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Meditation Techniques
Meditation is an approach to training the mind, similar to the way that fitness is an approach to training the body. But many meditation techniques exist. So how do you learn how to meditate? “In Buddhist tradition, the word ‘meditation’ is equivalent to a word like ‘sports’ in the U.S. It’s a family of activity, not a single thing,” University of Wisconsin neuroscience lab director Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., told The New York Times. And different meditative practices require different mental skills. It’s extremely difficult for a beginner...
read moreLove And Happiness
There is one step to creating happiness. It is to express love. When you express the emotion of love you create happiness and joy within yourself. Happiness is not just a state of mind. Happiness is also a state of emotion. Psychologists study happiness like it is a mysterious phenomenon. They suggest things like work in a meaningful career, spend time with friends, and take time to savor the day as a means to increase happiness. Why do these things show up as activities to do if you want to be happy? It’s not because they actually make...
read moreFirst Time Parents
You’ve survived 9 months of pregnancy. You’ve made it through the excitement of labor and delivery, and now you’re ready to head home and begin life with your baby. Once home, though, you frantically realize you have no idea what you’re doing! These tips can help even the most nervous first-time parents feel confident about caring for a newborn in no time. Getting Help After the Birth Consider getting help during this time, which can be very hectic and overwhelming. While in the hospital, talk to the experts around...
read moreExploring Spirituality
One of the great gifts of spiritual knowledge is that it realigns your sense of self to something you may not have even ever imagined was within you. Spirituality says that even if you think you’re limited and small, it simply isn’t so. You’re greater and more powerful than you have ever imagined. A great and divine light exists inside of you. This same light is also in everyone you know and in everyone you will ever know in the future. You may think you’re limited to just your physical body and state of affairs —...
read moreEffective Parenting
Now that our children are getting older, how do we know if we are doing a good job as parents? There is a whole history to your parent-child relationship that began at the moment your youngster was born. To help you better understand the present, try to gain some insights into where you have been as a family. Think back on your experiences with your child when he was a baby, a toddler, and a preschooler. Ask yourself: How active a parent were you in those early years? Did you play a major child-raising role in the family, or were there other...
read morePlan A World Trip
How to do it The most economical way to circumnavigate is to buy a round-the-world air ticket that uses one airline alliance. Theoretically, any routing is possible, but knowing how the RTW booking system works will make your trip cheaper. For example, the Star Alliance, a coalition of 27 airlines, offers a RTW ticket with a maximum of 15 stops. Its member airlines fly to 1185 airports in 185 countries. There are rules: you must follow one global direction (east or west – no backtracking); you must start and finish in the same country; and...
read moreCrippling Parent Behaviours
1. We don’t let our children experience risk We live in a world that warns us of danger at every turn. The “safety first” preoccupation enforces our fear of losing our kids, so we do everything we can to protect them. It’s our job after all, but we have insulated them from healthy risk-taking behavior and it’s had an adverse effect. Psychologists in Europe have discovered that if a child doesn’t play outside and is never allowed to experience a skinned knee, they frequently have phobias as adults. Kids need to fall a few times to...
read moreTravel The World
Traveling around the world at once is often a cheaper option than breaking it down into segments. The secret is to plan carefully and purchase the ticket well in advance. The cost is more than made up for by the amazing experience of seeing many places in a short period of time and the memories you’ll have for a lifetime. Here are some tips for how to travel around the world. 1. Price your trip as an “Around-the-World” ticket. This will be much cheaper than booking a dozen one-way flights. The two largest airline alliances...
read moreBeing Present
Being present in the spiritual life always has a double meaning. There’s present, as in here, in attendance. And there’s present, as in now, a moment of time. What is the spiritual practice of being present? Being here now. The world’s religions all recommend living in the moment with full awareness. Zen Buddhism especially is known for its emphasis on “nowness.” Hindu, Taoist, Jewish, Moslem, Christian, and other teachers urge us to make the most of every day as an opportunity that will not come to us again....
read moreTravel Photography
Each place we visit has its own particular look, character, and ambiance. If we want photographs of our travels to be good and lasting, they should capture all of these qualities, and say as much about a place as give the literal look of it. We are unlikely to long remember the smell and buzz of a flower garden in spring, the awe of gazing for the first time at the mountain we intend to climb, the caress of a tropical breeze, the thrill of a huge roller coaster, the wonder of our first wild bear, or the adrenaline of rafting white water. Our...
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