Ready to Stop Doing it All?
I hope you’re feeling relaxed and restored after some time off over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Whether you spent it locally or traveling, with family or friends, in nature or shopping, I hope you did something that filled your heart and soul.
While the holiday season is supposed to be “merry and bright,” for many of us it’s actually pretty stressful because there’s even more to do both at work and at home.
And with fewer daylight hours to do it all, overwhelm and anxiety levels rise.
This can quickly lead to insomnia, migraines, weight gain, digestive issues, irregular periods, or a flare up of whatever your chronic health issue might be. (Not to mention a lot of self criticism about how we should be doing it all, better.)
Motivation to Move your Body
Today felt like one of those days I would’ve rather stayed in bed. It was still SO DARK at 6 AM when my alarm went off. My body felt tired, like all I wanted to do was hibernate. I share this little story of listening to my inner wisdom, pre-commitment to my goals, visualizing the end point, and “Just Doing It” in the hopes that it might inspire you, during these darker days when it’s harder to self-motivate, to get out there and breathe the fresh air, see the sun rising and shining, and break a sweat. You won’t be sorry you did.
Fall Meditation Series
Interested in slowing down intentionally together, and tapping into the quiet wisdom of your own heart? We’ll incorporate self-compassion and awakening joy practices to help ease this transition into the darker days of Winter.
Please join me for a 4-session meditation and discussion group. We’ll start with a few minutes of Qi-gong, a moving meditation, and then sit for 30 minutes together, followed by a discussion and integration. You’ll leave with home practices to continue between sessions.
Seeing a Difficult Person as a Gift
I bet you have someone in your life that you’d call a “difficult” person. No matter how hard you try, this someone is a struggle to work with or get along with. You can’t avoid them, either, so this person is a source of pain. Work colleagues, friends, acquaintances, family members, in-laws, ex-partners, you name it…difficult people come in all shapes and sizes. For some reason they rub a sore spot in your soul, and you can’t just walk away and ignore them. Instead of spending time wishing they would change, or trying to placate them, If you’re up for some internal transformation, try this practice instead. Create an internal perspective shift.
Being with (and Easing) Unpleasant Feelings
Sometimes when we’re feeling angry, annoyed, sad, embarrassed, or any other generally unpleasant emotion, we just want the feeling to go away. Here’s a simple practice to try the next time you are feeling a difficult emotion at work or at home. This method will help you safely go into the feeling, which will allow your own self compassion to rise gently within you. And slowly but surely, it will release you from the suffering, or at least gradually diminish the intensity. (It’s more effective than ignoring it, pushing it down, or wishing it wasn’t happening!)
Get your Veggies! A Time-Saving Salad Tip
If you’re like me, you love a fresh healthy salad for lunch in the summer but you’re too busy to make one every day. It’s a pain to cut and chop and clean every morning as you’re trying to get yourself and your family out the door. And paying $10 for a fresh salad from the local salad bar just won’t do. So what to do?
Here’s my favorite preparation tip that adds those delicious fresh veggies to your week while saving you time and money. The salad assembly line: 10 minutes for a week’s worth of nutritious homemade lunches.