The Power of 18 Minutes

This is one of my favorite meditations. It was not love at first listen though. I had to get past the fact that the voice sounds like it could be in a parody film....or a mentalist show...or may be about to ask me to cluck like a chicken...

Everyone will connect with something different, but during my trip to Jamaica in January, I mindfully sat on a lounger under a palm tree, where I could see the ocean waves, at sunrise and used every cell of my being to connect with the energy around me; to absorb it, memorize it, feel it in every part of who I was. The salty, light breeze, the heat coming off the warmed towels, the colors of the sky, the crash of the waves--I became part of it and we moved together.

So when I got home, I went to YouTube to find something that I could use to try to tickle my memories and coax out the pure indulgence of the experience; being lost in the energy of the space around you.

Most everyone I talk to acknowledges the need to find time for themselves to refuel and reset; to download and unwind, to reconnect and find a moment to be; but it is so easy to just get caught up in work and the laundry list of the day.

Eighteen minutes. This only takes 18 minutes and there are so many meditations out there that are shorter---longer--with forest sounds, or babbling brooks....whatever works for you.

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Keeping Afloat in Darkness - When Robin Williams is Gone

A few weeks ago Robin Williams was everywhere you looked. People were desperate for details; to find the one thing that assured them that his situation was so different from theirs that they are safe; that it could never be them. But if you suffer from depression, the suicide of such a brilliant, successful, individual; part of our lives for so many years and responsible for so many laughs; looks like a leak in your boat. A friend asked me, "Ok but no one knows what the future holds. Could he not see that?" For someone drowning in the dark spiral of depression, there is no future. There is only now. There is only nothing. The boat is gone. You are under. It is not about your spouse or your friends or your kids or career or fans or dogs or anything. When the darkness squeezes it is all about now. And now is nothing. It is bleak and empty and so dark, you cannot see a bottom, or edges or surface ---just darkness. "Some...

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Being Enough

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Shame is A Full-Contact Emotion (Brené Brown)

It is a cool outside this morning and I have on my fluffy red robe as I sit outside and watch the birds flit back and forth from the fence to the feeder----arrogantly tossing aside imperfect sunflower seeds to get to the good ones. The discarded seeds, some empty, some full, punctuate my deck, waiting for the squirrels, who will later claim this easy buffet. I am still reading Brené and The Gifts of Imperfection. Feels a bit like learning a new language ---I see the words---I hear the words---but the meaning is so diffuse...I need to read and reread and sometimes, even read out loud to make the words stick It is hard work. And while the smooth cover of her book lies balanced on my palm, seemingly weightless, many of the concepts have a density that knocks me flat on my ass ---like a large medicine ball. CATCH THIS ONE! Oooooooof! I am down. Eyes wide, trying to catch my breath, wrestling with the weight of hefty concept...

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