Showing posts with the tag “Mindfulness”

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• July 19, 2016
  19Jul2016

  Mindfulness and Ki Moments

  

  My 90-year-old mother is a positive force in my life. She lives independently, walks up to a mile most days, just passed her driver’s exam again this year, and is one of those people who makes you feel better just being in her presence.

  She took a fall in her kitchen recently and hit the ground pretty hard. Luckily nothing was broken, but her body, her confidence and her spirit of independence were badly bruised. 

  Much of my writing is about life’s ki (key) moments—moments of mindfulness in which you are fully aware of your life energy and your ability to influence your environment. Ki moments hold challenge and opportunity. How you handle them is what makes life interesting and powerful. This experience with my mom and her temporary loss of independence gave me a new perspective on life's ki moments...

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• June 7, 2016
  7Jun2016

  Single Most Important Thing To Manage Stress

  

  
  "The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."
  --William James, American psychologist

  
  A good friend sent me a great YouTube link recently -- a visual lecture titled: The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do To Manage Stress, by Dr. Mike Evans.

  Any guesses as to what the single most important thing might be?

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• April 12, 2016
  12Apr2016

  The Art of Listening: Presence and Mindfulness

  

  Listening--really listening--takes practice.

  And presence.

  Mindfulness.

  You can even practice it alone.  

  Set a stopwatch. For 15 seconds, stay quiet and listen.

  What do you hear? Try it again and see if you can hear more this time. What new sounds were there?

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• December 9, 2014
  9Dec2014

  Paying Attention on My Morning Walk

  

  I noticed the first feeling about 20 minutes into the walk. I’m sure there were many others before this one. It’s just that I happened to perceive this one and pay attention.

  It wasn’t new--a familiar combination of anger, regret, disappointment, and a general wishing I could go back and do things over.

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• October 28, 2014
  28Oct2014

  Happier: Thoughts and Practices on Centering and Mindfulness (Part 4)

  

  It's important to have fun with centering and mindfulness practices, and to know that you may not see a difference today or even tomorrow. Keep practicing, and look back in a year or two. You'll see what's changed.

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• October 14, 2014
  14Oct2014

  Happier: Thoughts and Practices on Centering and Mindfulness (Part 3)

  

  
  I snapped at my husband: "We're going to do it." (Subtext: whether you want to or not.) He snapped back, escalating conversation into confrontation--a common occurrence in uncentered conflict.

  I don't snap that often, so I had to take a look at my reaction. To do that I had to center myself. As Tracie Shroyer put it in her recent post that began this series on Centering and Mindfulness: "Something about intentionally taking a deep breath slows everything down. It brings perspective, quietness and calmness to a crazy situation."

  • How do you get centered, become grounded, mindful and present in life's difficult moments?
  • How do you know when you're centered?
  • What makes you lose it?
  • How can you catch yourself and re-center sooner?

  Today's post is about the connection between centering and emotions. Sometimes our emotional energy is strong enough to hijack our best intentions and damage important relationships. When emotions are high, it's like being in a car that's out of control.

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