This year brought a lot of changes in my meditation practice as it has shifted from never-miss daily formal sittings, to one of more informal techniques and a constant awareness of awareness. Literally anything can be an exercise in mindfulness once you have a solid foundation, and opportunities for meditation are everywhere.

This isn’t an excuse not to practice. It is a way to incorporate your practice into every moment of your life.

Here are the 5 resources that stood out to me this year.

Sam Harris. I understand that he is not the popular with everyone, but there are very few people who can articulate the principles and practice of a mindful lifestyle better than he can. I am not sure there are many more articulate people anywhere in our popular consciousness if I am honest. Here are a few of his contributions:

His podcast, Waking Up with Sam Harris #4: The Path and the Goal – A Conversation with Joseph Goldstein, and the follow-up #15 – Questions Along the Path. The first two podcasts on his feed are useful as well – Mindfulness Meditation and Looking for the Self, respectively.

His book, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

Vivid Awareness: The Mind Instructions of Khenpo Gangshar. This and the next are both from the Tibetan tradition of Dzogchen, which I like very much once I strip away a lot of the more elaborate belief structures.

Flight of the Garuda. Remember, there is a lot to strip away here.

These short videos from The School of Life (everything they do is pretty great).

Burke on the Sublime

Wu Wei

The Love of Rocks

The Mind Illuminated. It would be difficult to find a more complete guide to meditation and mindfulness than this book, it feels like a full Masters level class in itself.

Not from this year, but my teacher’s book is always worth mentioning. This was my first real introduction to this world, and is one I still refer back to. A great first step if you want to learn more:

Soul-Centered: Transform Your Life in 8 Weeks with Meditation by Sarah McLean.

There are so, so many resources for mindfulness and meditation right now. This is good, but also means there is a lot of garbage.

Sift everything you hear and read, including anything I recommend.

Have a great day.