Live from the Garrison Institute, George Mumford joins Sharon for a conversation around why we practice and offers insight to those who are still new to meditation.
George Mumford is a widely respected public speaker and coach, who has helped everyone from Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant to executives at Google, eBay, and AT&T redefine success, excel at what they do, and recognize the importance of feeling you are part of a team. Learn more at georgemumford.com.
Show Notes
Failure is Not an Option (Opening) – Sharon and George talk about how we relate to contemplative practice and what is arising during our time on the cushion. George shares his background and how his meditative practice has transformed the way he interacts with the world.
“From our point of view, it is impossible to fail at meditative practice. You cannot be having the wrong experience. What is important is not so much what is arising, but how we are relating to what is arising.” – Sharon Salzberg
Feel the Breath, Feel the Body (11:45) – We get in touch with our bodies with a moving meditation led by George.
“You folks must have computers and cell phones. When it doesn’t work, if you turn it off and back on, it can be reset. That’s what we are doing moment to moment in practice. It’s like the screen gets frozen or we don’t have enough RAM or memory. Of course, that’s what happens when we get stressed out and go back to old behaviors.” – George Mumford
Connect your body and mind with this meditation from Lama Surya Das on the Awakened Heart Blog: Full Connection Meditation
Cultivation and Presence (21:10) – Our hosts take a question from their live audience about the distinction between meditation and mindfulness practice. Sharon looks at the rewards of a regular meditation practice and offers words of advice for new meditation practitioners.
Meditating Beyond the Cushion (31:55) – Depending on the teacher and school of practice, there can be a lot of rules around the what we do with our body while meditating. Sharon talks about the many styles of meditation and talks about why we have more options than just sitting in the same position.
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