Category Archives: Dharma

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Mindfulness Between Stimulus & Response

Facebook Live replay w/ Miles Kessler

The late Austrian psychotherapist and  Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl famously said “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Not only is this brilliant quote profoundly true, but it is also a very powerful description of how mindfulness actually works. I invite you to join me in the below Facebook Live replay as I unpack the profound meaning of the “Mindfulness Between Stimulus & Response”. 

Facebook Live Replay w/ Miles Kessler
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Movement & Stillness

Teaching & Guided Meditation w/ Miles Kessler

How often do you stop in life? Just stop. In the middle of the relentless rush of your daily life. To intentionally take a moment, a minute, an hour, a day… to stop acting and doing, and to just be in the stillness surrounded by the flow of things. And how often do you engage the movement of life as a flow? To effortlessly, selflessly, and elegantly align with the very movement that is the essence of living. Join me in this Facebook Live replay for a deeper look into the meaning of Movement & Stillness.

Meditation Embodied w/ Miles Kessler

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Meditation, Narcissism, & The “I”

Dr. Dominique Cassidy & Miles Kessler

Are you a narcissist? Or have you overcome your narcissist tendencies with meditation? Well, if you were raised in our highly individualized western culture, then there’s a good chance that at least a little narcissism drives your life. Your professional life, your personal life, and perhaps even your spiritual life. This is the topic I dive into in the “Dharma Bite” I had with Aikido Sensei, meditation teacher, and psychiatrist Dr. Dominique Cassidy about “Meditation, Narcissism, & The “I.“

Meditation, Narcissism, & The "I" | "Dharma Bite" w/ Dr. Dominique Cassidy & Miles Kessler
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“From Emptiness To Spontaneity”

Teja "Fudo Myo" Bell & Miles Kessler

The below “Dharma Bite” is an excerpt from a longer dialogue I did with Teja “Fudo Myoo” Bell Roshi for our “Meditation For Aikidoka” online course members. We had such a wonderful dialogue that I decided to share this excerpt here with my blog readers on “From Emptiness To Spontaneity”.

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Self, Identity, & Flow

"Aiki-Discussion" w/ Eran "Junryu" Vardi & Miles Kessler

I recently had an “Aiki-Discussion” with Aikido Sensei and Zen Roshi Eran “Junryu” Vardi for my “Meditation For Aikidoka” online course. We had a wide-ranging conversation on Aikido, Meditation, and enlightenment and I was left with the feeling that we had only scratched the surface. I have taken an excerpt from our discussion to share with you here called “Self, Identity, & Flow”.

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Have Few Desires, But Have Great Ones

Diane Musho Hamilton & Miles Kessler

How intentional are you about your practice and what do you ultimately hope to gain? Do you even consider your desired outcome? In this “Dharma Bite” with Zen teacher and author Diane Musho Hamilton, we discuss how meditation gradually brings you into a greater sense of simplicity in your life. But part of gaining this simplicity is understanding what it means to have few desires, but have great ones.

Diane Musho Hamilton & Miles Kessler
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To Be Defeated By Greater And Greater Things

Diane Musho Hamilton & Miles Kessler

Do you see defeat as a good or bad? If you’re like most, defeat is something you would probably rather avoid. In fact, in some cases, the thought of defeat can be so unacceptable that you’d rather not participate. But even though defeat may feel completely undesirable, what are the possible upsides to defeat? What did the mystic poet Rainer Maria Rilke mean when he said: “the purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things.”

Diane Musho Hamilton & Miles Kessler
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Containing Fear With Awareness

Diane Musho Hamilton & Miles Kessler

How aware are you of fear? How does fear feel in your body? How about your mind? Is your experience of fear that fear is in you, or that you are in fear? In the below “Dharma Bite” I continue in my series of Dharma Discussions with Integral Facilitator & Zen Sensei Diane Musho Hamilton on this very topic. In this excerpt, we talk about the competency of containing fear with awareness.

Diane Musho Hamilton & Miles Kessler
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Embracing Conflict As Path

Diane Musho Hamilton & Miles Kessler

What is your relationship to conflict? Is it something you prefer to avoid? Or do you like to lean into a good fight? Recently, Diane Musho Hamilton and I held our 3rd Community Call in our “Dharma & The Evolution Of Conflict” 3-part series. In this call, together with the global sangha, Diane & I dove into this very topic as we explored “Embracing Conflict As Path.”