Emotional Hunger — What are you craving?
Last year, a starving feral cat claimed my garden for his new home. Of course, the food we offered him made his decision to stay much easier. Time passed and now he lives in my home and has become quite…
3 Steps to Appreciation & Happiness
I offer those around me patience, encouragement, support, a cheerful word, the gift of a smile – and most of all appreciation. Louise Hay I try to practice Louise Hay’s affirmation with every person who crosses my life path…
A Yoga Primer: Awareness—Body Sensation—Concentration
We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves, otherwise we harden. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Although many practitioners in North America may initially choose yoga as a physical exercise, in its essence it is a spiritual practice meant to awaken us…
Self-determination — You Can Heal Yourself
Whether you are parenting infants and teens or managing a team of employees, your ultimate goal is to develop their self-determination — the skills and choices that lead to healthy, happy, humane living. Simply stated but not easily accomplished because…
Continuously Learning or Sadly Surviving?
At a recent evening meal, I was surprised to hear one of the female guests say, “People don’t really change, do they?” Given the current organizational ethos — change is the only constant — along with women being the purveyors…
Resistance — The Path Out
Human perception (how we view the world) is dependent on what we experience in our body. The anatomy of any experience follows this sequence — first sensation, then emotion, then thought. Our personal experiences of sensation-emotion-thought are limited in that…
Keys to Growth — Accept Pain, Eliminate Suffering
Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Buddhist proverb If we have no control over external circumstances, such as people and events, then pain is truly inevitable. Given that we cannot control what life presents, attempting to avoid painful events…
Emergent Experiences — Endings & New Beginnings
Tween-to-teen, high school graduation and mid-life are all times of significant transition in every day living. In each of these times we leave the old and familiar to venture out into the new and unknown. Why? Because the old and…
Mindfulness II — It’s Art and Science
In last week’s blog, Mindfulness — In Pursuit of Wisdom, I equated mindfulness or calm awareness in the present moment to an elevated state of consciousness. Being conscious of one’s thoughts, words and deeds and their impact in the world provides…
Pain — Is It A Relationship Deal Breaker?
If little labour, little are our gains: Man’s fate is according to his pains. Robert Herrick, Hesperides (1650) In 1982 when Jane Fonda touted the words, “No pain, no gain,” she was referencing a physical exercise motto intended to build…
Authenticity — The Real Me
In last week’s RRRN meditation and writing circle, we explored our hero/villain archetype — the dual expressions or boundaries of our human experience regarding who we want to be. In our human search for purpose, direction and integration (the hero’s journey),…
Self-Actualization — The Inner Journey of Passion, Purpose, Potential
Our lives are not our own, from womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future. Sonmi-451, Cloud Atlas Realizing my passion, purpose and potential and then…