Today I lose another tooth. I can no longer keep track of how many have been extracted over the past thirty years - easily more than ten! The only ones left in my mouth that haven’t been replaced with an implant, or at least had their roots filled and crowned, are my bottom front five teeth. Even those, hanging in [...]
Twice a week I have the privilege to lead a mindfulness group for people in recovery. I’m surrounded by clients who have been hospitalized for attempted suicide, lived on the street, cut or starved themselves, been addicted to alcohol, methamphetamine, marijuana, or a variety of prescription drugs, including the epidemic Oxycontin. Most of them have experienced significant trauma, and all [...]
A fly alights on my face, right next to my left ear. Just then my meditation teacher says “Feel Everything.” So I resist the impulse to swat it away and patiently sense its little feet pattering across the curve of my cheek towards my nose. I wonder if for the fly the down hairs of my cheek seem like dense [...]
“Surrender is the art of flowing with the river of life, rather than swimming against it.” ~Unknown Every time I start writing this piece, my stomach starts to tense up, and I’ve already tossed out three drafts. This topic is the most charged one I’ve addressed in a while, and it’s asking me to be super transparent. Okay, here goes….. [...]
Have you ever been in a tropical rainforest? Up until two weeks ago, I hadn’t either. Little did I know how it would change me. Costa Rica took me on a wild ride into the realm of sensation. From the window of my bus heading into Lake Arenal, the landscape looks a lot like Northern California after a heavy rainstorm [...]
Do you ever feel like you don't fit in, or you just can't keep up? Even when you do everything 'right' you don't get the same results as your friends or colleagues, or even your clients! They surge ahead with seemingly boundless energy - serving customers, connecting on Facebook, writing blog posts, going out with friends, making dinner for their [...]
What does Support mean to you? Having a steady job or career, financial security, owning a home, being able to provide resources to take care of yourself and your family? Knowing that you can rely on your partner and community of friends to stand by you? Depending on a structure for your life that is consistent and reliable? There [...]
How was Valentine’s Day for you? Did you feel pressure to do the ‘right’ thing…. take your partner out to dinner, bring them flowers, and….. initiate love-making? If you’re not in a relationship, did you try to ignore what day it is? Or, did you offend someone because you forgot to send them a valentine!? Don’t get me wrong, I [...]
“Only to the degree that people are unsettled is there any hope for them.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Darkness is descending - not just the darkness of Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. For some of us, there is a deeper darkness that has been amplified by the presidential election. I’m wondering…. how has the election affected you? [...]
Our country - and the globe - are going through a huge paradigm shift. This election is a wake up call for all of us. Whether you voted for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, you are being called to embrace your humanity and innate goodness. Like those who voted for Hillary, I’ve been grieving, and in deep conversation with friends [...]