Why do you want to meditate? People meditate for different reasons. Some meditate to relieve anxiety and stress. Others meditate to connect with the nourishing and restorative silence within.

But it's rare to find someone who meditates for others. But that's why my friend Erin Aquin meditates. As a clinical acupuncturist and long-time yoga teacher, she embraces meditation because it makes her a better teacher and practitioner of Chinese medicine. As Erin describes it, practicing meditation helps her serve her students and clients more effectively.

In this episode of The OneMind podcast, we explore the intersection of yoga, meditation, and traditional Chinese medicine with yoga teacher and clinical acupuncturist Erin Aquin.

Although Erin taught yoga far longer than she practiced acupuncture, it was the philosophy and practice of Chinese medicine that compelled her down the path of meditation.

For Erin, meditation is not so much about self-improvement or stress relief. Instead she sharpens her perception and serves her clients and students more effectively when she meditates every day.

One thing that stood out in my interview with Erin is something you probably won't hear from most disciplined meditators. She doesn't really like to meditate. But the intrinsic benefits of this ancient practice override her resistance and keep her coming back for more.

And more than that, she sees the practice of meditation as fundamental to her work as a teacher and practitioner of Chinese medicine. That inspired me, and I think it will inspire you too.

The post OM 009: The One and Only Reason I Still Meditate with Erin Aquin appeared first on About Meditation.

Did you know there is actually a science to making meditation a lasting habit? A lot of people struggle to be consistent with meditation. And that's understandable, because meditation can be challenging.

But we can actually make it easier on ourselves. One way to do that is to learn the science of habit formation. It's not as hard as you may think. You just need to learn how to hack into your habit loops. That's something that just about anyone can do.

Over the last 6 months or so, I've been able to harness something called the habit loop to help me lose 15 pounds and develop a whole array of new healthy habits that have changed my life.

In this episode of The OneMind Podcast, I break it all down for you and let you know how I did it, because there's a real science to it. And meditation has played a key role in all of it by serving as a keystone habit.

I explain more about keystone habits and a powerful concept called habit stacking in the show. I also show you how to use the same step-by-step process I used to build new habits and ultimately change your life.

If you are someone who finds change difficult and if you've struggled to get your meditation practice off the ground, then this episode will give you valuable tools to make lasting change.

Learn meditation in 5 easy lessons with our FREE How To Meditate Mini Course.

(Photo credits via Flickr Creative Commons: mhiguera, Terry Chay)

The post OM 008: How To Turn Meditation Into A Keystone Habit appeared first on About Meditation.

Imagine you are in a war zone. You're squeezed, shoulder-to-shoulder, into an armored troupe carrier day after day in the arid Israeli desert with 15 other people. Mortar shells are exploding nearby. You’re sweaty and dust is everywhere. Now let me ask you a question. Would you choose to meditate at a time like this?

I didn't think so. But my friend Igal Harmelin-Moria made the opposite decision. Igal was a war correspondent in Israel when he learned Transcendental Meditation (TM) in 1973 at the ripe old age of 19.

He started teaching just two years later and for the next 25 years traveled the world as an emissary for the great Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the famed Beatles guru and founder of TM.

Igal has meditated nearly every day for over 40 years, and his passion for meditation practice hasn't waned at all. In fact, he's only more engaged and committed to this ancient art as time goes on.

Igal has taught meditation in several traditions including TM, Evolutionary Enlightenment, Advaita Vedanta, and currently in the context of Judaism. He’s spent time teaching meditation in far flung places like the Philippines, India, Ukraine, Zaire, the United States, Europe, and Isreal.

In this seventh episode of the OneMind Podcast, Igal shares his incredible story and some formative lessons he's learned from meditation. I invited Igal onto the show because his gratitude and love for the practice is contagious. I also wanted you to hear first hand from someone who has meditated for his entire adult life.

And more than that, I wanted you to experience Igal's humor and humanity, which is so deeply shaped by his practice of meditation.

Learn meditation in 5 easy lessons with our FREE How To Meditate Mini Course.

Photo Credits via Flickr Creative Commons: lalo Fuentes

The post OM 007: A Life-Long Passion For Meditation with Igal Harmelin-Moria appeared first on About Meditation.