“It’s not happiness that makes us grateful but gratefulness that makes us happy.” – Br. David Steindl Rast
Your 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…
Read MoreThe Power of Attention + Do You Make Your Life a Problem?
This morning I am feeling grateful for my many teachers over the past 20 years pointing to this simple fact: My attention is one of my most powerful tools. How I use my attention literally creates my experience of the world. After years and years, I’m getting it in a deep way. Like last night,…
Read MoreAre you correcting yourself? Standing tall with ease.
Have you been outside yet? What new smells were there? What birds have made their amazing journey back from the south? I love a story that Martin Prechtel writes about his shamanic studies with his teacher in Guatemala. As the two would walk through the jungle, his teacher, Chiv, would suddenly stop and say “How…
Read MoreMesa is 3! Photos & Praise for…
I am feelin’ the love this morning. Feeling praise!!! May I share? We had such a fantastic week celebrating Mesa’s 3rd birthday. (We’re always up for stretching out the occasion to celebrate, and we’ve been doin’ it up for this birthday for a straight week!) We went to one of our favorite places on earth…
Read MoreDead Butterflies, What You Think You Know, and Mysteries, Yes!
A note from Carl ~ “I know her so well that she is completely and utterly unknown to me.” -Gabriel Garcia Marquez (speaking of his wife) This morning I am enlivened by the kind of knowing that is described by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Do you ever find yourself thinking “Oh, I already know that…’” ?…
Read MoreIs Your Body too Small for You?
Good morning! I just came downstairs from my meditation cushion with a thought/insight/remembrance that I want to share with you. My body is too small for me. And my guess is your body is too small for you too. Here’s some food for thought from two wonderful teachers: “In both Western and Tibetan cultures, having…
Read MoreCalling to Your Hidden Wholeness and 2 favorite Poems
Happy rainy spring morning to you. We are still basking in the delight of having had Russell Delman in town for an Embodied Life weekend. What comes to mind as I reflect on the weekend is a line from Rachel Naomi Remen on the root of education: Educare- the root of the word education means “to lead…
Read MoreA note from Erin
I’ve been having fun falling for a new (to me) poet, Tara Mohr. This morning, contemplating my brave choice to relax with the piles of paper on my desk and that sense of “It’s ok for me to be as I am” reminded me of this poem of hers which I’d like to share. It…
Read MoreA note from Carl
“Serious mind is always exhausted,but play mind always has energy.” -Thinley Norbu Rinpoche “Through awareness, we can learn to move with astonishing lightness and freedom at almost any age.” – Moshe Feldenkrais “This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And…
Read MoreTrusting Your Hut (that’s not a typo), Sharing Your Gifts & Poems for Spring
Carl and I had great fun on our date night this week dreaming up and planning out our teaching schedule through January 2014. There’s SO much that wants to come through the two of us, and we both feel we’re just barely opening the flood gates to allow it to emerge. I hope you’ll take…
Read More