Hiding from fear At New Year’s last year, I set my intention as streamlining. I wrote just a couple of weeks ago about how my understanding about the intention has evolved. As with anything that you stick with for a while, it continues to evolve in wholly unexpected...
Several weeks ago when I checked in with the folx in my online community to ask them how they are – for real – I started to get slightly different responses. I’d heard them name exhaustion, anxiety and stress many times before. But this time, they also started to use...
I want to take intentional time away from screens. I know it would be good for me. I find myself scrolling too much. I even do it before bed and as I wake up in the morning. It’s got me a little strung out, to be honest. Tiffany Shlain’s book, 24/6: Giving Up Screens...
A fantastic group assembled for my Summer Solstice Restorative Yoga Celebration last week. And we continued that remarkable energy in our last session of the Liberation Series during the Wednesday yoga class. I'm seriously still doing a happy dance!...
Presence. That’s the word that emerged when Sharon Salzberg, the well-known Buddhist meditation teacher and author, invited us to reflect on dharma. The Buddhist concept, which can be understood in a wide variety of ways, can mean that which sustains us or what we can...
I’m nervous about my next yoga series. That’s a good thing. I just started a yoga series for the Christian season of Lent that explores Christian prayer practices, yoga movement (asana) and breath (pranayama), and some of the teachings of yoga (yamas/niyamas). It’s a...
I had been wondering whether the pandemic turned this raging extrovert into an introvert. Although I’ve been comfortable being alone for some time, I feel even more at ease now. I even want to stay home by myself sometimes! Also a consummate traveler before the...
In the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to make exercise a higher priority than it’s been in the past year. My gym location closed due to COVID, which meant my master’s swim group lost its space to gather. The pressure of starting a business ate into the time I would...
“When your mind turns to judgment, instead turn to wonder.” This was one of the guidelines for behavior at a retreat I attended years ago. It really grabbed my attention and caused me to reflect. My habit of judging others’ behaviors, choices and mistakes is deeply...
I swear I had nothing to do with it ending this way. It just so happened that on the last Saturday of my August Birthday Month of Abundance, I completed a two-year rewatch of the 2004-2010 ABC series Lost. I joined up when I discovered The Storm Podcast was...
When I worked in a regional role within the United Church of Christ, I used to help local churches develop vision and plan for their futures. In these sessions, I would often sound like an annoyingly curious three-year-old or deranged parrot. I would ask variations on...
When I suggest that teams adopt rituals as part of their meetings, gatherings or practices, I get perplexed, awkward, uncomfortable stares back at me. I imagine the reasons for those strained looks varies from person to person, team to team. I’m guessing that much of...
Complicated feelings have been part of Memorial Day since its inception. Being a church nerd who loves ritual, I searched for the origin story of Memorial Day recently. Within seconds, (Thank you, interwebs!) I found a fascinating article about how David Blight, a...
“We’re all storytellers.” The truth of the statement washed over my skin in tingly waves. I paused, drew a deep breath and continued our conversation about our recent Sparking Creativity Retreat. I had been incubating the idea for a retreat like this for years. Back...
I don’t remember much from sixth grade, but I have vivid memories of my teacher’s after-lunch reading ritual. The ritual was simple: We’d read our way through a book, a chapter at a time each day after lunch and recess. I’m terrible at remembering details, but somehow...