Category: Mindfulness

Burned Out: Rising Up Out of Anxiety and Stress

9/29/2020

Have you been checking the news? Often? Every day? Is it comforting or ramping up your anxiety? In an attempt to grab and keep your attention the headlines sensationalize the latest traumatic event in order to provoke a heightened emotional response. Your brain is geared to being alert to threats to your safety. Even hearing and imagining worrisome, shocking or disturbing events causes stress hormones to stream into your body. When you watch repeated startling images it can invoke a posttraumatic stress response. Your body does not know the difference between an event you are watching or imagining happening and actually experiencing it.....

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Waking Up from a Long Slumber in the Midst of an Existential Crisis

8/30/2020

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The shut down of the world came as a surprise. Did you even imagine that it would be possible for nearly 7 billion people to stop their ‘normal’ activities and go into seclusion? In my part of the world the retreat began in March. I was suddenly thrust into an alternate reality. But it took time for me to comprehend the change....

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Give Me a Break: Change and Transformation is Rocking My World

12/31/2019

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It has been quite a ride and sometimes as I look back on 2019, I feel like my life was swept up inside a whirligig with the continuous momentum pulling me from one relational experience to the next. It has been a year of connecting with friends, loved ones and new people, which has been richly rewarding. There are so many dear people that I did not connect with yet have been so present in my heart. I remind myself that there is time for everything and how valuable it is to pause and reflect on what this year has brought...

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Relational Awareness: Conscious Communication Matters

3/31/2019

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Your life is happening right now. Will you take the opportunity to connect with those you love and care about? Being able to communicate your thoughts and feelings with those you love and care about can be difficult but when you are able to share and be understood, there is almost no better feeling. It brings you a sense of place in the world. It helps you to know that you are cared about and safe. It can bring you greater intimacy and belonging. Skill is involved and many articles and books will outline the techniques of communication. Yet, at the heart of worthwhile communication is the desire and willingness to connect with honesty, kindness, well meaning and love. That can actually be a tall order....

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Assumptions and Judgments: Are They Ruining Your Relationships?

1/31/2019

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We all do it, make assumptions about the intentions of others. Words or a behavior of someone disturbs your sense of self or connection and you get triggered from the wounded place inside of you. Suddenly your thoughts go to the worst scenario about them or your relationship with them. Your mind goes off into a story about the meaning of their words, actions or inaction and it gets magnified. These unconscious habits create misunderstandings, conflict, fights and assumptions about the intentions of the other person or their version of the truth. Whenever you claim to know what was “really” going on inside of another, you are sure to induce a collision of realities. The battle becomes “whose version is right?” In all probability neither of you is 100% correct.....

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Unsolicited Advice: Helpful or Rude?

9/18/2018

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The need to “help” others or "fixing" the world and all that is wrong with it or whatever needs to be done “the right and proper way” has created a mindset amongst people with good intentions of overstepping the propriety of appropriate boundaries. It has become commonplace for people to give unsolicited advice even about the simplest of tasks. It is almost a thoughtless reaction by some to tell a stranger or loved one what they “ought to do, should do, or how to do something.” In the mind of those giving this advice it may seem to be helpful or even done presumably from a heartfelt place. Yet, unless done with permission, it is actually a violation of another person’s autonomy....

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Abiding with Stillness

12/31/2017

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Is the turmoil and chaos around the world impinging upon your life? Is your level of anxiety increasing? Do you desire relief from uncertainty and stress? The world is rapidly changing and it may seem overwhelming to constantly experience so much change. You may want life to be simpler, easier, and less complicated. You may have a strong desire for peace and serenity, for all of the turbulence, disorder and conflict to stop. You want to enter into the “good times” where life is pleasurable and you look forward to each day without worrying about anything. You want space to breathe and relax. You want the “noise” to stop...

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The Lost Art of Patience: an Antidote to Stress and Chaos

11/30/2017

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As the year winds down, you may still be feeling the intensity of the tumultuous changes that have been taking place in your life and in the world. The Chaos discussed in October’s blog continues. For many it has been a stormy and uncertain time not knowing what it means for the future of the children and upcoming generations, the economy, the environment and the human species. On a more personal level, you may be anxious about your own future. There is a heightened sense of concern about matters that were once taken for granted or ignored. Major upheaval in the world is challenging to your sense of safety and security....

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Dancing in the Grand Design of Chaos

10/20/2017

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Daily, you are being bombarded with news of disasters, endless tragedies, and destructive and dehumanizing behaviors causing you to be more aware than ever of the Chaos happening in the world. These random and outrageous events affect your sense of stability and security and may leave you feeling confused, disturbed, helpless and frightened especially when those unpredictable events cause death and destruction. You are connected in a way that you never have been before. Instant news and the Internet have created a dense enmeshed information web that envelops the globe. In any moment you can hear about a catastrophe at the farthest outpost on Earth. Your body knows even before your mind. You are feeling it energetically. You are connected through more than just the wireless radio waves that carry information. You are a cell in the body of humanity. Whether you like it or not, you are in a constant reciprocal flow with the human electromagnetic field coursing through your heart and processed through your body and brain....

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An Ode to the Garden of Home

3/29/2017

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Sunbeams, blue sky and daily temperatures rising into the high 70’s beckon me into the garden. Sweet birdsong from robins, finches and doves lighten my mood. The bright blue jacketed jays distinctly stand out as they sit in tree branches just beginning to bud out. I feel drawn to the mystery taking place under the dry leaves. Finding my garden gloves and wielding one lawn rake, one shrub rake, my favorite Felco pruners, and garden shears, I venture into the orchard. It feels so good to stretch my arms and limbs in the rhythmic motion of raking the leaves and shriveled stems off of the candytuft. Luscious green mounds appear to float above the ground...

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Getting to Know Your “Stand Up” Guardian, Anger

10/9/2016

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I have never been comfortable with anger. It is disquieting, to say the least. I prefer smooth, harmonious relationships with no conflict; where everyone gets along and is accepting, even when they don’t agree. Anger disrupts my inner peace. It is a brash, bold, incorrigible bully with power and intensity that cannot be ignored....

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Developing an Internal Sense of Safety: Much Ado about Fear (part 2)

9/16/2016

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“Anxious, stressed, scattered, I can’t concentrate and can’t sleep through the night. I am not in physical danger, but I just never feel safe.” The aftermath of fearful situations or the uncertainty that the world is not a safe place can leave you shaky, unsure and on edge. You have lost a grounded sense of security. How do you develop an internal feeling of safety? You may wonder if or even believe that a haven of serenity exists inside of you, but when fear arises you may wonder how to get past the fear...

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: the Golden Rules of Respectful Behavior

4/1/2016

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Do you want to have friends, be liked and create a fabulous first impression? Then, courteous and respectful behaviors are ones you will want to acquire. Being respectful, polite and having good manners creates harmonious relationships and connections. We all enjoy people that make us feel seen and heard. When people are interested in your opinions and interests, you feel valued and accepted. When people pay attention to making you comfortable and safe, and respect your personal space and possessions, you feel their care. A person who offers generous doses of kindness and consideration is likable, attractive and more successful in life....

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Whatever happened to Kindness, Caring and Respect? Why Kindness Matters

3/31/2016

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Have you noticed a change in mainstream cultural values especially regarding the way people treat others? You may wonder what happened to kindness, caring and respect? Have you sensed a growing acceptance of rudeness and disrespect as being okay? Somehow we have forgotten how to be nice....

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Red Fire Monkey and Your Inner Protector

2/8/2016

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Opening into Compassionate Presence
Last year of 2015 was the Chinese year of the Wood Sheep (Ram) where new possibilities, hopes and dreams were gestating. It was also a time of cleansing, releasing and facing difficult truths in order to form new patterns of connection. As you enter the Red Fire Monkey on Feb. 8, 2016, you step into a fresh opening where new aspects of yourself are birthing and developing a healthier connection to yourself and others.

Monkeys are inquisitive, quick, adaptable, intelligent, inventive and versatile; monkeys always keep you on your toes. It will be an adventurous fiery year of unpredictability. Monkeys are known to hop from one activity to another, so it is wise to observe what you really care about and what brings you and others love, joy and connection. There will be plenty of creative opportunities opening up. The key is to walk into the year with compassion for your vulnerabilities as well as your abilities...

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<<Previous

Burned Out: Rising Up Out of Anxiety and Stress

Waking Up from a Long Slumber in the Midst of an Existential Crisis

Give Me a Break: Change and Transformation is Rocking My World

Relational Awareness: Conscious Communication Matters

Assumptions and Judgments: Are They Ruining Your Relationships?

Unsolicited Advice: Helpful or Rude?

Abiding with Stillness

The Lost Art of Patience: an Antidote to Stress and Chaos

Dancing in the Grand Design of Chaos

An Ode to the Garden of Home

Getting to Know Your “Stand Up” Guardian, Anger

Developing an Internal Sense of Safety: Much Ado about Fear (part 2)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: the Golden Rules of Respectful Behavior

Whatever happened to Kindness, Caring and Respect? Why Kindness Matters

Red Fire Monkey and Your Inner Protector

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