As a seasoned meditator, I sometimes forget about the sensations I experience in a session; sensations that may seem off-putting to a beginning meditator. One of them has to do with the perception of lights and patterns, and the other has to do with the inability to feel your hands or feet.  Neither is anything to be alarmed of, as I will discuss today.

One of the greatest misperceptions about meditation is that it is a spiritual practice with religious roots.  There is a belief that when you meditate something otherworldly happens.  As spiritual as I am, I also appreciate and understand that meditation has its roots in anatomy and physiology.  Your brain changes when you meditate.  It changes in very positive and discernible ways.  Today, with the help of mindful.org, I will discuss how your brain changes with meditation.

Meditation seems daunting to many people.  However, its cousin mindfulness has many of its benefits. Today, I discuss one simple exercise that brings you into mindfulness.

For service men and women returning home from active duty, the stressors can be intense, to say the least. While meditation is possible for everyone, for these returning veterans mindfulness is a better approach for dealing with the anxiety of coming home. Gail Soffer has created the mindful Warrior Project for that purpose, to teach the practice of mindfulness to returning vets.

Many new meditators are unnerved by the feelings they experience after finishing a session. Today I talk about what that is, and why it is totally common.

How do you radiate love to the entire world. As you might expect it starts off quite small. Let's learn together, how to get it done.

Not every time you meditate is going to be a profoundly moving or calming experience. I tell you about my lackluster sessions in the hopes that you can bounce back if you experience the same thing.

Some things seem to go together and some things seem like they couldn't be more opposite.  You might think that is the case with meditation and professional boxing.  But as I learned recently, nothing is further from the truth.  In fact, my interview today with Danny O'Connor is proof positive that nothing is beyond the scope of mindfulness.

How you start the day is usually how you end it. For that purpose, I have recorded a meditation for ZEN commuter listeners to start their day off right. Head to the show notes to download it for playing any time.

I thought for today I would reach out to one of my peers to get some meditation insight.  Thankfully, as you know from my interview with Giovanni Dienstmann, he is that perfect resource.  Today he talks about 7 simple ways to deepen your meditation practice.