Never Waste Time Again
by Michael W. Taft Life often asks us to wait, and a lot of this waiting can feel crushingly pointless. We cool our heels in lines at the supermarket, the bank, or at a restaurant.… Read More »Never Waste Time Again
Michael W. Taft
The Mental Fountain—Working with Thoughts in Meditation
I first got involved in meditation because my brain hurt. As a teenage Monty Python fan, that’s how I described it at the time. What I meant was that the experience of my mind thinking… Read More »The Mental Fountain—Working with Thoughts in Meditation
Escaping the Observer Trap: Free Yourself by Observing the Observer
Are you feeling stuck in your mindfulness practice? Did meditation lead to big, positive life changes early on, but now years later you’re just sort of treading water with no sense of making progress? Mindfulness… Read More »Escaping the Observer Trap: Free Yourself by Observing the Observer
Concentration and Love
by Michael W. Taft I remember the first time I fell in love. I wrote her name in my notebook over and over, repeating the name as if the sound itself were savory. I pictured her… Read More »Concentration and Love
Undoing Distraction, Technology Edition
by Michael W. Taft Does anyone you know not have a problem with too many distractions? Here in the Bay Area at least, it seems to be an epidemic—many people report feeling frazzled from the… Read More »Undoing Distraction, Technology Edition
One Thing at a Time
All of us have had the experience of doing too many things at once. Of driving while listening to the radio, eating a burrito, and talking to a friend all at once. While it’s amazing… Read More »One Thing at a Time
Breathe and Relax for Better Concentration
by Michael W. Taft As meditation experts the world around have noticed over the millennia, relaxing makes concentration much easier. If you are too amped up, your system will be full of stress hormones such… Read More »Breathe and Relax for Better Concentration
The Ego as a Function
In this short video, Michael W. Taft discusses the ego—something which feels as if it is an eternal entity, but which actually is nothing more than a brain-generated function.
Thinking about Thinking
As far as we know, human beings are the only animal capable of introspection—the ability to examine our own mental processes. We not only think, but can observe ourselves in the act of thinking,… Read More »Thinking about Thinking
Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime
by Ferris Jabr Every now and then during the workweek—usually around three in the afternoon—a familiar ache begins to saturate my forehead and pool in my temples. The glare of my computer screen appears… Read More »Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime
Emotions Are Physical Events: Video
Michael Taft – “The Physicality of Emotions” from Ego the Book In this short video, Michael W. Taft discusses the difference between the embodied sensation of emotions, and the conceptual understanding of emotions.
Create a System of Rewards to Increase Your Concentration
by Michael W. Taft “Yeah when you call my name I salivate like a Pavlov dog…” — Rolling Stones Concentration is natural, but many of us struggle to concentrate better at work, in school, in… Read More »Create a System of Rewards to Increase Your Concentration
Take Your Body with You
by Michael W. Taft When I was 33 years old, I became celibate. I had always been extremely open to sex, the senses, and my body. The more I studied meditation, however, and the more… Read More »Take Your Body with You