The Meditation Tree

11/27/2025

Sharing some Thanksgiving Thoughts
First, I wish all of you a Wonderful and Memorable Thanksgiving Day! Although I spend less time posting on FB than many of you (part of my introverted nature, I suppose), I do read many of your posts and I appreciate your perspectives, your sharing of the joys and tribulations in your life, and especially having you as FB friends.
As everyone sits around the table and traditionally expresses those things for which they are grateful (most often family and friends), let us not forget to be grateful for all that we often take for granted. Early this year, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and after several months undergoing chemo, I reflected upon how lucky I was not to suffer as my fellow chemo patients whose diagnosis was far more serious and debilitating than mine. I am happy to say I am now in remission.
But my point here, is how we neglect just how grateful we can be for that which we take for granted, especially our own health compared to others whose physical health leads to unimaginable suffering Do we really appreciate the roof over our head when we see the homeless in our streets? Do we appreciate our access to food that not everyone in our society can afford? What about our ability to afford to a plane ticket or hotel accommodations…or having two cars or even just one? Do we ever give gratitude for our ability to breathe, or seeing, or hearing? Our job? Our retirement years? Etc.
So, perhaps, on this Thanksgiving, we can think more deeply about gratitude…..even re-commit some of our energy o begin a new habit away from the Thanksgiving table as we seek more time in our daily lives (even if just 30-40 secs before we arise from sleep or when we climb into bed at night). Did you know that research in positive psychology indicates that GRATITUDE is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Practicing gratitude can enhance mental wellness and possibly promote a lasting change in perspective. Gratitude and its mental health benefits can also positively affect our physical health. When we feel and express gratitude, we learn to focus on what we have, rather, than focusing or getting stressed about those things we don’t have. Again, my gratitude for knowing you… and enjoy your Thanksgiving Weekend!
Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for. Zig Ziglar

For those of you who may be curious or just wanting to seek some beneficial changes in your life, my next series of Mindfulness Meditation Classes for beginners starts Sat. January 17th, 2026. For more information or to register, visit www.themeditationtree.com.

11/02/2025

The Meditation Tree is a meditation studio/instructor located in Sherman Oaks/Los Angeles conducts Meditation and Mindfulness classes through group and private sessions. The practice teaches moment to moment awareness, how one can recognize self-defeating thought patterns, and how inner stillness ca

10/31/2025

IT’S ALL ABOUT MAKING CHOICES
CHOOSING to Stress about the political climate or all of your worst fears? CHOOSING ANXIETY over joy? CHOOSING to allow SELF-JUDGMENT or SELF-CRITICISM over your self-esteem? CHOOSING to allow your EMOTIONS and THOUGHTS to detrimentally affect your emotional health or physical well-being?

This is what makes Mindfulness and Vipassana Meditation so fascinating! Bringing this form of meditation into your daily life is not only a positive choice, but it’s a path to a more productive and healthy lifestyle. You will learn how your thought patterns impact your emotional and physical well-being. You learn how your thoughts and your reactions to them can determine your moods and feelings which often bring about stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, unwanted physical conditions, insomnia, anger, and even, depression.

Buddha said “You become what you think”. Emerson said "You become what you think about all day long". And, Brian Tracy, a Canadian-American motivational public speaker and self-development author of over 80 books, said- “If you think a certain thought long enough and hard enough, it becomes a fixed belief and you will find yourself behaving on the outside in a manner consistent with it.”

With an understanding of a Mindfulness approach, you will develop the ability to become a ware of those thoughts that cause negative reactions and then choose whether to accept them as truths or merely learned reactions that you picked up from others (Parents, friends, teachers, etc.) or possibly from your many life experiences.

Neuroscientific research suggests that around 70-80% of our thoughts are negative or unhelpful. Meditation can help you clarify which thoughts are true or false. Thoughts are not always facts...so we can’t believe everything we think. You will learn to observe your thoughts and then choose if you’re going to “buy into them” or just “Let them be”. You will learn to become less judgmental of yourself and others. You will learn acceptance of self and others. You will learn to become less defensive to what others say and do. You will learn how to bring a sense calmness into your life and you will eventually learn that within each us there is ability to find all the answers we seek to meet any challenge we may face, that through stillness and silence, we can tap into all of our own inner-knowing and wisdom. And you will learn an application of self-healing. These are just a few of the significant benefits we can learn through just 15-20 minutes of our daily life.

Our next series Six Weekly 90-minute ONLINE classes begin Saturday, November 8th at 10:30 AM (pst). For more information and/or to register, visit www.themeditationtree.com. Classes are by donation….so don’t let money be an obstacle to your personal well-being. This is a CHOICE about your well-being!

The Meditation Tree is a meditation studio/instructor located in Sherman Oaks/Los Angeles conducts Meditation and Mindfulness classes through group and private sessions. The practice teaches moment to moment awareness, how one can recognize self-defeating thought patterns, and how inner stillness ca

07/30/2025

To Be (Mindfully Present) or NOT To Be (Mindfully Present)? That is the Question!

A Mindfulness Meditation practice is about “BEING”, being present in each moment of life, being present for others, and being present within one’s own stillness and in the silence of one’s own mind.

I recently watched a biographical documentary about the musician and songwriter, Bily Joel. And one takeaway was his explanation about his creative process. He explained he had to create a vacuum of space for himself. He needed absolute alone time and to find stillness and guidance from within. We know from neuroscientific research that when we spay strict attention to the present moment, when we cultivate a state of calm and awareness, when we tap into our own silence, when we can “just be”, that the energy we tap into is a catalyst for creativity, new perspectives and ideas that can propel us towards a greater creative and problem-solving freedom. This is only one the great benefits of learning Mindfulness Meditation.

But to realize this benefit requires training and a full understanding of the concepts and techniques that we can acquire from a Mindfulness Meditation Practice. We need patience. We need determination. We need the desire to change our negative thought patterns, our negative self-talk and our unhealthy emotional reactions . And, we need to gain personal insight and to explore the innercore or essence of our trueself.

Sound daunting? I assure you it is not. Our thought patterns and thought process is acquired early on in our lives. Our thoughts have been influenced by our parent’s experiences in their life, by our teachers, by our friends and by many unhealthy defensive methods we have employed during our life, often, to protect ourselves from emotional and physical harm. We are shaped by our thoughts. We tend to believe every thought we have…without questioning them. We begin to believe that all of thoughts are factually true. So, we act upon them the same way, over and over again. And that can lead to continued stress, anxiety, and even depression. These unhealthy reactions to our thoughts, more often than not, eventually weaken our immune system and lead to detrimental physical conditions. We constantly find ourself (over)-reacting and clinging to our thoughts and emotions rather than responding to them with the wisdom we each have within us. Again, another benefit of a Mindfulness Meditation practice.

The list goes on…but the choice to explore the possibilities and benefits of a Mindfulness Practice is totally yours. The Meditation’s Tree’s ONLINE Beginner Classes (group or private) is a great place to begin. We offer 6 weekly 90 min classes in a manner easy to understand with slides, discussion, instruction, and weekly guidance. Just try the first class, then decide if such a practice has value for you personally. Classes are by donation! For more details, visit www.themeditationtree.com. Our next series of group classes begin Sat Aug 9th at10:30 AM pdt. You can register on our website.

We need to create change for ourselves, in a workable way, as part of our everyday lives.”
― Sharon Salzberg,

07/30/2025

New Series of 6 weekly Online Mindfulness Meditation Classes for beginners starts Aug 9th, 10:30 AM pdt. Register NOW at www.themeditationtree.com