Nov. 22, 2019, 2:31 AM UTC

Kanye West has been denied a permit to build a massive amphitheater on his Cody, Wyoming, ranch Tuesday but NBC News has learned that West has purchased a second lot of land just an hour away.

The rapper applied for a permit with the Park County Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 21, requesting to build a 70,000 square-foot amphitheater on his Cody Ranch. The request, filed by his Psalm 2019 LLC, was called the "West Meditation Large Impact Structure."

West's original request claimed the space was to be used for "meditation only" and did not have any plans to include utilities, such as sewage or lighting, according to the filing. He then changed his request on Nov. 8 to include a residential space and was denied.

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He is still able to submit a new request with the zoning commission.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department also noted concerns that any construction between Nov. 15 to April 30 would leave mule deer and other game animals vulnerable to human activity in the winter.

West has purchased a second ranch about an hour east in Greybull, Wyoming, NBC News confirmed Thursday. The more than 6,000-acre ranch, Bighorn Mountain Ranch, was listed at nearly $14.5 million but the final purchase price for the land is unclear.

It's unclear whether West plans to build his "meditation" amphitheater on the second location on Bighorn Mountain Ranch. A representative for West did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 42-year-old rapper has been notably outspoken about spirituality in recent years and has begun hosting what he calls "Sunday Service," a church-like concert that began as a performance for close family and friends. West has since expanded his "Sunday Service," hosting the concerts at Coachella and recently at Joel Osteen's megachurch in Houston, Texas.

West told a crowd of nearly 16,000 people at Lakewood Church before his performance Sunday that "God has been calling me for a long time and the devil has been distracting me for a long time."

The speech came a month after West released a Christian rap album called "Jesus is King."

He also announced on Twitter Sunday that he would performing an opera, "Nebuchadnezzar," at the Hollywood Bowl on Nov. 24.

Diana Dasrath is Entertainment Producer and Senior Reporter for NBC News covering all platforms.

Doha Madani is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.

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Kanye West denied permit to build 'meditation' amphitheater on Wyoming ranch - NBC News

HATLEY Chad Houston of Hatley describes himself as a laid-back dude. Thats about right.

His graying hair and goatee, warm voice, and gentle mien suggest a person at peace with himself and his world.

Houston said his mellow outlook is thanks in part to a practice he began three years ago: mindfulness meditation.

Meditation helps me live in the present, he said. It helps you realize how your thoughts are affecting your emotions, your body, your relationships, and how you project yourself to the world.

A roaring fire crackles in the wood stove in Houstons light-filled zen den, where he often comes to meditate. Its just down a wooded hill from the home he shares with his wife and two teenage sons. In the garage, a yellow 72 Volkswagen minibus bears the stickers of Houstons favorite bands.

The 48-year-old Monroe County native just finished leading a four-week-long workshop in mindfulness meditation through Amorys annual Lifelong Learning Series. He said teaching the full-capacity class gave him an opportunity to share what he has learned.

I dont claim to be a mindfulness guru, he said. I wanted to teach the class because Ive seen the benefit and I just wanted to testify. I just wanted to share the love.

Like many, Houston said he struggles with seasonal depression. He said mindfulness meditation has given him a tool to offset the effects of this annual ennui.

Last year was the first time in a long time that I made the stretch from Thanksgiving to New Years without getting in a serious funk, he said. Mindfulness meditation has helped me see how my brain works so I can stop the cycle of out-of-control emotions. Having even a small measure of control over that is huge.

In its simplest form, mindfulness is about learning to be more present in the present, according to Houston.

Mindfulness is all about learning to pay careful attention to the present moment, he said. The present moment is all we have. Its all well ever have.

Using an analogy from a popular movie, Houston said mindfulness is about developing a higher level of consciousness in daily life.

Most of us walk around in a semi-conscious state, like in The Matrix, he said. Our minds go a million miles a minute but we never stop to focus on the present moment. If youre happy in the matrix thats fine, but the longer you meditate, the more you learn theres more to human consciousness.

While mindfulness meditation has roots in Buddhism, Houston said the practice has benefits for people of any religion, or no religion.

The type of mindfulness I practice is pretty secular and straightforward, he said. Its not like some forms of meditation where the goal is enlightenment. This is more about just learning to be present and learning to manage emotions like depression and anxiety. You dont need to call on a particular deity.

In his recent workshop, Houston said he encouraged participants to begin by paying attention to their own breath.

Focusing on your breath is a way to ground yourself, he said. You dont need a mantra; your breath is always there with you. You start by just paying close attention to the sensations of breathing. Youll be surprised how hard it is.

For those who are new to the practice, mindfulness meditation can be unsettling, Houston said.

Your brain is running out of control, he said. Thats the first insight of mindfulness. We like to think were in charge of our brains and what we think, but it only takes one minute to realize were not. It can be unnerving.

Learning to slow down and be present takes patience and discipline, Houston said.

Its a workout for your brain, he said. The key is practice. You wont get anywhere doing it once or twice a month. You need to do it every day. Surely theres 10 or 15 minutes in your day when you can stop telling yourself your story and bring your attention back to the present.

While he said enlightenment is not the immediate goal of his form of meditation, insights await for those willing to slow down, breathe, and listen.

You can try all you want to stop the world and keep bad things from happening, he said. But once you start meditating you see that changing how you react to the world is just as good as changing the world itself. Thats a powerful insight that I only found when I started meditating.

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Mindfulness meditation: Learning to live in the moment purpose of practice - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

We might assume that the way our brains work is fixed but theres been more and more research into the potential of neuroplasticity. It is, in some ways, the best and worst thing about being human. We do have the capacity to change the way we think and it isn't inherent that we function in an anxious, stress-induced, hyperaware state. But we also live in a world where that state is encouraged in order to be, or at least feel like we could be, a success by current standards, we must put more pressure on work to reflect our performance (and consequently our worth) than ever before. And while it is not impossible to radically change the way the entire world works, it is a much smaller change to find ways to work within that world and not let stress or anxiety or our deteriorating attention spans contort us into the most unhappy, disillusioned, even distraught versions of ourselves.

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Everything I Tried To Finally Get Into Meditation & What Worked - Refinery29

I have a confession: even though I'm a yoga instructor, I'm not a fan of meditation. It's not that I don't want to revel in the present moment, reduce stress, embrace stillness, and all that good stuff. It's that I don't like how it feels like time just disappears. I've done all kinds of meditations from totally silent to chanting the same word for 60 minutes straight, and even though I've felt serene afterward, my first thought when it's over is, "Where the hell did that hour go?" It freaks me out a little.

I'm also the kind of person that has a really hard time quieting my thoughts, which is probably why I need meditation but it wasn't until I discovered Zentangle that I truly found the type of meditation that works for me. Zentangle, in simple terms, is meditative drawing.

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After 3 Weeks of Zentangle Before Bed, I've Never Slept So Well and Woken Up So Calm - POPSUGAR

Jacob twice swindled his brother, Esau, then had to get out of Dodge for his own good. After Jacob had done him dirty, Esau swore hed make sure his younger brother wouldnt be long for this world once their father died. The boys mother, who easily favored Jacob, shooed away her youngest so he could stay with her brother, who wound up being as big a cheat as his nephew. (The name Jacob can mean trickster.)

Along the way, Jacob tired from the journey, stopped in a forlorn spot, picked out a nice-sized rock for a pillow and fell fast asleep. While sleeping, Jacob dreamed a dream that has gone down in history. The song We Are Climbing Jacobs Ladder set it to music years later.

The part of the story you may not remember is when Jacob woke up, remembered Gods promise to bless him and his whole family and then exclaimed, The Lord is in this place, and I didnt even know it (Genesis 29:11). The whole business can mightily annoy scrupulous folks, wondering at the choice of somebody like Jacob, who did not change his spots for years to come. Put him in the same cast of characters as the prodigal son and the eleventh-hour workers, those that offend eye-for-eye ethicists.

What do you do with a God who gives nice dreams and fulfills promises to a scoundrel? Theologians like the notion of prevenient grace, which comes before you can wrap your mind or your character around it all. Human conceit tricks you into thinking there is no such thing as a free ride. But even if you dont believe in things like prayer, basic human sincerity should make you thank your lucky stars that things like grace and mercy exist at all. And make you say thanks one more time if youve never had to learn it by way of bitter trial and error. What do you have that you did not receive? (1 Corinthians 4:7).

The Rev. Eugene Stockstill is pastor of Ebenezer United Methodist Church and Myrtle United Methodist Church in Union County.

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MEDITATION: Jacob's dream should inspire thanks-giving | Religion - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Actor Christopher Eccleston has written a deeply personal book about his life and career. File photograph: BBC Pictures

I Love the Bones of You: My Father and the Making of Me by Christopher Eccleston Simon & Schuster, 20

Christopher Eccleston is well known for his portrayal of complex and often marginalised characters, and this account of his life and career to date sheds some light on the philosophy behind his particular acting craft. Eccleston bills the book as an exploration of an essentially ordinary yet truly extraordinary man in the figure of his father, and the impact this man had on his life, his values and his character. Deeply personal revelations and insights resonate throughout the book, with Eccleston commenting in depth on his struggles with anorexia and mental health issues. A celebration of the particular in the universal, written in an accessible, conversational style, Eccleston has produced a haunting meditation on identity, fatherhood, and the interconnectedness that both oppresses and saves us. Becky Long

The Sea Cloak and Other Stories by Nayrouz Qarmout Comma Press, 9.99

These stories give insights into life in Gaza, without melodrama or exaggeration, and in language that is clear and rich. They tell of ordinary lives, mainly those of women, lived in one of the most volatile places on Earth. Stories such as The Sea Cloak, The Long Braid and Breastfeeding convey the struggle of girls and women to assert themselves against the restraints parents and conservative teachers would impose on them. Black Grapes shows the vicious racism of an Israeli illegal settler and his utter indifference to a Palestinian life. White Lilies is a powerful and shocking story involving a drone killing and the maiming of a little girl the callous brutality is heartrending. But this book isnt about victims; its about the triumph of managing to live in appalling circumstances. Brian Maye

Resist! How to be an Activist in the Age of Defiance by Michael Segalov Huck, 14.99

Here is a very timely book a sort of Protest For Dummies. From the first chapter, titled Bash Down Doors about identifying who has the power to affect change re the issue you are protesting this book covers all bases in your campaign efforts. Its one part PR and marketing, one part legal advice, one part nuts and bolts of protest (meeting points, post-action debriefing, protest paraphernalia: banners, placards etc) and one part protest pep talk: Respond to accusations by stating that the right to protest is at the heart of any democracy. There are many excellent case studies of successful campaigns from around the world (eg Black Lives Matter) that provide both practical information and inspiration. Succinct content and excellent graphics. Kevin Gildea

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Browser: Christopher Eccleston offers a haunting meditation on fatherhood - The Irish Times

The federal government hosted a Mindfulness & Resiliency Summit in August where 450 employees from the IRS and other agencies spent two days receiving new-age wisdom, learning to meditate, and receiving on-site massages, photos of the event and a website show.

Participants sat through an hour of talks before taking a half-hour stretch and self-care break. Next, they heard a 90-minute talk fromGretchen Rohr, an activist working for George Soros Open Society Foundations who presented about restorative justice and overcoming trauma, according to a schedule obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Then they adjourned for a two-hour lunch and returned for two hours of advice from Ashanti Branch, who teaches young men of color to hold safe space. He presented a bizarrely capitalized PowerPoint that included lines such as the Longest distance most people Travel is the 18-inches between their head and their heart, a photo shows.

They let out at 4 p.m. to rest up for the next day, the schedule shows.

The Mindfuless & Resiliency Summit will gather 450 federal employees from various departments (Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, IRS, Department of Justice, and more) to engage, learn, and practice mindfulness and wellness tools, the summitswebsitestates.

The USDA Forest Service is cohosting with Wisdom 2.0 the 2-day summit, held in the Jefferson Auditorium on August 6-7, 2019, it continues. Jefferson Auditorium is in the Department of Agricultures headquarters, and the Forest Service is part of the USDA.

The two-day summit took up a combined 7,200 hours of federal employees time.

The session also included ABC News correspondent Dan Harris hawking advice from hisself-help book 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, according to a conference booklet, which is called an Inspirational Journal and encouraged attendees to doodle.

On-site massages were also offered, according to pictures of the venue, presentations, and materials obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The second day was dominated by presentations from Michelle Reugebrink, who works full-time as the Forest Services Mindfulness & Resiliency Program Manager with the Work Environment & Performance Office, at a $102,000 salary, pay records show.

Our mind is an instrument do not let it play you, Reugebrink taught in one PowerPoint presentation. Our minds can give us fake News recognize how easy it is to take personally so many things.

They are narratives . Like why I am not good enough? Who would I be without that thought? If they had what we had or we had what they had, it continued.

In aprofileon the Forest Services website, Reugebrink said:

I teach mindfulness and compassion practices that enable all of us to not just survive but also grow from exposure to stress. Mindfulness and compassion practices are core skills that foster high performance and promotediversityand inclusion. I do a lot of coaching and I am also passionate about bringing restorative justice practices to our work environment.

Forest Service employees include firefighters who can experience life-threatening situations, but it is unclear why employees of the IRS and others would need to learn about meditation, trauma, and restorative justice.

At another conference appearance, Reugebrink also revealed the government held a meditation conference at a luxury retreat in California where the whole government was planning on coming, and that it occurred during the longestgovernment shutdownin historya stalemate over federal funding in early 2019.

We started the Mindfulness Compassion Inclusivity Summit, and 1440 Multiversity helped host us, Reugebrink said. It was beautiful we held it in January, and we had big plans for the whole government, like, to come and then we got furloughed. So I did it on my own.

1440 Multiversity, which bills itself as a luxury retreat in the redwoods of Scotts Valley, California, uploaded video of aUSFS Summitthat took place Jan. 15 to 17, 2019. A room with a queen bed at 1440 Multiversity costs$645 a night.

She made those remarks at a Wisdom 2.0 Conference in March, which Reugebrink said shed attended for the past seven years. She spoke about Mindfulness in the Federal Government in an interview with host Soren Gordhamer, who also presented with her at the August government conference.

How do you actually have a job teaching mindfulness as a firefighter? Gordhamer asked with a laugh.

Its been a journey, she said. I started seeing a lot of change in me. And I had a conversation with leadership: What would it look like if we got out of our own way? What if we taught mindfulness-based stress reduction in the government and see what happened? And I can tell you I have 2,000 people in my class right now for the winter MBSR [mindfulness-based stress reduction] class.

This is to government employees? Because I have this notion that government employees Gordhamer asked.

Reugebrink said she had employees from FEMA, the Office of Personnel Management, and the IRS, and that it was also open to nongovernment employees.

Who OKd this, by the way? Gordhamer asked, with the audience bursting into laughter.

Civil rights thats where the most movement happened, she replied. The civil rights director and deputy, the chief of the forest service, I went and talked with Congressman Tim Ryan.

She said she offers monthly guided meditations and mindfulness webinars on a different theme. Last month is happiness, this month is self-compassion.

On herYouTube channel, she teaches about 20 minute sitting, in which she invites federal workers and others to simply sit and stare blankly ahead for 20 minutes. They should not become attached to any thoughts, and concentrate on their breathing instead, she said.

Reugebrink is a regular presenter at events like the Forest Bathing International Conference, which is held by afor-profit organization. The 2019 conference was sponsored by the Forest Service.

In forest bathing orforest therapy, people participate in healing activities that can be incorporated into a walk in a forest or any other natural area. At the association affiliated with Forest Bathing International, trainers who specialize in social justice andsocial changecharge $3,170 to teach people how to teach others about forest bathing.

Meghan Rodgers, a political appointee who serves as press secretary for Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, did not respond to repeated questions about the mindfulness conferences, including what meditation had to do with diversity or civil rights.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, email [emailprotected]

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Feds Hosted Meditation, Massage, and Social Justice Retreat for 450 Employees, Including IRS Workers - Daily Signal

ENCINITAS, Calif. If you're feeling stressed, anxious or just out of touch with your humanity, it might be the right time to try meditation.

Filmmakers Tom Cronin and Jacqui Fifer stopped by Morning Extra to talk about the power of daily meditation in both their own and others' lives.

RELATED: They found peace in a violent neighborhood through meditation. Now, they teach others.

"Through their unusual but powerful collaboration, personal story and ancient spiritual teaching harmonize with the future of technology, collapsing the past and future into a portal of now where an enlightened planet awaits," said the filmmakers.

You can watch "The Portal" a feature documentary, at La Paloma Theatre at 471 S Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas on Thursday, Nov. 21 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

RELATED: Mindfulness-based meditation does it really work?

Tickets are available here. Kids are welcome.

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Feeling stressed? 'The Portal' introduces us to the power of meditation - CBS News 8

My cousin recently spoke with me about wanting to become more spiritual. A journey she knows Ive been on for quite some time. To help me work through my trauma. To improve my mental health. She was looking for book recommendations, tips, anything, really. As I began to respond to her, I realized there was so much to getting started that I had to write it all down. So here was my advice to her:

To me, the idea is to get your mind, body and soul synced and then your intuition should strengthen, which is what I always consider my connection to ancestors, Universe, God, spirit, etc. And to my own spirituality. Ive found the best ways to sync my mind, body and soul are throughdoing yoga, practicing meditation and journaling.

Yoga gets your mind, body and soul centered. I have developed my own routines, which you can do too once you know the poses well enough.

I initially started with a teacher, which I would recommend. A good yogi will teach you how to move with your breath and how to get the maximum benefit from each pose.

While there are many types of yoga, and I dont claim to be an expert on the terms, I know that the types I practice focus on breathing and movement, not sweat and weight loss, so if you look for a teacher, make sure to find someone who helps you with your inner self.

After I learned some basic postures from my yoga teacher, I started to do Yoga with Adriene at home. She has videos for different moods and ailments that are useful because they help target the emotion or physical issue. She also has yoga for beginners if you decide to start there.

I really recommend incorporating yoga into the beginning of your spiritual practice because it forces you to move through your issues, thus unleashing things in your body. Teaching you how to breathe. How to work through things (not to avoid them as we all tend to do). How to focus. And how to be connected.

Meditating is also a good way to get in-tuned with your center, soul, etc. My understanding is that you are seeking a calm, safe space inside yourself, and you are developing a practice to guide you to that place. Its taken me well over a decade to get into a daily meditation practice (hence, practice) that I can stick to, so just be patient as it unfolds. Ill discuss getting started with a meditation practice further in next weeks blog.

Writing down your experiences and how they make you feel helps your mental processing of emotions that arise during yoga and meditation, and in life in general. Making note of situations that trouble or interest you. That excite you. Basically just keeping an overall record of what youre experiencing and how youre feeling when youre experiencing it. Remember to focus on the feeling, not the issue itself. Though, writing about the issue can often be therapeutic too.

Also, write down your dreams right when you wake up. I often have things come up in my dreams that may take me a few days or weeks to understand, so writing everything down helps you look back and learn. Dreams are like glimpses into the psyche that way. Theyre pretty cool.

Learning to connect to my spirituality has been a long process, which I feel it naturally is a lifelong process. So while I hope I provided some useful ways to get started, keep in mind not to rush things. Dont force the process. Let it naturally reveal itself to you. And keep in mind your process may be different than mine, so always be open to what speaks to you. Keeps coming up. Draws you in.

Be curious. About yourself, your experiences. And be open to figuring out all that you feel the good and the bad. Even if its painful at first, itll lead to something healing if you continue to follow it. Without judgement. Like following breadcrumbs down the trail, take the path.

Also be curious about others and about the world around you. If theres something interesting to you, even if dont know why, do it. Research it. Write about it. Learn from it.Essentially, you want to do an ethnographic study of yourself. Connect, feel, reflect, record, observe, analyze. And most of all, watch. Listen. And be open to everything that comes your way.

I wish you light and love on your journey. Namaste.

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APA Reference Grace, J. (2019). Mental Health and Self-care: Doing Yoga, Practicing Meditation and Journaling to Connect to Your Spirituality. Psych Central. Retrieved on November 23, 2019, from https://blogs.psychcentral.com/neurodivergent/2019/11/mental-health-and-self-care-doing-yoga-practicing-meditation-and-journaling-to-connect-to-your-spirituality/

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Mental Health and Self-care: Doing Yoga, Practicing Meditation and Journaling to Connect to Your Spirituality - PsychCentral.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Meditation -- the mental practice of using mindfulness to focus attention -- might be a simple activity, but it isnt necessarily easy, Eliza Wing said.

The mindfulness teacher and author has practiced meditation for more than two decades, using the activity to reduce stress. Shes been trained in mindfulness-based stress reduction approach, and has taught the practice for the past five years.

Wing and artist Karen Sandstrom have teamed up on a new book, Just Breathe: A Simple Guide to Mindful Meditation," which offers straightforward instructions to explain and demystify the practice.

The book walks readers through the process of meditation. Wing said she wrote the book to help with her teaching curriculums, and also as a way to concisely explain the practice to first-timers.

I wrote this book in particular for my niece, whos around 18, Wing said. She was questioning, What is meditation?, and I was trying to find a book for her. At the time, I couldnt find something that was really clear and straightforward.

Meditation has been used as a practice for centuries, and has recently been popularized in the United States. Medical studies have also shown that meditation can be an effective treatment for depression, anxiety and high blood pressure.

In the past five years, the popularity of mindfulness and meditation have sharply risen in the United States, according to CDC data.

It feels like mindfulness is having its yoga moment, she said. I think its because people are looking for meaning. The world is getting more and more chaotic. Mindfulness allows you to have a distance, but not an unhealthy distance it allows you to be much more resilient when things come up, and to be less reactive. I think people are drawn into that.

Wing, currently the chief communications officer of Cuyahoga County, had previously worked in various roles in Cleveland media, leading cleveland.com as the president and CEO for over a decade.

Wing first met Sandstrom during her cleveland.com years. At the time, Sandstrom was features editor at The Plain Dealer.

Sandstrom is currently the Director of Communications at the Cleveland Institute of Art. She is an avid artist, who recently finished a mural that will be on display in Public Square through Jan. 30, 2020.

Sandstrom agreed to do the artwork for the 32-page book, and also helped design the layout of each page. There is a drawing of a person meditating on each page, accented by a bird flying from the left page to the center of the right page. Some pages intentionally feature brief passages with white space dominating the design.

Getting it to work visually was probably the hardest part, Sandstrom said. The space on a spread was very important. You have a character and you have a bird traversing the space over time. You want air around the words.

Wing continued: You wanted it to live on the page and have space around it. Even looking at it is meditative.

Just Breathe: A Simple Guide to Mindful Meditation costs $14.95 and is available now at Loganberry Books, Macs Backs and the BAYarts gift shop. It can also be ordered online on Etsy.

To give a glimpse into the book, Wing shared give her Top 5 tips on how to be more mindful in everyday life:

Attention

Take one daily routine task, and really pay attention to it. Like brushing your teeth or drinking your coffee. Everything about it -- your body, your emotions -- all of that. If you do that every day, it makes it very interesting.

Catchphrase

Have a catchphrase that brings you into the present moment. Mine is Be here now. It helps. A lot of times, when youre in the midst of a difficult situation, the last thing you want to do is be there right now, but thats what you need to do.

Breathe

The reason we meditate and focus on the breath is because its always with us. It can anchor us. Anytime you need to, you can just go to your breath.

Language

A lot of times people think of mindfulness as just meditating. But it isnt. Its about being aware of the body, the mind and the emotions. The more vocabulary people can get around how theyre feeling either in their body or their emotions, the more particular they can get about their experience, [the better].

Intent

Intention brings a sort of alertness to the meditation practice. Theres a whole thing about striving and goals. Im not saying sit down and say, I will be calm after I do this, but its more like, May I approach everything with a calm heart today, or, May I feel gratitude for whatever comes my way.

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New book Just Breathe makes meditation simple - cleveland.com