“This morning, I must get off an “important” letter right away—one on which the success of a certain under-taking depends; but instead I write a love letter—which I do not send. I gladly abandon dreary tasks, rational scruples, reactive undertakings imposed by the world, for the sake of a useless task deriving from a dazzling […]
“I’m going to take your pulse.” I always say this to my new Jin Shin Jyutsu clients, after we’ve chatted for a while, and when we’re ready to begin the session. They often reply, “Oh no! It’s going to be bad.” Bad? Too fast, too slow, to strong, too weak. too irregular, too… something. What […]
Our world is overheating. We face this difficulty both externally, in the form of global warming, urban sprawl, and armed conflict, and internally, in the form of stress, and the challenge of metabolizing difficult situations and processing the strong emotions they evoke. In the face of hostility and violence breaking out all over the world, […]
This week I had the pleasure of subbing the Tubac Community Yoga class. I shared a Loving-Kindness meditation with the group, to close the practice, and something truly marvelous happened. I could actually feel the effects of the practice, as if every little cell in my body were vibrating at a higher frequency. Have you […]
I get into a mindset sometimes – maybe you do too – when faced with a difficulty. It’s like I brace myself against it. I dig into my strength. I might even get a little feral-cat-like. Growl! In Yoga class this week, I had a very comical reminder that I have other options. We did […]
In one of my most vivid dreams from childhood, I remember walking at nightfall in a great, dark forest – the kind with lots of water – dense pine needles and moss underfoot, huge, ancient pines and spacious canopies of deciduous trees draping their veils of leaves across the network of branches and roots below. […]
I had the pleasure of attending a great Yoga class earlier this week, at the Tubac Healing Arts Center, and the instructor said something that really stuck with me: “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Muhammad Ali Isn’t that the truth? On the […]
Well, my friend, we’ve just passed a tipping point. If you’re reading this in the northern hemisphere, then as of the Winter Solstice on December 21, the sun has begun slowly making its way back, bringing longer days, and more and more light into our lives. If you’ve given in to feeling grouchy – discouraged […]
This week I posted a little story on Facebook. I want to share it again here because of the wisdom in some of the comments it inspired: Last night I was dealing with some sad news and I started to cry. Aiden (2.5) comes up to me and says, in his sweet little voice, “Mama, […]
Today I’m remembering a teaching that Clarissa Pinkola Estes shared with us this fall, at a seminar called Seeing in the Dark, the Death and Resurrection of the Phoenix: “You’re going to suffer either way. From not doing your creative work – and from doing it.” For many of us, creativity isn’t a giant mural […]
