Left Brain Buddha
the modern mindful life
Welcome to Left Brain Buddha! We’ve got all sorts of ideas and resources here to help you live your modern mindful life.
Dance as Moving Meditation
I would only believe in a God who knows how to dance. Friedrich Nietzsche Dance is intimately connected with spiritual practice and religious worship. Think of whirling dervishes, aboriginal trance dances, Shiva keeping the world in balance with his cosmic dance, and...
Dear Mom-to-be: Let me explain why I didn’t buy you a baby shower card…
Dear Mom-to-be, Perhaps you're wondering why I didn't purchase a card to accompany your baby shower gift. Perhaps you're now fearing that parenthood makes you so impoverished that you can no longer afford even the cheapie cards from the $.99 aisle. Or maybe you're...
Mindful Mantras for Kids
Mantras help us find the space to respond skillfully instead of reacting unthinkingly. They can help our children, too. Try these mindful mantras for kids!
Create a Meditation Space in Your Home
It may be easier to quiet the mind in meditation in a space dedicated to stillness. Learn how to create a meditation space in your home.
40 Ways to Bring Mindfulness to Your Days
While mindfulness may make us think of long sessions of seated meditation, it is also something that can be practiced at any moment of our day. Learn 40 ways you can incorporate mindfulness into your daily activities!
Celebrate Spring with Meaning!
For many of us, this is a special time of the year, a time for reflecting on rebirth, or liberation, or the natural world, or perhaps all three.
Left Brain Buddha is ONE!
Learn about the state of Left Brain Buddha and my plans for the future, and let me know what you want to see here in the next year!
The Power of Habit: Morning Meditation
How I am changing my morning routine to include meditation every day for a month… and hopefully longer. Read more for helpful ideas for changing habits and getting started on a meditation practice.
Teaching Mindfulness to Teens: 5 Ways to Get “Buy-In”
Many readers asked, so here it is… How can we teach mindfulness to teenagers? How do we convince them to disconnect and spend time in stillness in their busy, connected lives? I have some ideas…
Thank You for Listening
Last weekend, I auditioned for the Twin Cities Listen to Your Mother Show. It is a nation-wide series of performances dedicated to “giving motherhood a microphone.” For my audition, I read a story about my challenging mornings with my daughter, about navigating my way...
Back to School: Women’s History Month
In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m taking a break from the regular programing here, and entering teacher mode to share with you my latest vlog, “5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Women’s History!”
Do you know the first time women voted in the United States? {Hint: it was well before the 20th century!} Do you know the truth about how Catherine the Great died? Or how the bikini got its name?
You’ll learn all that, and more, in this short video!
Books for Left-Brain Little Buddhas
Some of my, and my daughter’s, favorite children’s books for explaining evolution, the Big Bang, the life of the Buddha, and how to practice mindfulness and meditation!
No Playing Favorites. Everything is Awesome!!!
Every minute of our rightnow may not be awesome, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t amazing. Through the decades, our dreams, our hairstyles, our favorite songs, and what makes us happy change. We change, as everything always does. We can find awesome, we can practice gratitude, and we can find favorites in every decade. If not, we’re in trouble.
I’m taking some advice from the song that has finally replaced my children’s devotion to “Let It Go” …
Primal Scream: Song of the Romantic Toddler, Song of the Exasperated Parent
In many ways, a good deal of our parental frustration is due to our children being little Walt Whitmans, tiny romantics whose loafing in the grass conflicts with our classical desires for order and efficiency. To that end, I’ve composed a {profanity-laced} mash-up that unleashes our inner beasts, primal screams, and barbaric yawps.
All Grown Up, and It’s Extraordinary. And Also Ordinary.
Perhaps the most unexpected part of being a grownup is how … expected and ordinary so much of it is. But in The Gift of an Ordinary Day, Katrina Kenison writes, “I think the word ordinary has a bad rap. We encourage our children to strive to lead extraordinary lives…. [yet] … It turns out that life is rich and full enough right here.” A celebration of the ordinary…
An Ode to the Shatterable Moments of Parenthood
The joy of parenting often comes in shatterable moments. Perhaps parenting is more like vinyasa surfing than vinyasa yoga. Let’s ride the waves and breathe, dude.
Time for Meditation? A Meditation on Time.
There’s this cool talent I have. I first became aware of it during a trip to Mexico in 1999. I was lying on the beach, spending a long day relaxing, reading, and enjoying the ocean air as I escaped a Minnesota winter with my parents and sister, when my sister turned...
{p.s. I love you…}
This Valentine’s Day baby is guilty of not being a romantic. But I refuse to feel guilty about it.