A year ago, ZEN commuter listeners met Brendan Barca, the founder and blogger of Straddletheline.co.  At that time he was relatively new to meditation, just beginning to cement his practice.  Now, a year later, his practice has evolved and grown to encompass some firm habits that allow him to further his spirituality, as well as lessen anxiety when it arises.  Come listen to my update with Brendan Barca.

There are aspects of who you are that you wish to keep concealed. Your ego says that you need to only show the aspects of yourself that are deemed acceptable. However, the more you push down the seemingly negative aspects of who you are, the more they will assert themselves. Today, I share a blog post by Giovanni Dienstmann that explains how you can integrate your shadow using meditation.

One of my good friends and a listener was kind enough to send me a book called, Mini-Habits: smaller habits, bigger results.  The book talks about how to take the tiniest of steps to engrain a habit.  It talks about how to work through low motivation; in fact, it talks about how motivation is not even needed when trying to create a habit.  Today, I want to focus on how to use this principle to engrain meditation as part of your day.

I have talked about the benefits of meditation on several episodes, but what I haven't talked about is how to avail yourself to those benefits.  Specifically, I have never talked about how frequently you need to meditate to reap the rewards, until now.  The answer is quite easy; you need to develop a consistent practice; a daily practice. Today I talk about 9 ways to do that.

This entire week I have talked about the benefits of creating connection.  For the most part I spoke of human interactions.  However, it can't be understated that meditation helps you feel connected to all sentient life.  Today I talk about why that is.

There are 8 billion people in this world, and chances are good you are not going to see eye to eye with all of them.  However, as I discussed this week, connection exists between absolutely everyone.  Today I talk about how to create a connection with those who anger you.

From birth we are told that we are unique, but it goes beyond feeling special.  As we grow we are constantly being told that we are different from everyone else, that we need to stand out.  This belief is perpetuated throughout your entire life unless you have the benefit of meditation to help you feel connected.  Today I talk about the many places you are told you are separate, and how you begin to rethink that understanding for yourself.

The greatest benefit of meditation is the feeling of connection you feel with all life. This connection benefits the you and the world, and pushes us closer to world peace. This week I focus exclusively on helping you understand the benefit you experience when you create community through meditation.

If you are eager to start a meditation practice, that awesome. Just know what it is and what it isn't. I speak to the latter today.

Beginning meditators often struggle with what to do when an itch arrives. Today, I tell you.