Hugh Jackman's secret to his long-lasting relationship with Deborra-Lee Furness is meditation.

The 'Logan' star believes mediating with his wife and their friends helps keep their romance strong.

Asked what makes their relationship work, Hugh said: "Meditation!"

Whilst Deborra-Lee added to People magazine: "We meditate together. And sometimes we have friends over to do it, too. It's a lovely Sunday-morning thing. Everyone comes over, and then we have breakfast."

Meanwhile, the 48-year-old actor previously praised his wife, calling her "the greatest thing" that has ever happened to him.

He said: "It gets better and better, I can honestly say that. She's the greatest thing that ever happened to me. She was the star and I had this major crush on her. Everyone did. The whole crew had a crush on her and I was so embarrassed by that, I didn't talk to her for about a week.

"I had a dinner party and I invited her over and about 20 other people. And she said, 'What's a matter, have I annoyed you? You're not talking to me anymore. What have I done wrong?' and I said - I'd had a couple - and I said 'oh look, I've got a crush on you, I'll get over it.' And she went, 'Oh really,' " and I was like, 'Oh, this is bad.' And she goes, 'Yeah, I got one on you. too.' And I'm like, 'Oh, great!' So that was it.'"

And Hugh previously quipped his slogan in life is "happy wife, happy life".

Asked if he has a slogan he lives by, he said: "Have a go. The other one, the most important one, is drummed into me every day. Happy wife, happy life. That's the slogan. We're about to celebrate our 20th."

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Hugh Jackman: Meditation is the secret to my successful relationship - Salamanca Press

Fear is a negative emotion, unless youre facing an actual threat and need to fight or flee. And the usefulness of fear is minimal in daily life, particularly in the form of anxiety. Stressful events can produce short-term anxiety in almost everyone, which disappears after the event. But foran estimated 6.8 million Americans with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), anxiety is a chronic condition they cant shut off. All of us know people we accept as born worriers, but their reality is much more debilitating than that title describes. Being in a state of chronic anxiety can severely limit their daily activity.

You probably know already if you worry excessively. In fact, if you have chronic anxiety, even the smallest thing can trigger it. You find yourself with fearful thoughts about finances, family, your health, and whats happening at work. Some days youd rather hide under the covers.

The first thing to realize is that reality isnt whats actually worrying you, but its your fixed habit of mind thats causing you to respond to everything with anxiety. Second, you need to look rationally at the anxiety response and concede that youre not improving it by feeling anxious. This seems obvious to non-worriers, but somewhere inside, many born worriers believe they are taking care of situations that others are overlooking, like whether they remembered to lock up the house or turn off the gas stove. Any trigger can provoke worry, so the question is how to prevent this from happening.

Because of the mind-body connection, you should also consider the physical side of anxiety. Even if you have accepted worry as a tolerable trait, it exacts a price in the form of insomnia, easy startle response, fatigue, irritability, muscle tension, headaches, inability to relax, trembling, twitching, feeling out of breath, and various stomach and digestive problems. If these persist for more than six months after something bad has happened to you, a diagnosis of GAD may be appropriate. Even if your symptoms are manageable, you shouldnt have to live this way. Anticipating the worst, which has become a habit even when no threat is in sight, distorts how you approach work, family, and the world in general.

There are many theories about what causes chronic anxiety, but they are as diverse as explanations for depression. Its more useful to consider how to retrain your mind so that your worry subsides and is replaced by a normal undisturbed mood. The standard medical advice is to take medication (usually some form of tranquilizer), augmented by talking to a therapist. However, self-care has other tools, such as meditation, diet, sleep, massage, and exercise that you can pursue on your own.

One aspect of anxiety is racing thoughts that wont go away. Meditation helps with this part of the problem by quieting the overactive mind. Instead of buying into your fearful thoughts, you can start identifying with the silence that exists between every mental action. Through regular practice, you experience that youre not simply your thoughts and feelings. You can detach yourself from these to rest in your own being. This involves remaining centered, and if a thought or outside trigger pulls you out of your center, your meditation practice allows you to return there again.

Being able to center yourself is a skill that anyone can learn, once they have the intention and the experience of what it feels like. Anxious people often shy away from meditation for various reasons. I cant meditate is code for feeling too restless to sit still or having too many thoughts while trying to meditate. With a patient teacher, these objections can be overcome. Anyone can meditate, even if the first sessions are short and need to be guided. Being on tranquilizers, which for some anxious people is the only way they can cope, isnt a block to meditation.

Numerous scientific studies have found meditation to be effective for treating anxiety. One study, published in the Psychological Bulletin, combined the findings of 163 different studies. The overall conclusion was that practicing mindfulness or meditation produced beneficial results, with a substantial improvement in areas like negative personality traits, anxiety, and stress. Another study focused on a wide range of anxiety, from cancer patients to those with social anxiety disorder, and found mindfulness to be an effective management tool.

The researchers analyzed 39 studies totaling 1,140 participants and discovered that the anxiety-reducing benefits from mindfulness might be enjoyed across such a wide range of conditions because when someone learns mindfulness, they learn how to work with difficult and stressful situations.

All mental activity has to have a physical correlation in the brain, and this aspect has been studied in relation to anxiety. Chronic worriers often display increased reactivity in the amygdala, the area of the brain associated with regulating emotions, including fear. Neuroscientists at Stanford University found that people who practiced mindfulness meditation for eight weeks were more able to turn down the reactivity of this area. Other researchers from Harvard found that mindfulness can physically reduce the number of neurons in this fear-triggering part of the brain.

Here are three simple, practical ways to take advantage of all this knowledge:

Read more here:

How Meditation Can Help Anxiety | The Chopra Center

FREDERICK, Md. The Frederick Meditation Center, at 1 W. Church St., top floor, in downtown Frederick, will host Jerry Websters four-week course titled The Power of Being Present: The Four Buddhist Foundations of Mindfulness.

The course will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, June 14 to July 12. There will be no class Wednesday, July 5.

The program is open to those new to meditation and mindfulness, as well as those who already established a practice.

According to Webster, the Power of Being Present course is about being open to whatever arises in ones life on the spot. Each week, the course will focus on a different theme, starting with Mindfulness of Body and continuing with such themes as Mindfulness of Effort and Mindfulness of Mind.

Although relaxing is often one of the byproducts of Buddhist meditation, the true purpose is to be present in ones life more fully, being present on the spot rather than being riveted about according to ones hopes and fears, Webster said in a news release.

The course is inspired by Chogyam Trungpas book Mindfulness in Action: Making Friends with Yourself Through Meditation. While it is not required to read the book to participate in this course, some participants might find that the book offers good background. For those who are interested in obtaining a copy, Trungpas book is available at Curious Iguana in downtown Frederick at a discounted rate before the course begins.

Webster serves as the shastri, or head teacher, with the Shambhala Buddhist Meditation Center in Washington, D.C. He began meditation with a 10-day retreat in India with the Burmese teacher Goenka in 1974. Since 1976, he has been a student of the Shambhala Buddhist tradition, and he has taught in this tradition since 1977.

He obtained a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Maryland. He has taught numerous courses in literature for the University of Maryland and numerous courses in multiculturalism for Montgomery County Public Schools. He has taught English full time in public-school systems for 40 years, beginning with the Peace Corps in Afghanistan in 1973.

During the past year, he has led three full-day weeklong meditation weekends and numerous programs along the East Coast, including programs for Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. Peace Corps, Frederick Community College and the Frederick Meditation Center.

The cost for the whole course is $80. Those interested can reserve their space at FrederickMeditation.com or by calling 240-397-8080.

Cushions, chairs, tea and water will be provided.

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Meditation teacher offering mindfulness course - Herald-Mail Media

As we left Sunday meditation class, Sister Hemaxi Patel, the facilities manager, gave us each a cookie and a card with the words, I am a soul. I have a body. As a lifelong resident of the Bay Area, this was far from my first attempt at the meditation rodeo, or in my case, the meditation three-ring circus, featuring chattering mind monkeys. But it was my first try at this center.

The Anubhuti Meditation & Retreat Centers gate sign at 820 Bel Marin Keys Blvd. has piqued my curiosity many times as I passed by. The other day a friend and I decided to try the free Sunday class, because lately weve been experiencing more than our usual level of mental turbulence.

The 10-year-old Novato center, which employs some 20 part-time staffers, is part of Brahma Kumaris, a group committed to the practice of self-transformation through Raja Yoga meditation. They began in 1936 and now have 8,500 centers in 110 countries.

Kumaris believe meditation to be key in creating a peaceful and just world, and that spiritual living is a lifelong 24-hour-a-day practice.

Brother Harsha Madatanapalli, retreats facilitator, began the gathering by asking each of us to set our intention. When he asked me what I sought, I said, predictably, peace. Yes. I seek the inner peace one achieves in an hour and a half of free (love offerings accepted) guided meditation.

The meditation part of the class is about 45 minutes. Madatanapalli guided us to relax our bodies, and after that I didnt hear much else he said. I fought to stay awake, which is the alternate challenge meditation offers me. As usual, I seesaw between my monkey mind circus and narcolepsy. But when the time came to open our eyes, I felt refreshed.

Then Madatanapalli had us walk around the room silently. He is a kind, welcoming soul, and when he asked us to make eye contact with the other 15 strangers in the room, I felt only slightly uneasy; after all, we are presumably like-minded souls, aware that our human bodies are temporary homes.

Though I did not miraculously overcome my meditation hurdles during this brief visit, I left feeling more peaceful than when I arrived, and with an interest in exploring future gatherings. I believe any curious visitor would be impressed by the aura of hospitality.

The center offers a variety of retreats and workshops, including Building Healthy Relationships, Art of Communication and Vegetarian Living, to name just a few. Tuesday evening workshops, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., address different topics each week, such as The How of Forgiveness, Positive People Skills and Emotional Detox.

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Interested? The free Sunday session is from 10 a.m. to noon. For information, visit anubhutiretreatcenter.org.

The Novato Art & Wine Festival, our annual street fair, is happening from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 pm. Sunday. Theres food, music and more, stretching a half-mile along downtown Novatos Grant Avenue between Redwood Boulevard and Seventh Street. For full details, visit novatoartwine.music.com.

Free concerts on the green are returning. Finnegans Marin will be selling beverages to accompany your picnic. The concerts are from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Novato Civic Green, 901 Sherman Ave. The first concert is set for June 17, featuring Marty OReilly & The Old Soul Orchestra. Other shows are planned for July 15 and Aug. 19.

The Fourth of July parade is always a Novato favorite, and what better way to start the day than with the 63rd annual Buckaroo Breakfast hosted by the Presbyterian Church from 7 to 10 a.m. July 4 at the Redwood Credit Union parking lot, 1010 Grant Ave. Donations go to the Novato Youth Center, Rotary Books and Art Around Town Foundation.

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Novato: A visit to a meditation center - Marin Independent Journal

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Stressed out? Meditation is not just for yogis anymore. Get your morning started right with 4 apps that will help you find your focus.

Often you need to know what type of meditation exercise you need before you start, but the Stop, Breathe and Think app asks you how you're feeling before offering the meditation program that's right for you.

Calm is good for anyone who is stressed out and doesn't have time to meditate. There are special sections for commuters who take trains like the Metro. Some of the exercises are as short as three minutes.

Insight Timer has more than 3,000 guided meditations, music tracks and courses that will help you find your inner peace.

Finally, you can learn how to meditate in just 10 minutes a day with the Headspace app. The app's free introductory series helps you train your mind with 10 ten minute sessions.

Most of the apps are free, but you may have to pay to unlock longer meditation sessions.

Published at 5:33 AM EDT on Jun 5, 2017

Originally posted here:

Fit 4 Summer: 4 Apps to Help You Meditate - NBC4 Washington

Meditation, relaxation and psychological counselling are becoming important tools in the care of people with cancer, according to multiple clinical trials released at the worlds largest conference on cancer.

The research unveiled at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference is part of a new push by oncologists to focus on not just killing tumors, but boosting the morale and mental health of people who are reeling from the shock of being diagnosed with cancer.

For many women who survive a bout with cancer, the fear that it will return can be debilitating, and may interfere with work and family relationships. About 50% of all cancer survivors and 70% of young breast cancer survivors report moderate to high fear of recurrence, according to one study led by Jane Beith, a medical oncologist at the University of Sydney in Australia.

She and colleagues developed an intervention called Conquer Fear, in which trained therapists met 222 patients for five one-hour to 90-minute-long sessions over 10 weeks. They talked about accepting uncertainty and teaching strategies to control worrying, as well as how to focus on life goals. Stretching and meditation were also part of the treatment.

Stretching and meditation were also part of the treatment. (Shutterstock)

The reduction in fear of recurrence in the psychological intervention group was large enough to improve survivors psychological and emotional wellbeing, said Beith.

Using a 42-item questionnaire called Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory (FCRI), researchers found that the fear of cancer was reduced significantly in those who went through therapy by 18 points on average in the intervention group compared to 7.6 points in a control group that did not receive the same attention.

Talk therapy

Another study, carried out in Canada, showed that brief sessions of psychotherapy could also benefit people with advanced cancer. A randomised clinical trial enrolled 305 patients late-stage cancer to study an intervention, called Managing Cancer And Living Meaningfully (CALM).

After three months, 52% of patients who received CALM had a clinically important reduction in depressive symptoms, compared to 33% of patients who received usual care, researchers reported. After a few months, patients who had undergone the therapy were more prepared for the end of life.

This brief talking therapy helps patients facing advanced cancer, and their loved ones, sustain what is meaningful in their life despite its limitations and face the future, said lead study author Gary Rodin, head of the department of supportive care at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada.

It provides time and space for reflection on the threats and challenges associated with advanced cancer.

Using a 42-item questionnaire called Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory (FCRI), researchers found that the fear of cancer was reduced significantly in those who went through therapy . (Shutterstock)

Online therapy

A third study examined the possibility of using the internet to deliver psychological help to cancer patients who may not be able to get it in person.

Called the STREAM intervention, the eight-week programme offered web-based stress management, in a programme developed by oncologists and psychologists.

Weekly topics included bodily reaction to stress, cognitive stress reduction, feelings, and social interactions.

A total of 129 cancer patients mostly women with breast cancer were randomised to either receive written and audio information and then complete exercises and questionnaires, or join a control group that did not go through the programme.

Those who completed STREAM reported a greater improvement in quality of life than patients in the control group, and less distress than before. However, there were no significant differences in anxiety or depression between the two groups.

I think online psychological support will be much more important in the years to come, as the digital generation reaches the age when they are at higher risk of cancer, said lead study author Viviane Hess, a medical oncologist at the University Hospital of Basel in Basel, Switzerland.

For them, it will be natural to use such online tools and communicate without face-to-face interaction, and so now is the time to standardise and validate the tools.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.

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Meditation, talk therapy effective in reducing fear, anxiety in cancer patients - Hindustan Times

I make a special effort to be on Front and Union Streets as often as possible when the trees are blossoming. They wont last long, those branches of airy snowballs. This week full bloom, next week withering, and then the leaves start up. Im surprised with what Ada Limn does with that. I expected her, as people usually do, to go on about the beauties of spring blossoms.

But she leads us from the beginning with more than, and more than. Even the words almost obscene display, shoving, and baubles and trinkets prejudice us in favor of what must come next. She has the blossoming feel garish compared to the greening.

In the aftermath of all that display, here come the trees, patient and plodding. How can I help but think of the condition of the world right now? How can my mind not turn to politics, war, chaos? Maybe thats why I landed on this poem. Because it reminds me, as a walk in the woods reminds me, of the ongoingness of things. I dont read this poem as an invitation to do nothing but watch trees leaf out, but more as a reminder that life is continuous, in spite of the mess of us, the hurt, the empty. The leaf unfolds the way a fist can turn into an open palm and take it all.

Im struck by the tree saying, Fine, then. I read that as Okay, I get it, thats the way its going to be. Not particularly joyful about it, but not sad either. Life is a turmoil, and it is necessary to open to whatever is the case.

Not that greening is any more virtuous than blossoming. You might think of it like courtship, all full of excitement and flowers. Then comes the commitment to making something ongoing together. If you were thinking in terms of politics, you might think of doing the steady, hard work of governing, after the fanfare of elections. Of not giving up, as the title says.

I notice that she says the strange idea of continuous living. Whats strange about it? Maybe its that our natural inclination is to think in narrow terms, short bursts of enthusiasm. I guess it may be stranger to imagine the steadiness, the cyclical nature of things.

Ada Limn is the author of Bright Dead Things (Milkweed Editions, 2015). She teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte and at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center and lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Fleda Brown of Traverse City is professor emerita, University of Delaware, and past poet laureate of Delaware. For more of her work, and to see her website, go to http://www.fledabrown.com.

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On Poetry: Meditation on the ongoingness of things - Traverse City Record Eagle

COME, HOLY SPIRIT, COME!

A Universalist Meditation for Pentecost

James Ishmael Ford

4 June 2017 Unitarian Universalist Church Long Beach, California

One of the lovelier things that can happen for a writer is when something theyve composed takes on a life of its own. In my Unitarian Universalist life this has in fact happened twice. Maybe twenty years ago I wrote a little piece called An Invitation to Western Buddhists. It was basically a suggestion that convert Buddhists who were mostly practicing meditation at centers, which were organized more like spiritual-gyms than spiritual communities to consider joining Unitarian Universalist churches. I provided a couple of reasons, of which I felt the most important was how UU churches are Buddhist-friendly places to raise children. It has been reprinted here and there over the years, and actually I was informed not long ago it is going to be included in a forthcoming Skinner House (our UU book publisher) anthology on UU source materials.

The other piece I wrote that has been reprinted here and there, was an appreciation of the formal adoption of our current Unitarian Universalist Principles and Purposes. It was originally part of a sermon, but like that Invitation has taken on its own life. Ive run across it in any number of locations, almost always credited to me. I believe Ive shared it at least once, here.

Today is Pentecost in the Christian tradition, the marker of the descent of the holy spirit on the disciples, a moment some count as the founding of the Christian church. And as that piece Id written was my mild tip of the hat to that older Christian celebration, I find myself thinking of it once again. I hope youll indulge me repeating it here. We can think of it as the text for todays reflection.

On June 25, 1984, Unitarian Universalists from across the United States and Canada gathered at the Ohio State University campus in Columbus for the eleventh General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. The great focus of this GA was a vote on a new statement of principles.

When the document was pretty close to being finished, it was, frankly, mostly mom and apple pie. There was hardly a word in it that anyone, of almost any spiritual tradition, could argue with. It was what I would call the perfect product of a committee. Its most distinctive feature was the First Principle, a declaration of the inherent worth and dignity of every person, carrying forward a libertarian focus on the individual that had marked out English-speaking Unitarianism for its entire history.

Then the Rev. Paul LHerrou made his way to the microphones. People who remember the scene say he was lanky and bearded and that he stood at the microphone with the ease of an experienced pulpit minister. He looked around, briefly stroked his beard, and then addressed the proposed Seventh Principle, which was a call to respect for the Earth and the interdependence of its living systems. In my minds eye, as Paul stood there, the hall fell to a hushed silence. I imagine that the world outside grew quiet, as well. Perhaps one or two stars broke through the Ohio daylight, shooting beams in the general direction of Columbus. Out of the silence Paul pointed out how that wording fell far short of what it could be.

Paul proposed new wording for the Seventh Principle: a call to respect the interdependent web of existence of which we are all a part. Im pretty sure, although I have to admit theres no hard record of it, that with those words the roof blew off the convention center and a host of angels, devas, and other celestial beings from all the worlds religionspast, present, and futuredescended from the heavens, some playing instruments of astonishing beauty, while others sang a Gloria that reached out to the farthest corners of the universe. Even the stars danced in joy at the revelation of this great secret of the universe to a gathering of Unitarian Universalists in Columbus, Ohio, in the United States, on the North American continent of a tiny planet circling a middling star at the edge of one of a hundred thousand million galaxies.

The call: to know that interdependent web of existence, of which we are all a part.

And then it was over. The roof resealed and the beings were gone, only a hint of their song remaining in the hearts of the assembledwho then voted. They accepted the proposed change, and with that decision our little band found itself marked with an astonishing charism, a particular channel of divine blessing aimed at healing this poor, broken world. I suggest in that hour our future was articulated with as much authority as if it were from the tongue of an ancient prophet.

Thats it. Presented with some artistic license, and I hope respectfully, as I said with a tip of the hat to the Christian Pentecost. But, today, on the actual festival of Pentecost, I want to consider a little more that idea of spirit. And particularly Id like to consider what spirit and spiritual might mean for us, religious liberals, the larger majority of whom are pretty naturalistic in our sensibilities.

Me, I have a favorite trope that I cite from time to time. It goes the spirit lists (or rests) where it will. As a Zen Buddhist Ive always felt it captures something of the, if you will, spirit of Zens awakening. As a Unitarian Universalist I tend to think of it as referring any moment that enlivens us. Spirit after all means breath. I also like that it is something just a bit outside of our control. In some ways its a corrective to the excesses of our libertarian impulse.

However, while I know the line is biblical, I have to admit Id forgotten the actual citation. So, I googled it, using quotes around the phrase. And just to be sure I did it twice, once with lists and the other with rests. In both cases, it was mildly distressing to discover the first two listings each time were links to something Id written. And no scriptural citation popped up.

I was led to some references to spirit in the Hebrew Scriptures, particularly a lengthy passage in the Book of Numbers, where the spirit almost seems more like a contagion or even some kind of contact high. I found myself thinking of that old line the madness of crowds. Which has its own lessons, and perhaps warnings. But, it certainly was not that full-throated assertion of how the spirit, the breath of life, wisdom, the great heart, God if you will, comes to us without condition.

Now, I know in my heart of hearts that spirit resting where it will is a true thing. Ive witnessed spontaneous manifestations of deep wisdom erupt in all sorts of unlikely conditions among all sorts of equally unlikely people. Like, for instance, that vote in Columbus in 1984. This descent of the dove presents in two principal ways. The one is our noticing that we are all of us connected. We give it different language, usually based on culture or personal disposition. The other is less common, but just as important. It is a revelation of how no thing, you or I or the world itself, is substantial in and of itself. As precious as we are in our individuality, we are at the very same time utterly dependent on others. And that dependence, that connection, is something precious. It sings of the holiness of this world.

Now, while there are consequences to this, ethical, political, social, psychological, all of which deserve exploring, at the first instance, at the beginning, it is important to note it comes freely. This opening to our deep joy is never earned. For me this is the heart of my Zen Buddhism. And, I would add, it is at the heart of my Unitarian Universalism, or more specifically my Universalism. We see traces of this insight in the writings of nearly all the worlds religions. And, as the google machine can attest, Ive been pleased to cite this rather explicit version from the Bible about the spirit resting where it will, a lot.

So, it was mildly disappointing that my memory had failed and the quote isnt in fact there in the Jewish or Christian scriptures. Still, I sure thought it was. And, Im pretty familiar with the Bible. At the same time clearly I had the quote wrong. But the question became, how? The fact that the quote as it bubbles up in my mind uses that archaic term lists, for rest, made me feel it was there somewhere. I was just a little off. So, I went to a King James Bible search site. Oh, I do love our new computer age. Although, working through various combinations of words, I still couldnt find it. I was beginning to think oh dear, I have imagined this, when Jan suggested I add in the word whither. Another of those archaic terms, and one that felt right.

I googled. And there it was. The Gospel According to John, the third chapter, the eighth verse. The actual text in the always lovely King James Version goes, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Now one reflection on that text I found points out how the same Hebrew word is translated first as wind, and then as spirit. Breath and wind are probably the most ancient metaphors for that transformative force in our lives. That movement of air as the primary metaphor for the spirit occurs in languages as diverse as Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. And the list continues. We also find it in Sanskrit and Chinese. Actually Ive been informed it is a near universal metaphor.

That same article cites a couple of other scriptural verses I found intriguing. One is Ecclesiastes 3:6,the wind goes around and the wind returns to its going around and from the Psalms, 78:39, a breath, going and never returning Now, I admit those lines takes a rumination on wind as spirit in a number of directions I hadnt given a lot of thought to. But it is valuable. People have been thinking about this not quite controllable aspect of our lives for a very long time.

And what might my take away be from the collective wisdom of our ancestors? Well, for one, that wind, that spirit, would be in constant motion. Of course. And it definitely comes from and takes us home. Thats always the subtext. And its not just wind, it is breath. It is that which gives us life. Here the verb of our reality is revealed.

How we engage spirit and spirituality does indeed matter. There are so many lessons, so many pointers for us. In the Ecclesiastes example, we cannot grasp it intellectually. Rather, we can only experience it. But when we experience it, we find our true home is within the wind. Another lesson is that warning about taking something living and crushing the life out of it. The spirit gives life, but the letter kills. Not bad Zen lessons, not bad Unitarian Universalist lessons uncovered in the ancient texts of the Hebrew tradition.

For me it is a call to humility, an invitation into the dance of our world spiritualities. But as to that full throated call to that particular magical quality, that we dont have to do anything, we dont even have to be good, and the great realization can settle on us, anyway, it is there, if buried a bit. And I like that. Not esoteric, not hidden, but mostly noticed out of the corner of the eye.

And theres a truth. We find that pointing to the spirit resting where it will in what I find a complicated and not entirely attractive text, the Gospel According to John. Okay, I have to like that. It shows the point. The spirit rests where it will. That is the great secret of our hearts. Like the spirit descending on a crowd of Unitarian Universalists in a hot convention center in Columbus, Ohio, in 1984.

This life giving moment, this transformative instance where our lives are revealed is there for anyone willing to open up and let it rest on us. Well, on occasion it comes even to those who do all they can to resist. I think of the story of Saul and his fateful encounter on that road to Damascus. For me this is the real universalism. Not the old Christian idea that all dead people go to heaven. Rather that the spirit cannot be contained, and genuine wisdom is available to all of us. And, that wisdom comes like a thief in the night.

After which we have to figure out what to do with it. Then we hear the night whispers of justice. With that descent of the spirit, with our knowing our connections so deeply true, we also know the calls of a hurt world are calls from our hearts to our heart. We are connected. We are the wind. We are the breath.

The secret message of Pentecost.

What will we do with it?

Amen. And, amen.

Read the rest here:

COME, HOLY SPIRIT, COME! A Universalist Meditation for Pentecost - Patheos (blog)

David Lynch may be busy with his Twin Peaks revival on Showtime, but hes still devoted to his cause: teaching Transcendental Meditation.Since starting the David Lynch Foundation in 2005, hes been dedicated to spreading the meditation technique, one that he himself has been practicing since the 70s, throughout the world. OnMonday, Lynch and his foundation will present A National Night of Laughter & Song, a star-studded event to benefit local veterans and at-risk youth.Lynch spoke with Washingtonian about how transcendental meditation has changed his life and how he hopes it will change others.

Why did you originally start the David Lynch Foundation?The David Lynch Foundation was created to get Transcendental Meditation, as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, to anyone in the world who wants it. We want to end torment, suffering, and negativity, and bring happiness, creativity, love, energy, and inner-peace to people everywhere.

How has practicing Transcendental Meditation changed your life?Even more than you could imagine winning a trillion-dollar mega jackpot.

Why has this cause been so important to you?Because I know what transcending everyday has done for me, and I would like to see others enjoy the same thing.

How did the idea for the event A National Night of Laughter & Song come about, and how did you manage to round up these celebrities to participate?Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Katie Couric, Jay Leno, and the others are strong supporters of the work of the David Lynch Foundation. Many of them have participated in similar benefit concerts at Radio City and Carnegie Hall in New York City. There was a consensus among them that now would be a good time raise the awareness of the benefits of this evidence-based, stress-reducing meditation technique to the leaders of the nation. The response, to date, has been terrific.

What do you hope this event will achieve?Our goals are both educational and philanthropic. We hope the event will clarify for people that TM can play an important role in healing trauma and stress, not only in underserved populations, but for all of us. We also hope the event will raise the funds necessary so thatwe can begin offering the meditation to thousands of young people and adults in the District who would like to learn to meditate, at no cost.I believe the proceeds from the event will go to 10,000 veterans and at-risk youth in DC to meditate.

How and why do you think meditation will change their lives?Transcendental Meditation gets rid of post traumatic stress and torment the same way that light gets rid of darkness. Its time people know about this life saving and life enriching technique.

Why did you choose DC for this event?Many thousands of people have learned Transcendental Meditation in Washington, DC, so there is a lot of support from government and community leaders for our work with veterans, at-risk youth, and abused women and children. We chose Washington so we could begin teaching thousands of young people to meditate throughout the greater Washington area. We have set the same goal for New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, LAin every city in the country.

Can you talk a bit about the new centers youre opening on Capitol Hill?There are already several nonprofit TM centers in the area, including in the District, Alexandria and Rockville. The Capitol Hill facility will be a coordinating office for our work throughout the region as well as an educational center for leaders to find out more about the research and application of our programs.

Why did you decide on Capitol Hill as the place to open them?We live in an epidemic of trauma and stress, and nowhere is that more apparent than for the dedicated men and women who are working every day to keep our government running. A convenient location to allow these leaders to find out more about meditation and its potential usefulness to address these problems seemed both timely and right.

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Why David Lynch Is Opening a Meditation Center on Capitol Hill - Washingtonian.com

Every day it seems theres a new health study out. Something that used to be bad for you is good for you, or vice versa. It turns out most of these newsy findings are not really a big deal: sometimes they only apply to mice, or theyre a blip that doesnt change the overall scientific understanding of the topic. So lets take a look at some of this weeks stories, and see whats big news and what isnt.

The headline: Study: Your Smartphone Addiction May Be Linked to Your Kids Bad Behavior

The story: Weve all seen that neglectful parent checking their phone at the playground instead of playing with their children. On the other hand, many of us have been that parent, and sometimes you just need a break from the screaming so you check Twitter. Is parents smartphone use really harming kids? Seems like a good question to research.

The study involved asking parents how attached they felt to their phone, how often their phone interrupted interactions with their kid, and what kind of behavior problems they had seen in their kid in the past two months. The parents were overwhelmingly white, educated, and heterosexual.

The more interruptions mothers reported, the more behavior problems their kids had. This wasnt the case for fathers, though. Is that because a mother-child relationship is more important? Or just because mothers spend more time with their kids, so they have more opportunities for interruption?

Everything here is self-reported, though: the researchers didnt count interruptions or evaluate the kids, they just gave the parents questionnaires. So maybe the parents of kids who act out are more likely to blame their tech use (especially while taking a survey like this) and answer in line with that theory. Or maybe families who are stressed out for other reasons are more likely to have misbehaving kids and parents who seek solace in their phones. The study really does nothing to tease out those very different scenarios.

The takeaway: Your smartphone use might be pissing off your kid, but you probably already knew that. This study doesnt give us enough evidence to say phones are bad for parenting. But if you feel like youre a slave to your notifications, turn them off when youre with your kidslike you probably already knew you should.

The headline: Boost Your Workouts With Caffeine, Even If You Chug Coffee Daily

The story: We already know that if you drink coffee all the time, a single cup of it wont wake you up. Youve built up a tolerance. We also know that caffeine can help athletic performance: help you run faster or at least keep running longer.

It seems that you can build up a tolerance to some of caffeines super powers, but not others. Thats not news, but there havent been enough studies to fill out a complete picture of what you can expect from caffeine if youre a regular drinker. This new study gives a little more detail.

In the study, 40 healthy male athletes were asked to cycle as fast as they could until they burned 450 calories, which should take about 30 minutes. If they had a caffeine pill beforehand, they completed the test about 3 minutes faster. (The pill contained 400 milligrams of caffeine, same as a Starbucks venti-size black coffee.) And this was true whether they were normally heavy caffeine drinkers or not.

A big caveat: since the experiment didnt include any non-athletes (or, for that matter, women), theres no guarantee that the findings apply to all of us.

The takeaway: Caffeine has lots of different effects on the body, but this study is a big hint that if youre using it to cycle (or run?) faster, you dont need to wean yourself off coffee before the race. Still, 400 milligrams is a lot, so take this tip for a test drive before the big day.

The headline: The Dangers of Meditation: It Can Actually Lead to Insomnia, Fear, and Hypersensitivity to Light

The story: Meditation is better known for helping us to relax and to maintain good mental health. Every good thing has a downside, though, so it makes sense that psychologists and sociologists want to know whether bad things can happen when you meditate.

In the study, researchers interviewed people who do a lot of Buddhist meditation, and who said they could talk about an experience that felt challenging or difficult. Those experiences included hallucinations, feelings of fear or anxiety, pain, and many, many more.

But theres not much to worry about for the average person. The people in the study werent opening up Headspace for fifteen minutes here and there; they were serious, hardcore meditators. Half were meditation teachers. And many said that their bad experiences tended to come after meditating for ten hours a day, for example at a retreat.

The takeaway: Your casual meditation habit is probably fine. If you enjoy it, this study doesnt give you any reason to stop. And if you do get super into Buddhist forms of meditation, and do them for many hours per day, talk to your teacher or to a mental health professional if you start to feel anxiety or have any other problems.

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What to Worry About This Week: Phones, Caffeine, and Meditation - Lifehacker Australia