During this two-minute audio excerpt from an hour-long radio interview, Zen Buddhist priest Rev. Taka Kawakami explains how meditation can be mind training, and how to simply meditate.
He says that you should just sit up straight and feel your breathing. It might help to have longer inhales and exhales. He suggests breathing in for a count of five and exhaling for a count of ten.
Read MoreIn a two-minute excerpt from an hour-long radio interview, Zen Buddhist priest Rev. Taka Kawakami talks a good approach to meditation. Instead of using meditation to achieve something or solve an issue, it is better to simply observe from a non-subjective point of view.
Read MoreNurturing our bodies nurtures our spirit.
With more than 20 years of experience teaching fasting, cleansing, and the Buddhist teachings of dharma, Hillary Adrian Han shares with Paul her deep knowledge and wisdom about living a healthy life being connected to your innermost essence.
This very special edition of the Paul Crouse Show was recorded during Paul’s 13th day of a fast at the Dharma Healing International Center on Koh Samui island in Thailand, which Hillary runs.
In this wide ranging conversation, Hillary and Paul talk about the Buddhist concept of dharma, the process and benefits of fasting and cleansing, eating healthily and how to make simple changes to create new, healthy habits.
Read MoreAligning with our inner nature can transform our lives.
With many years of experience blending psychology and spirituality, Kevin Akash Olver shares with Paul the simple and practical ways for living better.
Kevin is a teacher of personal growth and meditation in England. He has a gift for clear seeing and is known for his warm, peaceful nature and inspiring approach.
"Kevin has been a powerful influence on my life," says Paul
Read MoreChallenge yourself to do things that you would not normally do to break your pattern of living on autopilot — and lessen the probability that you will become a grumpy old person.
Once a week, you should do something that gets you out of your comfort zone. Something that makes you feel uncomfortable, like sleeping on the other side of the bed or not drinking coffee for 24 hours.
Once a month, you should do something even more uncomfortable, like eating raw octopus or not using your mobile phone for an entire day.
And once a year, you should do something very, very uncomfortable — like listening to entire Justin Bieber CD or skydiving -- if you are afraid of heights.
This is a great way to break our habitual, conditioned thinking patterns, as well as open us up to greater variety of life experiences.
Read MoreMove your butt with exercise. Sit on your butt to mediate.
Taking care of your body is just as important as taking care of your soul.
Join British fitness and movement coach Russell Trott and Paul Crouse as they talk about the importance of moving your body, as well as how Russell’s Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice has changed his life.
You can contact Russell at the CrossFit Kyoto website.
Read MoreIf you don’t know yourself, your values and what you really want, it is difficult to live life to the fullest. Many people don't know what they really want and are miserable.
International businessperson and cool mom Lisa Wellington tells us about her experiences and then walks us through a values exercise to help us be clear about ourselves and our lives.
Take a break from thinking for a little bit today.
We are taught that thinking is good and that we can solve all of our problems by thinking about them. To be thoughtless is considered to be an insult.
Yet, we can get lost in our thoughts. Often, the same thoughts go around and around, and make us crazy. Sometimes we think we know everything.
For today, lets try something different. Instead of trying to bend the world to fit our thoughts, let try to just be. Empty yourself of thoughts through simple meditation.
Read MoreIf you want to keep your sanity as an expat, get out of country at least once year. More is even better.
I have lived overseas in Japan for more than 20 years. I have a rule for myself about leaving the country at least once a year. I broke that rule this past year and noticed that I was getting stressed out and feeling stuck.
I just took a week long trip to visit some friends in Sweden and I feel a lot better. I have a much better perspective on just about everything, including what I need to do to move forward in my life. And spending time with good friends as great for the soul.
Even if you aren't an expat, travel overseas at least once a year. The world is such an amazing place. Just do it. LIfe is short. Standing in a land with a different culture and different smells is a really good reality check.
Read MoreI never really thought about someone being envious of me. It made me stop and think about how fortunate I am. Gratitude can help us get past the dead end of always wanting more.
The “I’m right. You suck!” attitude is at the core of much of the world’s problems. It is kind of like a little monster running the show in your head.
Join funk soul brothers Paul Crouse and Tony, The Unknown Psychic as they talk about the ego — what it is, the problems it causes and how to overcome it.
The Funk Soul Brothers always have something interesting to say. Listen in, or else my daddy is going to come over and beat up your daddy.
Read MoreI held my older brother in my arms as he died. He had drunk himself to death. The night he died, he was in a hospice because of liver failure. He was only 45. His last breath is forever burned into my mind.
That could have been me. I had quit drinking 17 years earlier, when I was in my late twenties. I had found my bottom, which alcoholics and addicts need to do. The beginning of the end for me was an acid trip during which I did a number of exceptionally stupid things.
The following month was pretty hardcore, even by my standards. I had “the buzz” down to an art form. I knew how much I needed to drink so that when I smoked the weed, I found the perfect oblivion.
Read MoreFeel calm, centered and energized with the Chakra Meditation.
Listen to this fifteen minute guided meditation in the audio player below, or download it to your phone or other device. Simply click "Download" on the right hand side of the audio player.
You will be guided to open and activate your chakras (energy centers of your body) and then sit in silence.
Read More(This post corrects the problems some people had listening to the recording of the show).
Larendee is a strategic business advisor in Brooklyn, NY who helps people build their dreams step by step by harnessing their gifts and talents within a practical structure. We also talked the importance of living a genuine life from your soul.
Read MoreToday is my 23rd re-birthday. I have been sober 8401 days, each one-day-at-a-time.
Each one of these days is a miracle. I could be dead right now. Or living in a lower level of hell than I used to.
One of my brothers died from alcoholism. I held him as he drew his last breath at the youthful age of 45. I know where that path leads. It could have been me.
Read MoreToday, I want to teach you a simple technique to help you protect yourself from other people’s bad vibes.
Imagine that people are like two-way radios. We are constantly broadcasting our thoughts and feelings, as well as receiving the thoughts and feelings of other people.
Read MoreWorry is focusing your attention on your fears repeatedly. It is a habit; a form of condition thinking.
Worry is a waste of time and energy. It does absolutely nothing to change what you are worried about.
It is also destructive. It causes a great deal of stress, which is unhealthy physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Worrying simply reinforces living of your life in fear. Fear is paralyzing and keeps you away from living your life to the fullest.
The good news is that you can stop worrying if you choose to.
Read More“Yeah, when you call my name, I salivate like Pavlov’s Dogs.” -- The Rolling Stones
A huge amount of the thoughts in our heads are there because of conditioned thinking. You remember Pavlov’s Dogs from school, right? Ring the bell and salivate. Conditioned thinking is an automatic response. Event X happens and you respond with Reaction Y, just like you learned to do in the past.
What is this means is that we are not in control of our thoughts. Our thoughts control us. This conditioning started when we were very small children. A baby is hungry, she cries and she gets fed. She gets hungry again, she cries and she gets fed again. We learn that one pretty fast.
To take back control of our thinking, we need tools to help us break the slavery to our trance-like conditioning.
Read More“If you think you are enlightened, go spend a week with your family.” -- Ram Dass
"You have a choice either to be right or to be kind.” -- Wayne Dyer
With the holiday season approaching, many of us will be participating in family gatherings. While many families have wonderful times together, others don’t. Family members can drive you crazier than any other people on the planet.
If you want to have a better holiday experience, and a better life experience in general, you might want to consider a new approach to dealing with challenging people.
Read More
Understanding your energy, the energy of others and how we all struggle for more of this energy is a powerful way to understand how you act, and how you interact with others.
Every interaction you have with another person is an energy exchange. During these interactions you, and the other person, are either giving, taking or losing energy.
In today's post, I will talk about these energy exchanges between people and how you can identify them.
Read MorePaul Crouse
Paul Crouse Show 041 "Loneliness and Isolation" with Frances Robbins
Paul Crouse Show 039 "Toxic Relationships" with Frances Robbins
A Cautionary Tale About Being Too Cautious
Paul Crouse Show 038 "Anxiety & Depression" with Frances Robbins
9862 Miracles: My 27 Years of Sobriety
Paul Crouse Radio Show #33 with Morgan Fisher - Part Two - "Thoughtless and Mindful"
Paul Crouse Radio Show #32 with Morgan Fisher - Part One - "A Rock & Roll Life"
Paul Crouse Radio Show #19 with Katherine Arati Maas - "Recovery, Healing and Taking Care of the Soul."
Paul Crouse Radio Show #17 with Rev. Taka Kawakami - "What the Bleep is Zen?"
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