Inspired by Zen Habits

Some of you may have seen Leo Babauta's blog zen habits listed in the sidebar (under Currently Inspired By). I've had it listed there for a while, but haven't written about why I find it inspiring.

The blog is very simple, even stark. White with black text, no images, no ads, no lists, boxes, or sidebars. He writes about mindfulness, productivity, and minimalism, and many of the posts are written as lists or how to's. The advice is generally concise, helpful, and easy to read. Implementation, however, is always more challenging. Sometimes I can get lost in reading through the archives, but I find the most effective way for me to use his blog is to limit myself to reading one or two posts at a time on a topic I feel that I need a push on at that moment.

As recommended by Leo Babauta (and many other experts on time management), I have cut back a lot on the amount of information I take in, including the number of blogs I read. In fact, zen habits is now the only blog I peruse on a regular basis. I find that it is one of the few blogs that inspires me to do something more than just read more blogs.

If you have not visited zen habits yet, here are a few posts well worth checking out. I also recommend looking through the archives.

Monk Mind: How to Increase Your Focus
Top 20 Motivation Hacks - An Overview
Minimalist Fun: The 100 Things Challenge
lessons from a car-free life

Photo Friday

 A mother-daughter project.

We both post a photo every Friday - no description, just a moment from the week we want to capture and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama's {this moment} and 3191 (blog and book).

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Meditation Practice - The Basics

The #1 biggest misconception about meditation practice is that it involves clearing the mind of thought, like you sit down and pull some kind of meditation emergency brake. Or at the very least, if you can’t stop thought altogether, you should at least have only peaceful, positive thoughts. Susan Piver 

There are many ways to meditate, many schools that teach different techniques, and certainly a history and an association with various spiritual and religious practices. There are also misconceptions about the practice. So many people I have spoken with say, "I could never meditate", "I can't be still", "I can't not think," or "I'm just not calm enough." Defeated before they begin. So, here are some foolproof steps to an easy beginning practice.

Cardiologist Dr Herbert Benson simplified meditation for his patients through a technique he termed The Relaxation Response.  His book by the same name, originally published in the 1970s, has become a perennial best-seller.


The Relaxation Response distilled the basics of meditation practice to the following four components:

1. Sitting in a Comfortable Position in a 
2. Quiet Environment

3. Using A Mental Device - a focal point; an object to look at like a candle, or a word or phrase to repeat (called a Mantra)

To shift the mind from logical, externally oriented thought, there should be a constant stimulus: a sound, word, or phrase repeated silently or aloud; or fixing gazing at an object.   Since one of the major difficulties in the elicitation of the Relaxation Response is "mind wandering," the repetition of the word or phrase is a way to help break the train of distracting thoughts.  Your eyes are usually closed if you are using a repeated sound or word; of course your eyes are open if you are gazing. Attention to the normal rhythm of breathing is also useful and enhances the repetition of the sound or the word.

4. A Passive Attitude

When distracting thoughts occur, they are to be disregarded and attention redirected to the repetition or gazing; you should not worry about how well you are performing the technique, because this may well prevent the Relaxation Response from occurring.   Adopt a "let it happen" attitude.  The passive attitude is perhaps the most important element in eliciting the Relaxation Response.  Distracting thoughts will occur.  Do not worry about them.  When these thoughts do present themselves and you become aware of them, simply return to the repetition of the mental device.  These other thoughts do not mean you are performing the technique incorrectly.  They are to be expected."

Read more about the Steps to Elicit the Relaxation Response.

Photo Friday

A mother-daughter project.

We both post a photo every Friday - no description, just a moment from the week we want to capture and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama's {this moment} and 3191 (blog and book).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meditation Inspiration - more Gail Straub

In a previous post, I mentioned Gail Straub's book Circle of Compassion. I am still finding myself inspired by the short meditations and gentle reminders throughout this little gem of a book.

I don't spend a lot of time in the car, but usually when I am in the car alone, I listen to news or music. Today, I decided on silence. This evening I was leafing through Gail's book, and this page caught my eye:

"When I am alone driving in my car I use this as quiet time; I empty out, I pray, I remember what I am grateful for, I am quiet."

The silence was good. My mind was still busy within that, but I feel I am more conscious of that busyness now. Meditation has helped give me that moment of awareness about what's going on in my head, and at that moment I have a choice to continue or not. When I fill the quiet with music or news, it distracts me, and I don't notice my thoughts. That moment of awareness doesn't come, or is easily missed. The quiet is important for me. I strive to be aware even in the loud and distracting moments, but Gail reminds me to create quiet in-between time in which to practice bringing greater awareness from the meditation cushion into the rest of my life.

Book Review - Through A Narrow Window

When our family traveled in Eastern Europe in the early 1990's, our Prague pen-pals took us to the Jewish Cemetery and the Jewish Museum. In the small museum was a powerful exhibit of art made by children in concentration camps. The impact has never left me and I have always questioned how such artwork could have been made under the circumstances and how it was preserved. 

I chose to review Through A Narrow Window via Story Circle Book Reviews because it not only answers the questions I've had but has more artwork and background about the art teacher, Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, and her students.

Below is an excerpted version of my review now posted on Story Circle.

Through a Narrow Window
by Linney Wix

Univ. of New Mexico Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-826-34827-2.
Reviewed by Barbara L. Heller

Posted on 03/08/2010 

Through a Narrow Window: Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and Her Terezin Students is a beautiful book about a heart-breaking story. Friedl Dicker-Brandeis (1898-1944) was an artist, facing the usual tribulations of being a female artist in the early 1900s, but she faced a bigger struggle being a Jew in Czechoslovakia when the Germans came to power in the 1940s.

The author, Linney Wix, discusses Friedl Dicker-Brandeis' background as an art student and art teacher and the famous artists who taught and influenced her. The primary focus of the book is on Dicker-Brandeis' time in the Terezin concentration camp, which was created as a "model ghetto" for Nazi propaganda but in reality was a way station to the gas chambers. Friedl Dicker-Brandeis was interred in Terezin at the end of 1942 and was killed at Auschwitz less than two years later.

The fairy tale part of the story concentrates on Dicker-Brandeis' inspired teaching of art to children in the concentration camp and her wherewithal to hide two suitcases full of the artworks before she was transported to her death. This stash was found after the end of WW2.

Through a Narrow Window can serve many audiences. It is a beautiful art book filled with reproductions of work produced by Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and her Terezin students. Wix' essays illuminate Dicker-Brandeis' dynamic theories of art education and art therapy; and, Through a Narrow Window also honors a talented artist and Holocaust heroine.

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Dr. Linney Wix is an Associate Professor in the Art Education Program. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Thought and Socio-Cultural Studies from the University of New Mexico (2003), her M.Ed. in expressive therapies from Lesley College (1980) and her B.A. in social work and B.F.A. from the University of Montana. Linney's creative work is in painting and ceramics. She is a Registered Art Therapist (A.T.R.) with the American Art Therapy Association and a licensed professional art therapist (L.P.A.T.) in New Mexico. 

Photo Friday

A mother-daughter project.

We both post a photo every Friday - no description, just a moment from the week we want to capture and remember.

Inspired by SouleMama's {this moment} and 3191 (blog and book).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~