Resources for BCAN

These resources are for the 2022 BCAN summit meeting attendees to provide information that was offered in a concise and convenient place for future reference. Most of the major ideas from the presentation on Mindfulness In Healing are right in this article with links and referrals to other documents and teachings. These are provided as […]

Happy

The subject of happy was the theme of the Mindfulness In Healing Sangha on June 22, 2022. It was inspired by this quote: I am happy even before I have a reason. – Hafiz Thich Nhat Hanh says, “We have everything we need to be happy right now!” What do you need to be happy […]

The Five Levels of Compassion

The five levels of compassion1 came from Dr. Gabor Maté. I believe these developed out of his work for 20+ years as a pediatrician and 12+ years of working with addicts in the east side of downtown Vancouver, BC. As a child, Gabor was handed off to strangers in Hungary where he was born at […]

RAINS Meditation for Happiness

On October 21, 2021, I introduced this RAINS Meditation for Happiness to my colleagues in the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP) with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach and I am offering a version of it tonight for my class in How to Use Mindfulness to Be Happy. The acronym RAIN has been used by […]

We Cannot Escape Impermanence

One of the so-called “remembrances” contains the statement, “We cannot escape impermanence.” This is recited daily in monasteries around the world. This article is about the advice that I recently gave to a colleague when she was troubled with the law of change. Consider this wisdom teaching from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh from my […]

RAIN and the 5 A’s

How do you choose between RAIN and the 5 A’s? Keep reading to find out what the RAIN and 5 A method is and how to use them to improve your mental well-being in trying situations and in everyday life. What is RAIN? RAIN is an acronym for a mindfulness meditation practice that brings awareness […]

Daily Practice

I want to share with you the details of my daily practice. These practices nourish me year after year and continue to be the source of my health and well-being. After I awaken, I log on to Insight Timer and begin my morning practice. I often listen to guided meditations to help me become centered and […]

Sleep Strategies

Sleep is one of the most important elements of health. Many people don’t get enough sleep or struggle to get a good night’s rest. Meditation and mindfulness are great tools to overcome these boundaries. The following sleep strategies are from a course taught by Jeremy Lipkowitz, an international meditation teacher and mindfulness coach based in Chiang […]

The 3 I’s

One of my main meditation practices of the day is to identify the “3 I’s” and what they continue to teach me. Read this article and see if it makes sense to you. Then you can begin to practice the  “3 I’s”. Before we go into this, let me describe the practice that brings me […]

Non-self

The Buddha’s original teaching on non-self is based on the five aggregates, skandas, of form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness. He claims that form in not self, feelings are not self, perceptions are not self, mental formations are not self and consciousness is not self because they are impermanent and they cannot stand by […]