Shamatha Meditation with Lodro Rinzler

I met Lodro Rinzler when he was teaching “Meditation in Everyday Life” at the Shambhala Center of New York City. He’s written several books, and his teaching writing is accessible as well as enlightening! I highly recommend his books, especially The Buddha Walks into a Bar.

AC: How would you define meditation and what are some benefits?

LR: The type of meditation that I traditionally practice and teach is known as “shamatha” or calm abiding meditation. There are many different types of meditation out there, but this is one that helps us become more present with what’s going on in our day-to-day life and with what’s going on in our mind. It helps us be more awake and show up for all of our daily activity. By training and being with something as simple as our breathing, we’re learning to be present with all the painful and the pleasurable aspects of our world.

Is shamatha meditation something that you recommend people do on a daily basis?

Yes. Ten minutes of meditation a day can actually be very helpful for people in terms of tuning in to what’s going on with them personally and then allowing them to actually be more present with what’s going on in the rest of their day. It doesn’t take a lot in terms of time investment to actually have meditation start to seep in to your bones and affect your day-to-day life so that you’re actually more present and kind and compassionate with others.

What kind of things does meditation allow you to become more present with?

Well, I think most people start to notice that after meditating for a couple of weeks or couple of months, they are more present with the people that they care about: their family, their friends, their partners as well as their work or wherever they spend a lot of their time. It is a very subtle sort of shift that happens for people where they start to say, “Oh, maybe I’m trying to show up to my life in a way that’s different than I have in the past. It feels like I’m more present for my work meeting. It seems like I’m actually more available when people call on me.” It’s a subtle shift and one that really is quite powerful for people.

Feng Shui also creates subtle shifts. In your new book, "The Buddha Walks into the Office," you talk about meditation and your work. Can you tell us more about that?

Meditation helps us on two fronts. One, how we can be more aware of who we are so that we are more discerning in the livelihood that we create. Two, how we actually start to show up for that livelihood on a day-to-day basis in a way that’s authentic and genuine and in line with the quality that we actually want to cultivate in our experience.

Do you have a special meditation area in your home? Do you recommend that readers create a special meditation area in their homes?

Yes, I have a little corner in my home! I live in New York City, so it’s not like I have a spare bedroom or anything to devote, but I have a corner of my living room. It has a little shrine with an image of my Buddhist teacher, a statue that is an embodiment of wisdom, and Buddhist text that I admire. Many other little reminders also create a special environment and invite me, magnetize me to actually practice regularly. That’s something that I recommend for others.

In the same way that when you get home from work tired and want to go to sleep, you wouldn’t want to create your sleep space each day. Instead, you would want that sleep space already there waiting for you so you can climb into bed and relax. The same can be said for meditation. Most people think, “Oh I’ll take a cushion from my couch or my bed and I’ll throw them down the ground and that will be enough.” But if you have to create your space for meditation every time you’re going to sit down to meditate, it’s a little bit of an obstacle. To have a dedicated meditation space is very important in terms of starting a meditation practice.

Can you elaborate on the objects you have on your shrine in your meditation area?

I recommend that people create an environment that’s inviting to them personally. There are very traditional items that one would put on a shrine if they want to have a Buddhist shrine, for example, offerings of generosity and other virtues that one wants to cultivate. But in its most simplistic sense, you could just put up a candle or two, an incense burner, a statue or an image that will magnetize you to the space. It really should be personal for you.

I would say in a very traditional shrine, you would have an image or two of teachers that you admire. For me, I have a picture of my teacher Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. I also have a picture of President Obama in a particularly vulnerable moment that I think is very moving. It speaks to those qualities of leadership that I want to develop. The shrine should be not only magnetizing and inviting to you, but also remind you of what you’re actually practicing for. In this case, with the Sakyong are qualities of kindness and presence. With the President Obama’s photo, it’s more vulnerability and strength. It should be personal. Build out a shrine that has meaning that you could then articulate to others, it shouldn’t just be a shrine because it looks pretty or because it might be helpful to have.

Check in next Sunday for the rest of the interview where Lodro talks about his holistic space and the sacredness of human life from the Buddhist perspective!

by Anjie Cho

Lodro Rinzler is a teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage and the author of the best-selling "The Buddha Walks into a Bar...", the award-winning "Walk Like a Buddha" and the brand new "The Buddha Walks into the Office." Over the last decade he has taught numerous workshops at meditation centers and college campuses throughout North America. Lodro’s columns appear regularly on the Huffington Post and Marie Claire online and he is frequently featured in Reality Sandwich, the Interdependence Project, Shambhala Sun, Buddhadharma, and Good Men Project. He is the founder of the Institute for Compassionate Leadership, an authentic leadership training and job placement organization, and lives in Brooklyn with his dog Tillie and his cat Justin Bieber.

For more teachings and articles by Lodro visit www.lodrorinzler.com
Follow Lodro on twitter: @lodrorinzler

Adjusting to Fall Equinox: Angela Mastoris

Just in time for fall equinox, my bestie and esteemed Chinese Medicine expert, Angela Mastoris, is back with another set of tips, this time for dealing with the physical and emotional stress put on us by the changing seasons from summer to fall. 

Check out her advice on meditation, yoga and dietary changes to ease transition into our next season! 

AC: Can you tell us a little about fall equinox?

AM: In Chinese Medicine, there is a school of thought called Five Elements Theory. The general idea is that each of us has, within our own body, a microcosm, like our planet. Each element has its own set of meridians and special qualities associated with it.

The fall season is part of the Metal Element. Metal rules the Lung and Large Intestine meridians, as well as the skin, which is not a meridian, but very important, because if you have a skin issue- it is not easily ignored. 

How does the fall equinox affect us as humans?

Think about what happens to the earth at this time: she begins her process of death, so she can come back to life in the spring. This also happens in our own bodies. There is a bit of grief always associated with change. People inherently have difficulty with transition; they have trouble letting go.

Do you have any tips for dealing with that transition?

If someone is having a hard time with a change or transition, or any other emotion in excess, mysterious physical symptoms show up and a person may not know why.

In general, at this time of year, meditation, yoga, eating appropriate foods and treating your body gently is a great place for all of us to begin preparing ourselves for the great introspection and internal growth of Winter. 

Does the fall equinox affect us physically?

Absolutely. This time of year is almost as much of an assault on our immune system as the springtime. The environmental change causes a change in your body’s defense mechanisms, or immune system.

What sort of dietary changes can assist in adjusting to the fall equinox?

The diet should get heavier and more cooked, less raw, as it gets colder. Omnivores- you’ll be eating more meats and dairy products. Vegetarians- lots of grains, some nuts, beans, seeds, as well as more dairy and eggs if you are lacto-ovo vegetarian. Vegetarians can warm it up. If you want to warm up the body, root veggies are great- ginger works wonders in food and as a tea.

As it gets colder, you want to eat heavier foods. You can all eat in accordance with how you want to live, but some great additions to the fall diet are: baked squash, pumpkin, wild rice, brown rice, mushrooms, soups in general, vegetable barley soup, root vegetables: carrot, turnip, onion and garlic; cooked greens: celery, comfrey, dandelion, kale, watercress, and spinach; sea vegetables: dulse, kelp or nori seaweed; miso paste for broth base; seasonings: rosemary, cayenne, and ginger. Pumpkin seeds are really good for the intestines. 

Detoxing is good this time of year. You can wean yourself off sugars easier because they become less a part of the diet when it gets colder; you have less fruit in your diet normally, because it's not as available.

Cutting back on caffeine, sugar, and alcohol is also helpful, as these substances aggravate irritated skin. They also cause changes in our metabolism that our body has to readjust to afterwards, which further taxes the immune system. If you drink less caffeine and eat less sugar temporarily, you will give your body a break, so your immune system can go on fighting off the new Autumn pathogens in the air. It helps your skin and immune system to clean up your diet temporarily, or forever!

How do these changes help?

In between seasons, you always want to eat foods that are gentle. They tell us in Chinese Medicine that you always want to return to the earth element, our earth, our digestive system, between the seasons, because our bodies are literally weakened by the environmental change. If you eat gentle, easy to digest foods (cooked and not too cold or too spicy) you make the body’s job easier and more energy can go to balancing out your immune system and adjusting to environmental changes.

by Anjie Cho

Angela Mastoris

Angela Mastoris is a certified Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner, health educator, writer, research assistant and lecturer. She is a Diplomat of Asian Bodywork Therapy (NCCAOM). Health education and acupressure was the approach of her private practice in the past, as well as creating self-care routines that match her client’s bodies specifically. Angela facilitates the healing of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual issues using Traditional Chinese Medicine, Five Element Theory, Indigenous medicine, and shamanism.

Her career goal is to participate in projects that include Chinese Medicine and scientific research, combining and utilizing her experience as a holistic medicine practitioner, a western medical research assistant, and her writing skills, honed at the University of California at Berkeley as an English department graduate.

Contact her at:  sevensistersha@gmail.com

Find her on Facebook at:  Seven Sisters Healing Arts

Tips for Beginning Meditators

Last week, I shared an interview with Joseph Mauricio who is a teacher at the Shambhala Center here in NYC. As a follow up to that blog post, I wanted to share some tips that Joe offered for beginning meditators.

AC: What’s the most common question you get from beginning meditators?

JM: How can I keep my back from hurting? How do I keep from falling asleep? Most of the questions are pretty mundane. There are people on the other hand that have very deep, profound questions.  But I find that until you do the practice meditation, it’s not as helpful to get into the deeper questions.

Because I’m a life coach, I look to meditation as a tool that can really help people wake up and begin to take some authority over their own lives. As we wake up and learn to pay attention, we actually begin to see our choices and start to learn how to make a difference in our lives.

Besides the everyday meditation practice, I encourage people to also meditate throughout the day. Keep coming back to the mind of meditation, especially during the day when their mind gets a little crazy, and before they start to think that something wrong with them or that they need to grab a cup of coffee or drink or yell at somebody or quit their jobs.  The first thing they can do is come back to their own heart, come back to their body and return to themselves. It doesn’t cure all the problems in life but it allows us to restart, recharge and see things with a fresh mind.

And what about the mundane questions?

The simple questions that people ask about how to deal with the back pain and to keep from falling asleep are practical and good.  It means they are actually paying attention to how they can sit up straight and wake up.

For back pain, I recommend gentle stretching before sitting down. Gentle spiritual yoga and stretching alongside meditation is also very helpful.  Opening up the body and being mindful of good body posture during the day is profoundly important in terms of changing the stress level of your day. Keep coming back to an open posture and good alignment.

And for falling asleep, I always encourage people to lift their gaze. Many people meditate with their eyes closed so I recommend that they open their eyes and lift their gaze a bit.  Also make sure to breathe and get plenty of oxygen. If they needed to stop and get a glass of water, it is better than caffeine especially for a short session.  There is no need to crank up on more caffeine. But drink a little bit of water, do a little stretching, then come back to the meditation practice.

When I first started meditating, my legs would always fall asleep!  I started to make the connection between where I was feeling physically and spiritually uncomfortable.

Yes. For some people, the pain is either caused or at least exacerbated by wanting to be good, wanting to do it right. For instance, some people are afraid if they move, they’re doing something wrong. It’s like yoga, if it hurts, stop. Stop and relax. It’s the same with meditation.  It’s okay to readjust oneself especially at the beginning. And at some point, if you’re squirming a lot, it’s not helpful either. You’re may be making the pain worse, so it becomes a balance.

So what I normally tell people is a 3-count process. If something itches or hurts, look at it, relax it, leave it alone but don’t move the first time, don’t move the second time.  But the third time it happens pay attention because there’s really something going on.  So go on and move, stretch, reset. Check in to see if the uncomfortability or squirming is really about the pain or about not wanting to settle down.

That’s why it’s amazing to stretch beforehand.  Sometimes meditators cut off the energy flow at the base of their thighs, sometimes they’re too high or leaned forward too much putting too much weight on their legs.  It’s helpful to have an instructor observe help adjust the posture.

Finally, what books would you recommend to anyone that wants to start meditating?

Turning the Mind Into an Ally or The Shambhala Principle both by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche are really good in terms of teaching meditation itself and how meditation works in life and then your life.  So these books are very practical and simple. 

by Anjie Cho