Category: Mindfulness

Five More Ways to Grieve Mindfully

8/11/2026

6. Mindful silence. . . can involve spending time alone in meditation, prayer, reflection, contemplation.
7. Mindful eating. . . . Be sure to mindfully eat fresh, healthy foods to keep your body strong during your grief journey.
8. Mindful exercise. . . . Think carefully about an activity that appeals to you--hiking, biking, swimming, yoga, group fitness classes, dancing, kayaking--and do it.
9. Mindful determination. Grief doesn't allow you to rewind your life so it's important to find ways of motivating yourself to keep moving forward.
10. Mindful possibilities. As grief eases and days become lighter and brighter, be mindful about your future, about your ability to move forward and reinvent yourself.
-Victor M Parachin, Buddhist Wisdom for Beginners

Five Ways to Grieve Mindfully

8/4/2026

If you've recently had the unwelcome experience of a loss . . . the ensuing emotion is grief. Even this bitter taste of life can be the occasion to deepen our practice of mindfulness. . . .
1. Mindful breathing. . . . When you breathe deeply it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax.
2. Mindful thoughts. . . . Whenever negative thoughts emerge replace them with positive ones. Move from "I can't" and "I'm not able" toward "I can" and "I am able."
3. Mindful words. . . . Use words, phrases and sentences which build up, encourage, inspire and applaud yourself and all those you come in contact with.
4. Mindful support. There are individuals around you who want to be as helpful as possible. . . . Don't hesitate to lean on them from time to time.
5. Mindful action. Take steps necessary to learn about and adapt new coping skills to help you through the hardest days.
-Victor M Parachin, Buddhist Wisdom for Beginners

Focused Mind Part 1

6/27/2026

The word gatha refers to a short statement that can be recited during the day in order to better focus the mind. In Buddhist communities, a gatha is often a short verse from their sutras (scriptures). . . . However, a gatha does not need to come from a sacred scripture. . . . You can write your own to meet your own specific needs and situations. . . .
- When feeling anxious, breathe in and say "Calmness in." As you exhale, say "Anxiety out." Repeat the phrase, combined with your breath, as many times as necessary. . . .
- When feeling fear, breathe in, saying "Courage in." As you exhale, say "Fear out." . . .
- When feeling stressed, follow the same pattern with your breath: "Peace in; stress out."
-Victor Parachin, Eastern Wisdom for Western Minds

Live Like a Zen Monk

12/16/2025

This Zen proverb of six words is mindfulness in a nutshell: When walking, walk. When eating, eat. It reminds us to do one thing at a time; to do it slowly; to do it deliberately; and to do it completely. This can and ought to be expanded into daily life. Here are some ways:

- When listening to a friend, listen.
- When mowing your lawn, mow.
- When loading the dishwasher, load.
- When sitting with your cat, sit.
- When driving, drive.
- When working, work.

By approaching daily living this way, you'll discover the joy of living like a Zen monk because your daily mindfulness will bring you calm, peace, perspective and tranquility.
-Victor M Parachin, Think Like the Buddha

Responding Versus Reacting

11/29/2025

When we are mindful, we create a space between a reaction and a response. And in that space we can access the wisdom that empowers us to move from reaction to reflection to response. Unlike a reaction, in which we are controlled by difficult thoughts and emotions, mindfulness creates a gap moment that allows us to control the response. In the gap we can pause, analyze and respond in a way that is skillful, positive and helpful.
-Victor M Parachin, Think Like the Buddha

Silence Deepens Mindfulness

10/14/2025

"When you become aware of silence, immediately there is that state of inner still alertness. You are present. You have stepped out of thousands of years of collective human conditioning."
Eckhart Tolle

Silence is an important aspect for the deeper development of mindfulness because silence brings clarity while activity often brings confusion.
-Victor M Parachin, Think Like the Buddha

Five More Ways to Grieve Mindfully

Five Ways to Grieve Mindfully

Focused Mind Part 1

Live Like a Zen Monk

Responding Versus Reacting

Silence Deepens Mindfulness

Victor M. Parachin ... a

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