Archive for August, 2018
Permission for Joy
Thursday, August 30th, 2018
After attending the 5th and final year of Camp Good Life Project, I had a clear sense of what nourishes me. Connections. Conversations. Community. All of those fill my heart. Meditation. Mindfulness. Mantras. Those fill my soul. Letting the rest go. Clearing the way for what comes to me and fills me up with joy. As I sat on a rock looking out at a lake, I started listening for what I could give myself permission to experience to feel more joy and more peace.
Take a weekend off to play;
Read the entire Sunday New York Times;
Take a long afternoon nap;
Read three books at the same time;
Write from my heart all day;
Impulsively book a weekend get-a-way;
Connect more with nature;
Be open to not knowing;
Make room for what is next;
To experience JOY;
Love myself more.
What are you willing to give yourself permission to experience?
Do Work That Brings You Joy
Monday, August 20th, 2018
I didn’t set out to change the world. Most people I speak with don’t either. I set out to change an intense emotion – grief. It was important to me and over the years I have found it’s important to others as well.
People want to do important work. Work that has meaning. Work that brings joy. Work that matters.
I bring the best of who I am to my work and that is enough – I am enough. And what I have learned is bringing my best inspires others to bring their best too.
There will always be nay sayers (I have my fair share of those too). The gift is knowing what you offer and finding people who are open and ready to receive.
Changing the world is too big. Changing ourselves is about finding our growing edge and expanding from there.
If it’s not important, why bother?
If it doesn’t bring you joy, move on.
If it is meaningful and joyful, keep going.
Big gratitude to everyone who shows support with my coaching and shamanic healing practice and to those who attend my meditation and spiritual retreats. It is work that brings me so much joy.
Peaceful Mind, Happy Heart
Tuesday, August 14th, 2018
If our thoughts are peaceful, our meditation is also usually peaceful. If we have spiral or negative thoughts, then we describe our mind as unsettled. We might be unable to “stop” our thoughts.
The goal of meditation is not to stop our thoughts. It’s to notice our thoughts. It’s a place where we can experience a subtle change in our thoughts. Our meditation is as much when we are in the world as it is when we are on the cushion.
If your mind is a little peaceful then it’s possible to experience a little more peace and expand it. As my meditation teacher says, “If we can feel a little peaceful, we can feel a lot peaceful.”
Being Here—Being Home
Tuesday, August 7th, 2018
There was a time I was between here and there. Now I find myself between here and here.
I came across the above line in one of my journals and was reminded just how easy it is to move away from the present moment. I have released the notion of staying busy. I found the busier I was, the more exhausted I became. By making space for some quiet, I am able to find time for walking, watching sunsets, meditating, writing, and sitting. It’s amazing how busy we can convince ourselves to be!
As Thich Nhat Hanh says in his writing, I Have Arrived, I Am Home:
“I have arrived” is our practice. When we breathe in, we take refuge in our in-breath, and we say, “I have arrived.” When we take a step, we take refuge in our step, and we say, “I am home.” This is not a statement to yourself or another person. “I have arrived, I am home” means I have stopped running; I have arrived in the present moment contains life. When I breathe in and take refuge in my in-breath, I touch life deeply. When I take a step and I take refuge entirely in my step, I also touch life deeply, and by doing so I stop running.
Stop running is a very important practice. We have all been running all of our lives. We believe that peace, happiness, and success are present in some other place and time. We don’t know that everything—peace, happiness, and stability—should be looked for in the here and the now. This is the address of life—the intersection of here and now.
I have stopped running and I have arrived. For me, being here is being home.
Welcome home.