As a new year begins and I look forward to some new and exciting possibilities, I find myself coming back to these few words of inspiration that always ground me. I hope you too can sit with these a while and take them with you into this year and beyond. And check out more wonderful [...]
As the year draws to a close I look forward to spending time with family and celebrating New Year’s Eve in meditation with friends. On this last occasion of the year we will all write vows for the next year: what practices and activities we want to start or deepen, and what we might like [...]
I often get a little sad at this time of year. I think it’s from all the expectations stored in my body from when I was a kid. Especially the expectation that something with my name on it would appear under the tree to magically transport me to a different place, take away all my [...]
With the change in weather, the darkening days and the upcoming holidays, I’m feeling a little melancholy today. The words I chose to share this month resonate for me as I dwell in this mood, and I hope something here strikes you as well. Sending good wishes and healing thoughts to all my family, friends, [...]
How many of us know how to really listen? Do we know how to listen to our own mind as it careens out of control and races off on some tangent or other, into the past or the future? Or to others—our coworkers, loved ones, or strangers—as they attempt to communicate something to us? To [...]
With the changing weather, leaves beginning to fall, and the holidays and winter ahead of us, even in New York City I feel surrounded by nature. The message of impermanence abounds. "Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that [...]
Situating Yourself: What is Our Purpose Here? Like everyone else, you probably are searching for something in this life to satisfy a dream, a longing, or something that you can’t even name. As you begin to read this book you may even have an agenda for yourself. Perhaps you’re looking for answers to the gnawing [...]
On Sunday I will leave for the woods of Vermont for one whole month: To rest, to read, to restore. The approaching school year always brings to mind, change, new beginnings and exciting possibilities. It is engraved in my bones, my muscle memory and my heart. I look forward to it, but first the fallow [...]
I often ask my students, as Mary Oliver asks us in the poem below: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” As I plan for a month in the country, I ask myself this same question. This is my prayer for today, for my life, and [...]
“All of man’s woes derive from the fact that he cannot sit quietly in a room alone.” Blaise Pascal “As long as you are conscious of yourself, you can never concentrate on anything.” Buddha (by way of Walpola Rahula) “Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place.” Lao-tzu “Real strength is not [...]
