The Quiet Mind · 静心
Meditation, Mindfulness & Inner Calm
Still the mind. Find your center. Live with intention.
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Meditation for Pain Management: A Practical Guide
Read more: Meditation for Pain Management: A Practical GuideMeditation for Pain Management: A Practical Guide In this article: How meditation changes your relationship with pain, what the research shows, and practical techniques for working with both acute and chronic pain. Pain That Meditation Can (and Cannot) Help If you live with chronic pain — back pain, arthritis, migraines, fibromyalgia, nerve pain — you…
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Meditation for Stress Relief: What Actually Works
Read more: Meditation for Stress Relief: What Actually WorksMeditation for Stress Relief: What Actually Works In this article: Why meditation is one of the most effective stress-relief tools available, which practices work best, and how to build a routine that actually lowers your stress. The Stress Epidemic (and a Tool You Already Have) Modern life is a stress machine. Deadlines, debts, traffic, news,…
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Zuowang: The Taoist Practice of Sitting and Forgetting
Read more: Zuowang: The Taoist Practice of Sitting and ForgettingZuowang: The Taoist Practice of Sitting and Forgetting In this article: What zuowang is, where it comes from in Taoist philosophy, how it differs from other meditations, and a step-by-step method to practice it. The Meditation That Asks You to Forget Most meditation asks you to do something: focus on the breath, count, visualize, cultivate…
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Chinese Incense Meditation: A Practical Guide to Incense as Practice
Read more: Chinese Incense Meditation: A Practical Guide to Incense as PracticeChinese Incense Meditation: A Practical Guide to Incense as Practice In this article: How Chinese incense meditation works, its history in Chan and Taoist practice, how to choose good incense, and a step-by-step method to begin. The Scent That Marks Stillness For over two thousand years, incense has accompanied Chinese meditation, scholarship, tea, and ceremony.…
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Zen Koans Explained: What They Are and How They Work
Read more: Zen Koans Explained: What They Are and How They WorkZen Koans Explained: What They Are and How They Work In this article: What a Zen koan is, why these strange riddles exist, how they are used in practice, and what they reveal about the limits of the thinking mind. The Question That Cannot Be Answered A student asks a Zen master: “Does a dog…
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The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures: A Map of the Zen Path
Read more: The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures: A Map of the Zen PathThe Ten Ox-Herding Pictures: A Map of the Zen Path In this article: What the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures are, what each of the ten stages represents, and how this 12th-century parable still maps the journey of meditation today. A Thousand-Year-Old Map of Awakening In 12th-century China, a Chan master named Kuānān (廓庵) drew a series…
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Chinese Tea Meditation: A Complete Guide to Cha Yi
Read more: Chinese Tea Meditation: A Complete Guide to Cha YiChinese Tea Meditation: A Complete Guide to Cha Yi In this article: What Chinese tea meditation is, its history in Chan Buddhism and Taoism, how it works as mindfulness practice, and a step-by-step method to begin. The Cup That Holds Stillness Of all the mindfulness practices you can adopt, few are as accessible — or…
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Wu Wei: The Taoist Art of Effortless Action
Read more: Wu Wei: The Taoist Art of Effortless ActionWu Wei: The Taoist Art of Effortless Action In this article: What wu wei is, why it is one of the most powerful and counterintuitive ideas in Eastern thought, and how to practice it in work, relationships, and meditation. The Paradox at the Heart of Taoism The Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of Taoism,…
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Buddhist vs. Taoist Meditation: What’s the Difference?
Read more: Buddhist vs. Taoist Meditation: What’s the Difference?Buddhist vs. Taoist Meditation: What’s the Difference? In this article: How Buddhist and Taoist meditation differ in worldview, method, and goal, where they overlap, and how to choose the approach that suits you. Two Ancient Paths, One Practice Called Meditation If you have explored meditation for any length of time, you have probably encountered two…
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Qi in Meditation: Understanding and Working with Life Energy
Read more: Qi in Meditation: Understanding and Working with Life EnergyQi in Meditation: Understanding and Working with Life Energy In this article: What qi is in the Chinese tradition, how it relates to meditation, common practices for working with it, and a balanced, skeptical-yet-open approach. The Energy You Cannot See but Can Feel Stand quietly for a moment. Close your eyes. Notice your hands. After…
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The Tao of Meditation: Lao Tzu’s Path to Effortless Stillness
Read more: The Tao of Meditation: Lao Tzu’s Path to Effortless StillnessThe Tao of Meditation: Lao Tzu’s Path to Effortless Stillness In this article: What the Tao is, how Taoist meditation differs from other styles, and practical ways to bring its principles of softness and naturalness to your practice. The Way That Cannot Be Named “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.”…
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Chan Buddhism: The Chinese Root of Zen Meditation
Read more: Chan Buddhism: The Chinese Root of Zen MeditationChan Buddhism: The Chinese Root of Zen Meditation In this article: What Chan Buddhism is, how it arose in China, how it became Japanese Zen, and what makes its approach to meditation distinctive. The Tradition Behind Zen Most Westerners who encounter Zen Buddhism — the minimalist, meditation-focused tradition of Japan — do not realize that…
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Bedtime Mindfulness: How to Wind Down and Sleep Deeply
Read more: Bedtime Mindfulness: How to Wind Down and Sleep DeeplyBedtime Mindfulness: How to Wind Down and Sleep Deeply In this article: Why bedtime mindfulness matters, how to wind down a racing mind, and practical evening practices to help you fall asleep and sleep well. The Nighttime Mind That Will Not Stop You lie down, tired, ready for sleep — and your mind wakes up.…
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Mindful Gratitude: How to Practice Gratitude That Actually Changes You
Read more: Mindful Gratitude: How to Practice Gratitude That Actually Changes YouMindful Gratitude: How to Practice Gratitude That Actually Changes You In this article: What mindful gratitude is, why most gratitude advice falls short, and practical ways to practice gratitude that genuinely transform your mind. The Practice That Sounds Too Simple to Work Of all the practices studied by modern psychology, few have as much evidence…
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Mindful Parenting: How to Stay Calm and Present with Your Kids
Read more: Mindful Parenting: How to Stay Calm and Present with Your KidsMindful Parenting: How to Stay Calm and Present with Your Kids In this article: What mindful parenting is, why it is so hard, and practical ways to bring more calm, presence, and connection to family life. The Hardest Job, Done on Autopilot Parenting is wonderful and terrible, often within the same hour. The toddler melts…
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Digital Mindfulness: How to Use Technology Without Letting It Use You
Read more: Digital Mindfulness: How to Use Technology Without Letting It Use YouDigital Mindfulness: How to Use Technology Without Letting It Use You In this article: What digital mindfulness is, why our phones fragment our attention, and practical strategies to use technology on your own terms. The Attention Economy — and You Are the Product The average person checks their phone 96 times a day — roughly…
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Mindful Journaling: How to Use Writing to Calm the Mind
Read more: Mindful Journaling: How to Use Writing to Calm the MindMindful Journaling: How to Use Writing to Calm the Mind In this article: What mindful journaling is, how it differs from a diary, practical techniques to try, and how to build a sustainable journaling habit. The Power of Putting Thoughts on Paper The mind is a noisy place. Thoughts swirl, loop, repeat, escalate. Worries multiply…
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Mindful Listening: How to Truly Hear Others (and Yourself)
Read more: Mindful Listening: How to Truly Hear Others (and Yourself)Mindful Listening: How to Truly Hear Others (and Yourself) In this article: What mindful listening is, why most of us are poor listeners, and practical ways to become someone others feel truly heard by. The Listening We Almost Never Do Think of the last conversation you had. Chances are, while the other person was speaking,…