you had just gained will have been lost.

But had you approached this situation with greater Equanimity, the shift would not have been so much of a problem. You might have felt the initial sting, but it would have disappeared from your having worked with it.

Neutral sensations present a more subtle challenge still. They call on us to look deeper. 

Consider all the things you tune out of your awareness at any moment.

Can you notice to contact with your seat? How about the weight of the clothing on your body?

These aspects of our experience are always there, but we rarely notice them. Because they could be more interesting, we tune them out.

The equanimous mind chooses to tune into all these things and see them as equals.

How mastering vedena naturally leads to Equanimity.

The first step toward greater Equanimity is learning to see our feeling tones in real time.

At first, it makes the most sense to explore these ideas in a controlled setting - like meditation or yoga. 

For a specific practice that I recommend, consider trying noting meditation. This method allows us to depersonalize our experience and see sense objects just as they are. Here is an instructional video from my YouTube:

I also have a guided meditation that focuses explicitly on working with Vedena:

Over time, as our skills sharpen, you can start to work with the practice more and more in your daily life.

The shadow Side - Indifference and Bypassing.

Like many practices, there is a possible shadow side to this work.

Equanimity can quickly morph into indifference, and paying attention to this is vital.

Equanimity is NOT dispassion.

An equanimous mind is even more connected with all the things that arise. In fact, Equanimity allows us to see our experience even more clearly than in our usual reactive way.

So if you find yourself trying to block out some aspect of your experience, understand that this is not the intention. Spiritual bypassing can be a real challenge, so try to be open to everything without getting stuck.

As I said earlier, be sure to recognize problematic sensations in your physical practice.

While there can be value in opening up to challenging sensations, we should never ignore pain in the body. Repeated pain can indicate damage, so tread carefully here - especially if you are new to this way of practicing.

The Joy of an Equanimous Mind.

As we near the end of this post, I want to emphasize again that this is a lifetime practice - not something learned from a single blog post.

I also make no claims to have perfected my sense of Equanimity. It is something that I work with every day, and I am still very much subject to my conditioned patterns and reactions.

But still, having taken on Equanimity as a core practice has been a significant key to living a more balanced and present life. It is a keystone practice for me. One that holds all of the others together

And like all practices, Equanimity is something that you can start right now.

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