Today is the day that I start my journey towards understanding if meditation has a place in my daily routine. I’m speaking Andrew Kelley, a.k.a. “The Boston Buddha”. Andy answers all of my rapidly-paced questions about meditation: Do I have to close my eyes? Do I have to sit with my legs crossed? Where should I meditate and for how long? And, most importantly, WHY should I meditate?
Fact: A lot of very successful people meditate. Another fact: I don’t. However, it seems like everywhere I turn, another super successful person is mentioning how important meditation is to them on a daily basis. I already have a process that I go through every morning: plan my day, make my bed, stop and take a moment of gratitude, pray, exercise – is there even room for meditation?
Some common questions about meditation:
Do I have to close my eyes?
Andy says, “No,” but he does recommend that as you’re starting, you should block out as many distractions as possible – and closing your eyes helps.
Do I have to sit with my legs crossed?
Nope. Andy says the idea is to be comfortable and that early practitioners of meditation didn’t have comfy couches like we do.
Why should I meditate?
People who practice and endorse meditation say that it helps them re-focus their mind and also provides them with a sense of calm. Andy says he started meditating because he was having a hard time sleeping and he was pleasantly surprised that it only took one week for his sleeping habits to improve.
When should I meditate?
There is no “right’ time, but you might have to make meditating a priority in your schedule. Many people meditate in the morning because there is nothing else scheduled at that time – it’s quiet and there are no pressing demands on their time. You’ll need to find the time that works best for yourself.
Lastly, JOIN ME ON MY 30-DAY CHALLENGE THROUGH MEDITATION!
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About Andrew Kelley
Andy’s mantra is, “Meditation for Everyone”. He teaches everyday people how to meditate so they can be more productive in their careers and happier in their lives.
The Boston Buddha provides a wide range of Attention and Compassion Techniques (ACT trainings) via meditation and mindfulness. These trainings are designed to cultivate positive qualities of mind – qualities like – (clear sustained attention, compassion, patience, generosity, kindness, willpower, strength perseverance, forgiveness, humor, warmth, and empathy). We believe that happiness comes from the mental habits you continually practice – moment to moment awareness. These are our mental push-ups! We can train the mind to be more like the qualities we admire – so we can get out of our own way – and be happier in our lives.
Andy is a hard working dad and husband – and a diehard Boston sports fan. He comes from a very large, Irish, Catholic family.
The Boston Buddha was founded in 2009, and in 2010, Andy was able to leave his full time job and focus on teaching everyday people how to relax and recharge through meditation. The shift might seem rather abrupt, but off-hours, Andy had spent years meditating, researching, studding with the Chopra Center, and finally teaching meditation.
He studied under Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. David Simon, co-founders of the Chopra Center – both renowned experts in the field of mind-body medicine, and DavidJi, Dean of the Chopra Center. Andy is currently a certified instructor of Primordial Sound Meditation for The Chopra Center. He is also a graduate of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR) founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School.
He currently teaches his Morning Mindfulness program in the public elementary schools in Milton MA., and teaches workshops for the Middle and High school border students at Milton Academy, Brookline Lawerence Middle School, and Newton’s Bigelow Middle School. Andy conducts numerous “school teacher” training workshops and frequently collaborates with schools and organizations to bring meditation and mindfulness courses to children in schools all over the country.
CONNECT WITH ANDREW:
WEBSITE >> http://www.thebostonbuddha.com
INSTAGRAM (for great tips!) >> https://instagram.com/thebostonbuddha/
FACEBOOK >> https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Boston-Buddha
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