Uncategorized Archives | Ed and Deb Shapiro

One Way Your Ego Trips You Up

April 6, 2016 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

One Christmas, when we were living in Brighton, England, we volunteered at a church that regularly feeds the homeless and needy at that time of year. But it was more than the hungry ones who got fed that day. After we happily dished out large helpings of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, followed by pudding […]

Filed Under: awareness, inner life, joy, meditation, mindfulness, Uncategorized Tagged With: anger, awareness, compassion, ego trip, happiness, judgment, kindness, mindfulness, tolerence

5 Ways To Enhance Your Relationship

March 27, 2016 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

Shortly after we were married, we went to India and spent our honeymoon in ashrams and monasteries. We were fortunate enough to have a private meeting with the Dalai Lama at his residence in McCleod Ganj, in the foothills of the Himalayas. “After some thirty minutes of talking I was feeling so moved by this […]

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Finding Your Sanity in the Midst of Chaos

March 13, 2016 by Ed and Deb Shapiro 1 Comment

The question is, has the world gone nuts? It certainly looks like a lot of people are being driven by fear, hatred and greed. The protests in Chicago, the rising anger and animosity, is to the detriment of us all. Is it not time for some real sanity? Losing our sanity is about getting so […]

Filed Under: awareness, happiness, inner life, joy, meditation, mindfulness, peace, presence, Uncategorized Tagged With: anger, awareness, compassion, fear, freedom, happiness, meditation, mindfulness, negativity, tolerence

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

What Is This Thing Called LOVE

February 21, 2016 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

Every day magazines, books, songs, and even blogs extol the importance of love, how to get more of it in our lives, how to be the best at it, how to make it work, how to let go if it doesn’t work, and how to trust it and start the process all over again. Love […]

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Will The Real Deepak Chopra Please Stand Up

February 5, 2016 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

The great Swami Satchidananda always said that we only need to have faith the size of a mustard seed. Such faith proved itself to us in an unusual way. We were teaching a weekend meditation program in Plymouth, a fairly rural town in Devon, England. On the Friday evening an excited student told us that […]

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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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What I Learned From David Bowie’s Meditation Teacher

January 15, 2016 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

I grew up in London at the same time as David Bowie was becoming known there in the sixties. Bowie was only 17 when he met meditation and Buddhist teacher Lama Chime Rinpoche, who he studied with and remained close to. It was the first step for Bowie to becoming a world-class humanitarian who gave […]

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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 […]

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10 Ways To Embrace Your Uncertainty in 2016

December 31, 2015 by Ed and Deb Shapiro Leave a Comment

It’s hard to see what’s happening around us and not wonder what is going happen in our own lives. The big picture is we know we will face huge weather changes with the forecasted El Nino, will need to know what to do with thousands of refugees seeking a safe life, and be confronting the […]

Filed Under: awareness, happiness, inner life, meditation, presence, Uncategorized Tagged With: anger, awareness, compassion, fear, fearlessness, freedom, happiness, inner life, joy, kindness, meditation, tolerence