A student of mine recently gave me a book called Staying Young (by Roizen and Dr. Oz), which is sort of a layperson’s guide to understanding the variables that stimulate and accelerate the body aging process. Here’s a snippet that I felt inspired to share with you:
We sometimes hear people refer to their family’s “bad genes” as if they are destined to inherit them. And while in some cases that may be true, it’s not the whole story:
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New York Knicks’ Jeremy Lin celebrates during the game against the Dallas Mavericks. (Jason Szenes / EPA /February 21, 2012)
Have you heard of Jeremy Lin?
If you haven’t, you will. Lin is the Harvard educated basketball player who is taking the NBA (and the sports world at large) by storm with his overnight success as the New York Knicks’ new point guard. Installed in that position as a plan D choice by Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni after his starters suffered a string of injuries, the 2nd year bench warmer came out with guns blazing and shocked the entire league by scoring more points in his first handful of games than any NBA player in history.
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I’ve been doing a lot of traveling lately, mostly to teach meditation, but also to see friends, go to weddings, funerals, etc. While the idea of being in new places all the time really suits my Gemini tendencies, I don’t often love moving through airports and being on airplanes.
Here I would like to share with you some tips from my traveling mistakes to help make traveling a bit more friendly for you, whether you’re a meditator or not.
Light Watkins is a meditation expert, and teaches beginner meditation classes across North America. You may read more about him here. Follow Light on Facebook and Twitter
Light Watkins is a meditation expert, and teaches beginner meditation classes across North America. You may read more about him here. Follow Light on Facebook and Twitter
Light Watkins is a meditation expert, and teaches beginner meditation classes across North America. You may read more about him here. Follow Light on Facebook and Twitter
As I was doing this the other day, I saw the usual myriad of ink jet cartridge promotions, sexual performance enhancers, non-prescription pills, and fake watch offers. There appeared to be nothing relevant.
Humans have a monopoly on dying the strangest deaths.
Common human diseases like cancer and heart disease are rare among the animal kingdom. Some of it is hereditary. But the overwhelming majority of our diseases are a result of unsustainable lifestyle and behaviors.
Think about it: a bear can’t decide he’s not going to hybernate for the winter because he doesn’t want to miss the Super Bowl. And when it’s time for wilderbeests to migrate, they all go. None of them stay behind to start a band.
Read More Post a comment (0)Light Watkins is a meditation expert, and teaches beginner meditation classes across North America. You may read more about him here. Follow Light onFacebook and Twitter
Meditation is one of those rare practices that is both universally admired and dreaded at the same time.
Across the board, people acknowledge the value of a consistent meditation practice, but despise having to do it. Why is meditation so dreaded? Because it’s such a difficult skill to figure out – even with all of the information in the form of videos, books and CDs, you’d rather pull your fingernails out than sit in meditation for longer than three minutes. The irony is that meditation can be one of the easiest life skills you’ll ever learn, that requires surprisingly little effort to practice.
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“The road to enlightenment is paved with riches.”
Back in my yoga teaching days, I had the honor of having Russell Simmons attend a few of my classes at Maha Yoga in Brentwood.
I would say to the class, “Okay, now lie down on your back,” and Russell would quip, “Hey, that’s my line.” He’s a very funny guy.
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Me in India with my Guru (teacher) Thom Knoles.
When I began practicing meditation in 2003 I was 29 years old and at a crossroads in my life.
I had just moved to Los Angeles. My modeling career was on the decline. And I didn’t quite know what to do next.
I befriended a yoga teacher named Will, who was an Australian. We connected over the fact that we had both just broken up with our respective girlfriends.
One afternoon, while discussing how everything happens for a reason (along with other spiritual concepts), he interrupted me with, “How do you know all of this?”
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There was a time when meditation felt like torture for me.
And experiencing even the smallest hint of inner bliss was, at best, elusive.
I actually found it very difficult to justify spending the time to meditate, even though a part of me knew it would be good to keep plugging away.
Read More Post a comment (0)Light Watkins is a meditation expert, and teaches beginner meditation classes across North America. You may read more about him here. Follow Light onFacebook and Twitter
No matter who you are, in the beginning of your meditation career, committing to your daily meditation practice can oftentimes feel like a chore, even though you know it’s good for you.
It’s common for people to admit that while they felt better when they were meditating (or when they were eating better, or working out regularly), for some reason they just stopped. It happens to the best of us. I certainly wasn’t very consistent with my meditation at the very beginning.
It’s not just that we get lazy either. There are biochemical reasons for not doing the things that we know are good for us (and we can delve into some of those reasons in another post). But for now, let’s just discuss some ways that you can get your daily practice back on track:
Read More Post a comment (0)Light Watkins is a meditation expert, and teaches beginner meditation classes across North America. You may read more about him here. Follow Light onFacebook and Twitter
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda was one of the first books I read on the subject of an Indian Guru.
Ironically, it was also the book my teacher read that triggered his search for a guru when he was a teenager. My friend who introduced me to my teacher also read this book at the beginning of his conscious spiritual journey.
There’s definitely something about this book. Everyone I’ve ever recommended it to devours it, as it’s one of the most beautifully written (and quotable) spiritual books I’ve ever had the honor to read.
Read More Post a comment (0)Light Watkins is a meditation expert, and teaches beginner meditation classes across North America. You may read more about him here. Follow Light onFacebook and Twitter
I once took guitar lessons when I was living in Harlem about ten years ago. The first thing we learned how to do, before each session, was to tune the guitar. Once properly tuned, we riffed.
I haven’t played much since then. But I pulled out my old guitar the other day, tuned it up, and tried to remember some of those old chords from class. After a short while, the tips of my fingers began hurting from the wire strings and I put on some Jeff Buckley instead.
Growing up, I was taught that in order to perform at my highest level, I had to have a big breakfast (usually with sausage, biscuits, eggs, and OJ). This was the south so most of that food was processed. Regardless, that was the way I tuned my body up for nearly two decades. Later I incorporated running, working out and yoga into my morning tune-up routine – and started eating better.