Doing good isn’t just beneficial for us when all is going well; it boosts our spirits when we are struggling and going through big changes, research shows. Think for a moment about some simple things you can do to brighten up someone’s day. I’ll start... Hold a door open for them. Ask them how they [...]
Hi, friends! I just got back from my 45th high school reunion in Cleveland, Ohio. It was so nice to experience belonging, connection, warmth, and authenticity with old friends. We are all 63 now, and everybody was just happy to be alive and be together. I know high school memories aren’t so happy for many [...]
Hello my friends. Thank you for opening my monthly emails. I’m grateful to have you in community with me. I hope spring has sprung well for you thus far, for those of us in the northern hemisphere; for those down under, I pray you find ease this season. In April, I was fortunate to attend [...]
I’ve been dealing with a health challenge (another one!) for the last three months that has me using mindfulness, self-compassion, meditation, and every practice and treatment I can find to heal. I’m afflicted with eczema on my back, which makes it itchy and inflamed. I’ve experienced nothing like it before, and now, at age 63, [...]
Did you know that World Sleep Day is held the Friday before the Spring Vernal Equinox of each year? This was news to me, a sleep-challenged person! World Sleep Day, organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society, aims to lessen the burden of society’s sleep problems through better prevention and [...]
Imagine you are riding your bike for the first time since the holidays, after weeks of sitting around and overindulging. As you pedal up an increasingly steep hill, you feel your breathing and heart rate increase, like a motor revving. Not wanting to get discouraged, you focus on the pavement just ahead of your front [...]
I just got done teaching one of my weekly meditation classes on Zoom. It's so warm, wonderful, and healing. When I’m teaching, I'm meditating along with the group. It’s a refuge, calming and connecting — taking care of others and being taken care of at the same time. With everything that's going on in the [...]
“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.” – Albert Schweitzer Chanukah is often called the Festival of Lights or chag ha-ooreem in Hebrew. In 167 [...]
I was planning to write about gratitude during this month of Thanksgiving. Then on October 7, Hamas attacked Israel. The brutality and inhumanity of the terrorist attack is well documented and stomach-churning. At least 1,400 Israelis have been slaughtered, including 260 people gunned down, raped, and tortured at a music festival. Many of the rape [...]
When epic pain knocked me down, I turned to mindfulness and self-compassion to get through it. I just went through an epic body event that’s been incredibly challenging in terms of being vulnerable, needing and accepting help, experiencing pain, and navigating the medical system. Throughout, I used my mindful self-compassion skills to steer my brain [...]
