Just saying the word benevolence makes me smile. In embodied mindfulness, especially in meditation, what we are often practicing is, in fact, the cultivation of benevolence. This week I led a transformative meditation on the benevolent body smile. We know…
VOCABULARY:Each Day A New BeginningJust For TodayEvery Breath You Take Words matter. For the start of the new year I thought it would be meaningful to reflect on the vocabulary that inspires us to practice both mindfulness and meditation. As…
One of my favorite meditation teachers talks a lot about how to keep the focus on ourselves. She reminds us that simplifying and being mindful in general is good. If we are experiencing strong emotions, difficulties, challenges, repeating this phrase…
As we enter the season of lights, feasting, and celebrations, I want to say thank you to all of you who keep opening, reading, and passing on Wednesday Wisdom. It has given me so much pleasure to share the teachings…
Pondering how to begin November’s Wednesday Wisdom, I felt hesitant, even a little afraid after events of November 5 in America. An email from a poet friend I deeply admire propitiously appeared in my inbox. At the bottom in tiny…
We are ending a gorgeous fall color riot in the northeast. It changes by the day; leaves falling in gobs soon to decay. In my lifetime, I can trust that spring will return with its blaze of color, beauty, and…
Courage is fear that has said its prayers. Attributed to Ann Lamont, American novelist and fiction writer Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear not the absence of fear. Mark Twain, writer, humorist, and essayist It takes courage to…
When times are difficult, I reach for kindness. When life is confusing, I reach for kindness. When all feels uncertain, I reach for kindness. Sharon Salzberg from her new course, Kindness in a Fractured World Kindness has been on my…
Silence is essential. We need silence just as much as we need air, just as much as plants need light. If our minds are crowded with words and thoughts, there is no space for us. Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhist…
I’d like to get away from earth awhile And then come back to it and begin again. Robert Frost, poet Don’t just do something. Sit there. Sylvia Boorstein, psychotherapist, Buddhist teacher, author Here we are in the middle of August,…
