unstressing
Tranquility Practice: Creating Radiant Mandalas
There is a wonderful strangeness about meeting in a classic business boardroom for our Lunch and Learn series. A very large, stately, dark mahogany table fills the room. Two of the four walls are almost floor-to-ceiling glass. It is an elegant space that holds us well. This boardroom is transformed when we meet the first…
Read MoreFinding a New Whole: Self-Portraits
Each spring, I like to dig a little bit deeper into who I am, face some fears, uncover a long-forgotten aspect of who I truly am and hopefully move one step closer towards my personal quest for wholeness. In Jungian psychology, this journey is referred to as the path of individuation, a process where we learn and…
Read MoreCalming Practice: Creating Mandalas
When I arrived last Wednesday to set up for our new Lunch and Learn Series, Mickey and Linda were already there, setting up the registration table. Our “greeters” Donna and Mae arrived soon thereafter, and Evelyn was not far behind. These five women are our ambassadors. They are experienced, seasoned participants who are well on the…
Read MoreSet Your Monkey Mind Free
Being outside does wonders for my sometimes introverted, serious disposition and broadens my perspectives on the self-imposed weights that I carry. My weights — my worries — come in all shapes and sizes, colors and tones. Some of them have hung around for a long time; some are short lived. They all love to chatter…
Read MoreReleasing Anxieties to Gather Inner Strength
As we continue this summer to explore the art of the mandala – creating within a circle – our practices begin to intertwine. Our first workshop addressed how to release anxiety through the process of intuitive mandala drawing, which we featured in our “Mandalas for Centering Strength” post. During the workshop, we discussed the importance of recognizing…
Read MoreThe Art of Survival: Insights into the Arts and Healing | 2013 Classes
We Need More than Medicine to Heal Journey Through Cancer with Healing Icons I recommend Healing Icons to other cancer survivors as it has helped me reflect on my cancer journey… Having examined my feelings and fears, my hopes and dreams, I now stand strong in who I have become. – IS, 2012 In each…
Read MoreOur Inner Lives
Opening my Gmail this morning, I landed on a message from my daughter containing a link to the article How Not to Be Alone by Jonathan Safran Foer, saying it reminded her of me. I was deeply touched by this gesture, and it reminded me of all the cancer survivors I have worked with and of our…
Read MoreYour Springtime Creative Muse
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard This weekend, I wandered throughout my neighborhood, slowing way, way down to see my familiar environment through a different lens, traveling in my own backyard. As spring begins to…
Read MoreTuesday Tributes – The Pause Between
On this gray, dreary, misty, wintry morning, I sat on my mat at the end of yoga class and listened to my breath, especially to the pauses in between. I’m granted this opportunity every week I practice at my intimate neighborhood studio, Amsa, but this morning I especially savored the experience of surrendering, of becoming absorbed, immersed…
Read MoreThursday Travels
Travel: to move forward towards a given direction or path; to journey through or over a given distance; to follow a course or path, going from one place to another; to cross over boundaries and borders Travel Beyond Your Comfort Zone The idea of movement from a known, comfortable place to an unknown, mysterious place…
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