The 700 Club

As a preacher’s kid, I just couldn’t resist the pun!

June 30th marked my 700th day of Musing. Many thanks to InteraXon for bringing this amazing technology to consumers.

For more on my Muse journey, please see here and here. Please also see this video beginning at around 26:00.

I’m planning to lead some meditation retreats in 2022 (Covid got in the way the past two years). Each attendee will receive a Muse S and meditation instruction over the course of a weekend. More to come after I work out the details. ✸

Muse Milestones

Newton observed that a body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by some outside force. This so-called law of inertia concerns the physical world but also seems to hold true in psychology (and here).

And so it is that I’ve reached the arbitrary Muse milestones of 500 days, 659 hours, 5 million Muse points and three headbands (they’re like running shoes—you eventually wear them out).




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As prior, many thanks for InteraXon for bringing such amazing technology to market. Much appreciation also for David Godman for answering my many questions. ✸

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Endnote. Some notable books that I’ve read since my last Muse post have included Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Final Talks by Annamalai Swami and The Book by Alan Watts. These concern beyond mindfulness, to which Ramana Maharshi points to here [p73]

What advantage is there in meditating for ten hours a day, if in the end that only has the result of establishing you a little more deeply in the conviction that it is you who are meditating?

Do not meditate—Be!

Do not think that you are—Be!

Don’t think about being—
you are!

Happy New Year

I just completed a year of mindfulness* meditation with Muse, the brain-sensing headband. And what an amazing, consciousness expanding year it was! Many thanks to InteraXon for developing and bringing Muse to market. Also much appreciation for Stephan Bodian and Sister Mary White, my meditation teachers.


* Sort of. My practice has evolved from mindfulness to awakened awareness. (Please see Stephan Bodian’s masterful Beyond Mindfulness for an exploration of both.) Accordingly, I’ve adapted the way that I use Muse: I’ve turned off Feedback, Birds and Background (Session Volume Settings), which reduces the temptation to manipulate attention. Muse mainly serves as a meditation timer when configured in this way, although, as a doctor, I love to review the resulting EEGs.

My First Million

Meditation is my medication. I added Muse, the brain-sensing headband, to my meditation practice in July. I hit the 1,000,000 mark yesterday for “calm points.”

“Thanks a Million” is the alternate title for this post—as in, many thanks to InteraXon, the company that developed Muse and brought it to market. My quality of life so much better because of it.

Tech specs: I use Muse S in the constructive rest position with an iPhone 11 Pro, AirPods Pro and sleep mask. What’s going on inside my head is a little harder to describe, however, this post provides a general sense. ✸

Self-Care During a Pandemic

Update [10/12/2020]: Here’s the recording of the session. Enjoy!

Remember airplanes? In the event of an emergency, flight attendants advise us to adjust our own oxygen masks before helping others. I’ve always found that an apt metaphor for anyone in the healing arts.

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Tomorrow I’m presenting on self-care during a pandemic (but it could be any personal or shared crisis really). Not self-care for our patients and clients—but self-care for ourselves. The main message concerns the relationship that we have toward time and the present, although there will some other stuff sprinkled in as well.

Many thanks to the University of Minnesota’s Center for Practice Transformation for hosting the event. It’s not too late to sign up and the price is right (free)! ✸