I found the results of a recent Oxford University study truly eye-opening. Do you know what one of the biggest causes of unhappiness is? Eating alone! And I’m not talking about students eating alone in a cafeteria. I’m talking about all of us. We all do it. Loneliness is becoming an epidemic. Over half of all Americans experience loneliness and our
Continue reading » Alone Doesn’t Have to Mean Lonely
The following passage, excerpted from 21 Days of Living Mindfully: Your Guide to Conscious Living, (p.125) resonates with me as gratitude leads me and shapes my life profoundly. Living a grateful and loving life is the key to true happiness and fulfillment. Having a grateful heart and feeling kindness for one another – and from one another – is at the
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"A mindful life begins with mindful days." Sarah Ruddell Beach, Left Brain Buddha We’re hearing about mindfulness everywhere these days. That’s because there are amazing benefits to mindfulness and meditation! Much of the research on mindfulness and meditation reveals the amazing neuroplasticity of our brains — while we used to think that our brains
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“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anyone in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.” —Buddha The month of February focuses our attention on loving others. Cards are bought, candy
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“When viewing a person through a lens of expectation, we close ourselves off from being in the moment without judgment - viewing through a lens of appreciation for what is here now will change the whole experience - the lens we put on determines how we see the world - if each one of us changed our lens from expectation to appreciation, we can change the
Continue reading » One Word: Perspective
As the year winds down, the latter half of December is the perfect time to reflect and look back on everything you have experienced, discovered and accomplished during the past 12 months. A yearly review is also a great exercise in mindfulness and conscious living. It’s a way to slow down, reminisce about your favorite moments, make you sure you take the
Continue reading » 30 Questions to Help You Reflect, Appreciate and Get Excited for 2018
Sometimes we forget about ourselves, taking care of our own needs last, if at all. Isn't it time you committed to your health and self-care? A great place to start is to ask yourself the following key questions:
Continue reading » Self-Care: Questions to Ask Before Giving Up
And how to stop doing that. You might not think you have a morning ritual, but you do. "I didn't get enough sleep." + "I don't have enough time." According to Lynne Twist, author of The Soul of Money, we unwittingly think those two scarcity-themed thoughts every single day, before we do or think about anything else: "Before we even sit up in bed,
Continue reading » Two Toxic Thoughts You Accidentally Think Every Day
I dug excitedly into the soil, carefully dropping two tomato starts into the holes. I gently covered the roots, watered, and clapped my hands in glee. I knew I’d soon have gorgeous, plump, juicy red tomatoes, just like my dear friend Jane’s. I did everything I was supposed to...I thought. Although I watered faithfully, it wasn’t long before I realized the
Continue reading » My Big Red Tomato, Not!
I quietly tiptoed out of my grandparents home, dawn’s light just breaking. Green grass still damp with dew, I stopped to listen to beautiful birdsong before continuing my pilgrimage across the lawn. My destination, an old metal faucet that dripped little by little. I dipped my toes in the mud, feeling the squish of cool, slippery earth. Every morning, I
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“It was a quiet morning, the town covered over with darkness and at ease in bed. Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and slow. You had only to rise, lean from your window and know that his indeed was the first real time of freedom and living, this was the first morning of summer.” –Ray Bradbury,
Continue reading » Dandelion Wine: Summer Memories
She was up at dawn preparing bacon and eggs, fresh fruit: the smell of fresh bread baking, like the bright sun shining in the early morning, was indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight. We spent summers there, my sisters and I, in my grandmother’s kitchen, deep in the heart of Connecticut. Life was good, the days rich with the bounty of
Continue reading » In My Grandmother’s Kitchen
"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." Henry Ford April Fools' Day, recognized worldwide and sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, is widely celebrated as a day that tolerates practical jokes and general foolishness. In fact, the earliest recorded association between April 1st and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury
Continue reading » Changing Your Story
It happens every time I teach mindfulness meditation: someone thinks they've done it "wrong". I don’t mean "wrong” in my opinion, but in theirs. Somewhere, somehow, people have gotten the idea that meditation is some magical state, achieved by the most perfect of meditators, where the mind is blank and absolutely everything is tranquil and calm. Have you
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“Mimi, look! These thorns have a rose on the end!!” —Lauren Smith, age 4 While similar words were stated quite eloquently in the 19th century by French poet Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, “Some people are always grumbling that roses have thorns. I am thankful that thorns have roses,” my granddaughter, Lauren, had never heard the words of the poet when she
Continue reading » A Daily Practice of Gratitude
"Our time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
Continue reading » One Word: Courage
The holiday season is fast approaching, and while I love many parts of this special time of year, I also feel anxiety as my to-do list begins to grow. While my experience might be an anxious one, I know for others the holiday season triggers stress, depression, and sadness - making this time of year anything but merry. Whether you find yourself alone this
Continue reading » Navigating the Holidays Mindfully
As mother of the groom, I was asked to say a few words in honor of this grand occasion, on a lovely afternoon in May: I started by wishing that the day would be the most beautiful day for them – with many more to follow. I extended the wish to everyone: may this be our opportunity to cherish the same sacred memory –and to remember –despite any differences,
Continue reading » My Wish For The World
With the arrival of March, you may be thinking about spring…about emergence and new beginnings…perhaps about bright yellow daffodils breaking through the ground to delight the eye and dispel winter’s gloom. I wonder if you, like me, feel a sense of wonderment at the knowingness of nature. How these brilliant flowers, after surviving a season of cold, deep in
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"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important
Continue reading » One Word: Gratitude
