relaxation Archives | Ed and Deb Shapiro

Why Meditation Can Appear So Challenging

May 28, 2019 by Ed and Deb Shapiro 1 Comment

What is it about something as simple as sitting still and watching our breath that evokes panic or even fear? No matter how much information there is proving the mental, emotional and physical value of meditation, there seems to be as many people who resist giving it a try. No doubt meditation can be challenging, […]

Filed Under: awareness, happiness, inner life, meditation, mindfulness, presence, relaxation Tagged With: awareness, compassion, ego trip, fear, freedom, happiness, inner life, inspiration, meditation, mindfulness, self-imrovement

If Nothing Ever Changed There Would Be No Cherry Blossom

March 4, 2019 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

There is nothing more certain and unchanging than uncertainty and change. — John Fitzgerald Kennedy Do you notice how one moment you can be ecstatically happy and then, just as easily, you can be depressed or sad? Or how something is good and then turns sour, like a delicious mango that becomes rotten? The world […]

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Mindful Relaxation Will Change Your Life

November 14, 2018 by Ed and Deb Shapiro 1 Comment

Our human life is the means we have to be deeply at peace and to realize our true nature. Yet it can often appear far too full of problems, disappointments and suffering to realize such truths; we get too preoccupied with self-survival and self-preservation to reach for a greater meaning beyond ourselves. And although we […]

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The Art of Mindful Relaxation And Why We Need It

October 18, 2018 by Ed and Deb Shapiro 1 Comment

I was discussing stress at a mindfulness retreat when Joe, an attendee, shared how he didn’t get stressed over any one thing because everything was stressful to him, so he would wake up already stressed. Sound familiar? We have all experienced stress and anxiety, its close companion. In small doses stress it can heighten awareness, […]

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MINDFUL RELAXATION: The Coolest Way To Release Stress

September 10, 2018 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

Ever wondered what the biggest problem in life is? Yes, it’s the inability to relax! This is a true story: I met John at a stress-release workshop I was teaching in Scotland. He was a schoolteacher in a run down area of Glasgow. As if that wasn’t hard enough, he was a history teacher, a […]

Filed Under: awareness, happiness, inner life, joy, love, mindfulness, peace, presence, relaxation Tagged With: awareness, happiness, inner life, inspiration, mindfulness, peace, relaxation, stress, transformation

Seeing With New Eyes

March 21, 2017 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

By paying attention you see all things just as they are. A monk asks, ‘Is there anything more miraculous than the wonders of nature?’ The master replies, ‘Yes, your awareness of the wonders of nature.’ Angelus Silesius We lived in Devon, on the south coast of England, and each day we would walk along the […]

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The Art Of Patience

March 8, 2017 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

On a recent trip to India we had tea with Mary and Don, a devoted couple from Texas who, for over twenty-five years, had been running a clinic for disabled and handicapped children, for the poorest of the poor, in Chennai, South India. We wondered how, when they first arrived, they had coped with the […]

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Why Saying Yes To Yourself Is The Most Important Thing You Can Do

March 4, 2016 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

I have too much to do! My boss is so demanding! My mother-in-law always needs my help! I have so many meetings / orders to be filled / classes to teach / deliveries to be made…the list is endless. But in the midst of everything that is being asked of you, what happens to you? […]

Filed Under: awareness, happiness, inner life, joy, meditation, relaxation, Uncategorized Tagged With: anger, awareness, compassion, freedom, happiness, inner life, joy, relaxation, stress, tolerence

Why You Can Never Have Too Much To Do

January 26, 2016 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

Having too much to do is our most common moan. We get overloaded, overworked, over everything and don’t see a way through. Deb was just 18 when she attended her first Zen meditation retreat. “It was taught by a somewhat formidable Jiyu Kennet Roshi, a large Englishwoman in a floaty grey robe well established in […]

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The Amazing Relationship Between Your Mind and Body

January 8, 2016 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

In Woody Allen’s movie, Annie Hall, Diane Keaton is breaking up with Woody and wants to know why he isn’t angry. “I don’t get angry,” Allen replies, “I grow a tumor instead.” We tend to think of our bodies and minds as separate systems and believe they function independently. Yet can you remember the last […]

Filed Under: awareness, happiness, inner life, joy, meditation, mindfulness, relaxation, Uncategorized Tagged With: anger, awareness, bodymind, happiness, inner life, relaxation, stress, tolerence, wellness