“It’s not happiness that makes us grateful but gratefulness that makes us happy.” – Br. David Steindl Rast
Setting the Ten-Thousand Things Down + So Much Loving
Joseph Campbell used to invite people to find some time in each day where you can forget who you are, who your family is, the successes and failures of your personal history… What remains if we give ourselves a few moments to forget all of that? I had the good fortune, (and the great support…
Read MoreResting in the Mess
Warm greetings! My beloved Carl is in the midst of a silent week-long meditation retreat with one of our teachers, Reggie Ray, in the still and spacious environment of Crestone, Colorado. Carl and I sometimes joke that we share a brain, and certainly share consciousness, and it’s been so wonderful to have a part of…
Read MoreFrom Fear to Love – What Does Your Shoulder Tension Have to Do With It?
Recently Erin and I were reflecting on a line from Rumi: “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” -Rumi Could you take that one in slowly? (that’s Erin’s hand with some of her finds from a walk…
Read MoreThe Glowing Embers of the Good + Embodied Gratitude
Our newsletter took a little holiday on Thanksgiving last week. If your inbox looked anything like mine, filled to the max with black-Friday and cyber-Monday deals, I bet you didn’t miss us. :) We had a great holiday at my parents’ home in Woodland with family from near and far. Though the nationally sanctioned day…
Read MoreDigital Sabbath and What the Spirit Reaches For…
First, a little Mary Oliver to begin with on a rainy Thursday morning… I Have Decided I have decided to find myself a home in the mountains, somewhere high up where one learns to live peacefully in cold and silence. It’s said that in such a place, certain revelations can be discovered. That what the…
Read MoreWomen Embodied, Our 2014 Schedule and a Lovely Poem
Lots of exciting stuff is brewing around here and I’m excited to share some of it with you. First – I opened registration for my Women Embodied in-person course a few days ago and already it’s more than half full with amazing women. Wahoo! I’m so delighted! Email me if you’d like to join us…
Read MoreMovement of Self-Compassion, Everywhere Heart, and Guess Who Turned 40?
We enjoyed a wonderful celebration of Erin’s 40th birthday yesterday. It was done in a classic, quiet, deeply satisfying Erin style…some good juicy new books to read on the couch, some candle lit time when Erin wrote notes expressing the great gratitude to the people in her life, and just some good old reflecting, celebrating…
Read MoreHow Are You Weird?
While I was away last week I got to dive into a great book, Fate and Destiny by Michael Meade. It’s a fun read for me as I so often read books from the Eastern traditions – and this is full of Western myths and Meade’s colorful and inspiring commentary. I wonder why I’m craving…
Read MoreThe Quiet Immensity of Your Own Presence
Just to the end of a solo dad week here while Erin had the chance to do a week long retreat with one of her mentors, Donna Farhi, in Seattle. The newsletter is a bit late, the dishes are not done, and I have a huge amount of respect for all the single moms and…
Read MoreYour Lovely Bones
First things first. As you’re reading this, could you make yourself maybe 10% more comfortable? Could your eyes soften a bit to include peripheral vision? (And doesn’t your neck like that?) Could you release unnecessary effort in your jaw? Release some effort in your back? Let your bones hold you a bit more? Ahh…. there.…
Read MoreMay I Have the Courage Today…
I’m sitting at my orange desk on this chilly morning, sipping hot water (I’m not a purist – I already had 2 coffees :) ) and listening to a cd of Tibetan Bowls I just got from Sounds True. Can I share with you a little bit about my incredible weekend? So full of gratitude.…
Read MoreNo Villians and No Victims
Just taking a moment as I sit down at the computer to feel the support of the chair under my butt, the weight of my two feet on the ground. Sounds simple, like some part of my mind could say “Oh, yes, I know that, support of the earth, I learned that years ago…” Yet…
Read MoreA Sinking Ship, A Precious Occurence, and A Free Download for You
I’m sitting on our porch, bundled up with a vest and scarf, a stack of poetry books, and a pot of green tea. Lovely way to start a fall day. :) I had such an awesome weekend at Snowbird over the equinox with a fantastic group of women. I feel so deeply grateful to do…
Read MoreHot Off The Press
We had a wonderful visit and retreat over the weekend with a great group of 30 people and Russell Delman, who expressed his sincere appreciation for our community here in Salt Lake City. We do have an awesome village here, don’t we? One of the themes from the weekend that is alive for me this…
Read MoreThe Power of Gratitude
Here in Salt Lake, the heat of the summer has released its grip and we’re enjoying a blustery morning of rain showers. This morning I’m feeling grateful, and inspired by gratitude itself. Meister Eckhart is quoted as saying, “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was thank you, that would suffice.” Brother…
Read MoreThree Things Your Must Do + Greetings From Cape Cod
I’m sitting in a white rocking chair under an oak tree, full of a rotating cast of East-coast birds. Just a few blocks from the beach, I can feel the sea in the breeze, see it in the particular light on the clouds. We’re enjoying our annual pilgrimage to Cape Cod, visiting Carl’s mom, and…
Read MoreBeautiful Book-Eating Pond
To begin with, a stanza from a Mary Oliver Poem, The Return: Rumi the poet was a scholar also, But Shams, his friend, was an angel. By which I don’t mean anything patient and sweet, When I read how he took Rumi’s books and threw them into the duck pond, I shouted for joy. Time…
Read MoreThe Half Life, First Day of School, and How to Become More Kind
Around here we’re celebrating the first day of school! Like all moments, this one has so much going on in the inner-life: the sweet blend of pride, concern and excitement, the amazement of how quiet and still our house feels this morning, a deep wish for him to be happy, to grow and unfold into…
Read MoreHello, Sweetheart.
A note from Erin: I snuck out of the house early this morning and headed to one of my favorite trails for a hike. Glad I had a scarf in my car as it was blessedly chilly in the canyon! I’m back home now, deeply refreshed after an early morning hike and a meditation practice…
Read MoreThe Elephant, the Vagus Nerve, and the Cheapest Room In The House
A note from Carl Greetings, Doesn’t Bonzey look comfortable receiving the support of the ground? How do you experience the support from the earth in this moment? I always appreciate when topics are alive in the field. In…
Read MoreWaking Up With A Gasp
I just returned from a wonderful trip to Asheville, NC, where I got to spend a few days with dear friends, with my business coach and with 150 amazing people who are stepping up to change the world with their work. That was fun! :) Here’s me and my coach. I’m feeling super inspired, and…
Read MorePetting the Lizard
I’ve been thinking so much in the last few days about the inner lizard – in essence – a funny label for the part of us connected with the deepest, most primitive part of our brain. The reptilian brain. It’s a part of us which is much slower to be neuroplastic than other parts –…
Read MoreIf you knew you were dying…
Way back in the day when I was an inspired teenager working at the old Golden Braid Bookstore on Broadway, I used to love to write inspiring quotes in various places to inspire us behind the counter. One line has never stopped touching me as intensely as the first time I read it and wrote…
Read MoreInner Divestment & Positivity
Oh, blessed rain! On the porch earlier this morning, the sound of rain dripping from gutters, the quiet of a holiday morning when people are not rushing off to places… a favorite line from Mary Oliver comes to mind: “Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning! Watch now how I start the day in happiness, in…
Read MoreThis Summer + A Great Poem
We’ve had a wonderful whirlwind start to the season with travel and guests, more travel and more guests and lots of good times. We’ve had family in town this week visiting from Chicago and Cape Cod. Mesa’s been in total bliss-land playing with his older cousins all day long for days in a row. It’s…
Read MoreSqueezing Drops From The Sun
Greetings, Just off the road from an amazing week of Embodied Life training in California. Wow. So much. In this moment I am touched by how powerful it is to witness this group of adults unfolding into themselves, ourselves…the openness, the lightness, the trust, the vulnerability…As one student and friend recently said of these practices:…
Read MoreTrusting Your Life
As I sit down to write this I notice a kind of forward pull of excitement as we are getting ready to drive to California for a week of training in our Embodied Life mentoring program. There is a vitality, a feeling like the needle of a compass humming northward… As I sit with this…
Read MoreIt’s Your Time
I returned late last night from a wonderful weekend in Atlanta with my business mentor and an incredible group of people from all over the world. It was my first time leaving Mesa at home – and honestly, I had a blast. :) I was honored to be one of 6 women featured on stage…
Read MoreIs it making you kinder? + How to ruin a good question.
Some years ago I read this line, and I don’t even remember where. But I’ve never forgotten it, and it strikes me as brilliant. “Why ruin such a good question with an answer?” – Jewish proverb I love open questions, and letting them percolate in my consciousness, never quite resolving themselves, but bringing light to…
Read MoreTo be Idle and Blessed and Last of the Drop-ins
This week I have been reflecting on a line from Stephen Levine- “If you knew you only had one hour to live, who would you call and what would you say? And what keeps you doing that now?” What keeps us from doing that now? This week there have been several reminders of the incredible…
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