There are so many things in my life that I never would have experienced or accomplished without first having the dream. To name just a few: writing books; living alone in Paris for a summer; becoming a life coach and working for myself; creating a loving, lasting, intimate relationship; cycling through Ireland and Mallorca. My [...]
On an unfamiliar road, Don’t pretend you’re Not lost. Just ask where you are: It’s a real shortcut. Japanese Folk Zen Saying “We ought to listen to music or sit and practice breathing at the beginning of every meeting or discussion.” Thich Nhat Hanh “Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual [...]
“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 [...]
This week I received a lovely email from a reader thanking me for my book Serenity in Motion, which was first published in 2003. “I got your Serenity In Motion book many years ago, and it has been one of the only books I can pick up and receive a blessing from, even when in [...]
"... a new study conducted by researchers working in Wisconsin, Spain, and France shows that mindfulness can even affect your genes. Specifically, the study shows that mindfulness can limit the "expression" of genes associated with inflammation. "The changes were observed in genes that are the current targets of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs," study co-author Dr. Perla Kaliman, a researcher [...]
It's lovely to stumble upon a interview, and even audio, promoting the benefits of mindfulness and meditation! Check out an excerpt here and click the link below for the full interview! “Meditation is a practice, that’s why we call it a practice. It’s a behavior, if you will,” he says. When Allen began exploring mindfulness [...]
A term for mental training reaches the height of trendiness, and like yoga before it, may be leaving its mark. "As Soren Gordhamer patiently quieted a packed Wisdom 2.0 event in San Francisco in September for a guided meditation, a few in the communal meeting space known as the Hub couldn’t resist thumbing another message or two [...]
When I arrived last Thursday at Garrison Institute for a four-day Contemplative Care retreat and learned that there would be 108 participants, I gulped that number in and took a stroll outside to soak in the beauty and quiet before they all arrived. As I watched them stream in, I exclaimed out loud, out of [...]
The first thought that came into my head when I sat down on my cushion one day in late July was: “I don’t like my husband anymore.” We were in the middle of a NYC heat wave, temperatures rising each day to well over 90 and into the 100s. We had finally moved back into [...]
