My mom has a friend visiting who she hasn’t seen in about 20 years. Deborah’s visit is a beautiful gift for my mom, and I am incredibly grateful she has come to visit. My mom has wondered about her many times since they lost contact several years ago. They were friends when Deborah lived in New Orleans, and stayed in touch for a while when she moved back to Australia. Read the rest of this entry ?
Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’
The Gift of Friendship
October 22, 2011Big Adventures and Courage
October 11, 2011“Don’t be afraid to change. You may lose something good, but you may gain something even better.” – Leslie Esdaile
Nine years ago today I left for a Peace Corps assignment and I won’t lie, it was daunting but exciting to make this change. I didn’t know how it could help me grow personally but I was certain it would. I didn’t realize I needed to learn greater flexibility and patience and would practice it often. I just knew I wanted to meet different people and gain a deeper understanding of another culture. Living with a family there was the most challenging and rewarding of this big adventure. It was a rich, complex experience that tested my courage and introduced possibilities I continue to contemplate.
Exploring with My Journal
October 8, 2011
One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to set out on an exploration with my journal. I have many fond memories of writing outside at various hotels, or in the woods, or at a sidewalk café, or in a park. I love to write outside and I’m always curious what inspirations will come to me when I write in a new place. I love being adventurous and just seeing what’s ahead, around the bend, or over the hill. Read the rest of this entry ?
Healing – The Next Chapter for Me
October 1, 2011
I am celebrating my birthday tomorrow at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine Professional Training Program in Washington DC. The program started today and lasts through Wednesday. Approximately 200 attendees are learning how they can more fully integrate mind-body medicine into their practices. I am incredibly grateful to be giving myself the gift of being here to learn and grow and make new connections. Read the rest of this entry ?
The Park Supports My Well-being
September 10, 2011
As I sit eating lunch in the park near my office, I am grateful for all the experiences I’ve had here and that this place holds so many memories. I used to live near here and take walks through the neighborhood, which is how I first learned about the park. Once I discovered it, I started coming here for calls with my first coach Cookie because it was a close place to escape from my office.
Committing to Optimum Well-being
September 3, 2011
I have learned commitment is key to achieving optimum health and well-being. Establishing and implementing routine practices to support my well-being allows me to maintain my commitment consistently. Following are the activities I do on a regular basis to support my optimum well-being with links to some previous posts: Read the rest of this entry ?
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Too Hard on Yourself?
August 27, 2011
The writer’s prompt I turned to today in the One Year Hook Book asks “are you too hard on yourself?” My first thought was that I am less hard on myself than I used to be before I learned the incredible value of being kind to myself. Now when I start to beat myself up in my mind, I know that those thought patterns have no positive benefit and I choose to shift my thoughts to a direction that better supports my well-being. Sometimes making the shift is more difficult than other times, but I know how important it is to go easy on myself. Read the rest of this entry ?
Another Turtle Hatching Year
August 25, 2011Friday night we arrived at the loggerhead sea turtle nest that was to be excavated around 6:30pm. Having become a volunteer with Share the Beach, L was hoping to get to help. The team arrived shortly thereafter, and as 7 or 8 folks looked on, me included, the digging began and Read the rest of this entry ?
Encouraging Friends in Distress
August 13, 2011
I have several friends and family members facing tough times right now. One has been diligently looking for a new career opportunity for several months without the luxury of having a job right now, another is supporting her husband’s healing from cancer, one recently relocated to regain shared custody of her children and lost her job within weeks of the move, another lost her teacher pay for the summer because she took too many days off to care for her disabled daughter who was in a car wreck at the end of last school year – and that was on top of the miscarriage she experienced two days before her daughter’s accident. Read the rest of this entry ?
Cornerstones of Self-Care
July 23, 2011Today I attended the Gulf Coast Community Day in Grand Isle organized by the Mind Body Center of Louisiana. It was an uplifting, informative experience and a joy to spend the day with wonderful people who are making such a difference in the world. Dr. Gordon and others from the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, which he founded in Washington DC, just returned Thursday from two weeks in Gaza supporting mind-body skills training groups that are addressing the trauma of life there.
Dr. Gordon highlighted the importance of taking an active role in your own health care. I loved his statement “Self-care should be the heart of all health care”. He discussed four cornerstones of self-care: relaxation, movement, nutrition, and connecting with others. Read the rest of this entry ?
