Slash of pain, blood at my fingertip, then drips on the cutting board as I quickly wrap my finger in a paper towel, all the while berating myself for stupidly cutting my finger while chopping carrots. I paused the running narrative between my ears, thanks to years of mindful training, now I am getting aContinue reading “Embracing Pain: A Journey to Self-Reflection”
Tag Archives: metta meditation
Chills, goosebumps, tears. The metrics of awe.
A couple of weeks ago, the aurora borealis was so present, many that have never seen those sky fireworks saw sun sparks dancing right outside the doorstep. My husband tracked the time of the best show, packed his camera equipment, and hurried down to the beach a few miles away. I was sleeping, dreaming ofContinue reading “Chills, goosebumps, tears. The metrics of awe.”
Gratia is grace + kindness
I could feel the excitement rising as I walked down the wooded path. I had a bag of candles in one hand and my cell phone in the other. The path was covered with a layer of big leaf maple leaves, brown and gold and wet, so no crunch as I walked over them. ItContinue reading “Gratia is grace + kindness”
What is your hope buoy?
When I am feeling unsteady, uncertain, unmoored, irritated, triggered by whatever is current and present in my life—if, and that’s a big IF, I pause and notice, I can feel my face settle into lines and sags. My eyebrows fall, the corners of my mouth slide down, muscles of my jaw tighten and my neck constricts like angry snakes. You too?
Let’s decide together to be Aliens.
When I was doing my student teacher training almost 20 years ago, I was mentored in a class of eight and nine year olds. One day, a student wrote me a note that started— Dear Ms. Alien, and he told me thank you for being his student teacher. The note was sincere, didn’t seem tongue-in-cheekContinue reading “Let’s decide together to be Aliens.”
Off the mat; into the world
The morning fog embraced the land, sun rays slowly colored the horizon a stripe of orange just above the mist as I drove eastward. My car gently swerved along the curling river road as I moved toward the sunrise. My eyes were drawn to the ever changing light show while my mind circled, organizing aContinue reading “Off the mat; into the world”
May I?
Remember that kid’s game of Mother, May I? A line of fidgeting kids stand across the field from ‘mother’, the game leader. ‘Mother’ calls out a direction, like ‘3 baby steps forward’, and if someone moves without asking , ‘mother may I?’ they are out and return to the line. The one who remembers toContinue reading “May I?”