Talks

Compassion Meditation, When we sense a need for more compassion in our heart, these three guided meditations into the heart can help. Feel free to record them in your own voice, ask a freind to read them to you, or purchase Nina's Uncovering Compassion CD.

Remembering Awareness, "We live in our thoughts about the way things and people should be...instead of being with things as they ARE." This talk about awareness helps us develop a new relationship with ourselves and others. It is for people who are ready to make some changes so that they can experience their life in a fresh, new way.

Uncovering Compassion: A Talk About What Gets in the Way, "Compassion is simply the way love expresses itself. It is love in action…as it flows within the heart, and out into the world." When we live a more compassionate life, The Golden Rule is integrating in our actions, as well as our words. We live in a way that intends to do no harm. This talk helps prepare the way for behaving the way we want to…with more love, patience, and clarity.

Instructions for Meditating. Nina has provided written instructions for those who prefer to read, rather than listen to her talk on her meditation CD. Simple, direct information is provided so that anyone can begin a meditation practice. Any questions can be directed to Nina through the chat room, by telephone or by contact form. There is no charge for questions about how to meditate.

Articles

A Broken-Egg Moment or Being with What Is - An excerpt from Padme Livingstone’s forthcoming book Let’s Not Call It Meditation: Practical Guidance for People Who Think They Can’t Sit Still and Quiet the Mind - Ever try to talk with someone about something “big,” when they are reading the paper? They say, “Uh, huh, “to everything you’ve said? Don’t we live like this? This article is about finding a way out of our distracted, self-critical mental habits. It is worthwhile work when we do it!

A Life of Balance - What comes to mind when you think about balance in your life? Trying for perfect balance, as defined by others, can keep us running around, filling up our life from someone else’s perfect menu. Balance is an inner condition that occurs with awareness, and we can find it!

Engaging Curiosity - Curiosity opens the mind and cuts through any resistance we may have about something new. Read this excerpt fromLet’s Not Call It Meditation: Practical Guidance for People Who Think They Can’t Sit Still and Quiet the Mind and find out how curiosity can be helpful in finding a more loving way to be with everyday, painful relationships.

Faith: With Eyes Wide Open is a simple exploration of the place faith takes in our growing awareness. Faith brings us out of confusion, seeking the light of clarity. Having faith in something better than this, is what keeps us going. Our intention is to keep growing, and having a meditation practice focuses our faith so that we have the energy we need to grow.

Growing Gratitude from Weeds, "Our inner gardens...need to have the soil tilled all year round. " This article draws a connection between how a garden grows and how our sense of gratitude may grow….especially when we use our stress and hardship, pain and suffering for our personal fertilizer.

Is Personal Guidance Essential? - Here, we are speaking about the kind of guidance we seek when we are feeling deeply confused, and have enough clarity to want a different perspective from the standard Western approach to the suffering caused by our mental confusion. Read about teacher stories, and helpful information to help you find the answer to this question for yourself.

Mistaken Ideas: Dispelling 10 Myths About Meditation - An excerpt from Padme Livingstone’s forthcoming book, Let’s Not Call It Meditation: Practical Guidance for People Who Think They Can’t Sit Still and Quiet the Mind“ Have you tried to meditate?” Notice whether there is an openness to try again, and read this article. It responds directly with gentleness and humor, to ten of the most common myths about meditation.

Wanting Nothing, Receiving Everything - Find a fresh perspective for relationships that get bogged down with our "wanting others to be different." Through sharing insight and personal stories, Padme gently guides us to an alternative way of being when we get caught up in our desires.

Exploring Blind Spots - Whatever is in the way of clarity can be called a blind spot. Read this article to learn more about what's in the way of your being the clear, compassionate person you long to be.

What is Polishing Presence: Awareness Support Groups? - Find out where the idea came from, what it means, who it's for, and how Polishing Presence will work.

The Heart’s Longing - Reading about your heart's longing may touch you deeply. Allow whatever feelings that arise to be there with loving kindness. You might wonder how you are feeding your heart's longing in daily life. It's a good question.

Learning the Hard Way - This article is a sample from Padme’s book, Let’s Not Call It Meditation: Practical guidance for people who think they can’t sit still and quiet the mind. Read about Padme’s learning about a healthy perspective during her son’s teenage exploration of what can happen without discretion.