One of the most beautiful things about being a mindfulness author and teacher is that, as much as I get to share these invaluable tools with others, I also have an ongoing opportunity to deepen my own mindfulness practices. In fact, I frequently share examples of mindfulness adventures from my own life on [...]
The landscape in the Sea of Cortez is magnificent. I imagine sailors hundreds of years ago witnessing the rugged cliffs, the jagged and smooth shapes and colors of burnt sienna, reds, beiges, and greens, awed by the gifts of nature. I kept snapping photos, trying to picture how I might paint such a [...]
One of my core values is to allow myself to age gracefully without the knife or the fillers or any of that, but I’ve noticed myself coming into conflict with this recently. I notice myself smoothing my skin up or back in the mirror to see what I’d look like if I could [...]
“Look at this catalogue, I had no idea this company was still in business,” remarked my Dad, sifting through his stack of mail. “Oh my God, I love that catalogue! I read it in the bathroom, I read it in bed at night,” I replied. My sister said she’s never seen it, but [...]
How many times have you just “stepped in it” with your partner, your kids, your parents, your boss, or your coworkers? Have you ever found yourself wishing you could go back and take your foot out of your mouth before entering that conversation? While I can’t offer you any time-travel tips, I can [...]
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I had the most bizarre event happen in my body. I was over the moon hopeful and grateful because the woman who does scheduling for my primary care doctor pulled a rabbit out of a hat: getting me an appointment with a pain specialist. It wasn’t that convenient [...]
I had an interesting experience recently that showed me what a difference being a long-time meditator can make when we encounter spur-of-the-moment stressors. I was having acupuncture done for my sciatic pain — my “ridiculitis” as I call it — when suddenly, I heard a blood-curdling scream. It came from a young child [...]
I’ve been home for 3 weeks from Bhutan. The 13-hour time zone difference contributed to the first 10 days to 2 weeks being a kind of blur. I was in a haze of brain fog. One of my adult kids was suffering so I was in heavy caretaker mode from the time my [...]
Yesterday morning after I opened my eyes, I rested in bed for a few minutes thinking about what my intention for the day would be – would I set my intention for ease, thinking about having the patience to pause before reacting so that I might choose a more skillful response? Or maybe [...]
24 years ago this week, I hemorrhaged at UCSD Hospital in San Diego, after pushing out baby A and baby B. The doctors didn’t notice uterine tissue on the placenta, which looked like a big mess of beef, with two hoses attached to it – the two umbilical cords that attached those tiny [...]
