In honor of Mother's Day - this post is about being a Mother. It is a tribute to our mothers - the actual mothers we have had - but it is also a tribute to the mother that is within each one of us, every day, all of the time. Read below to see what I am talking about… :)
We have all been ... Views: 1041
Question:
In the long form, my question is this; I am at a cross roads in life with regard to what direction I should take on my career (dharma) path. I am in the film business and I am not fulfilled with being on the managerial production side of things. I have finally made a decision to take ... Views: 1090
Loneliness gets to some more than others. But why it hangs on isn’t always apparent when read by traditional medical eyes. In my practice and workshops I’ve been struck by how many sensitive, empathic people who I call “emotional empaths” come to me, lonely, wanting a romantic partner, yet ... Views: 1866
Hello everyone,
This week on My Path to Green, I made some non-toxic cleaning products from things I already had in my kitchen (well I had to get the lavender oil). My guide this week was Annie Bond and her "5 Simple Alternatives to Toxic Cleaning Products". At first I was not sure that these ... Views: 753
Dear Arielle and Brian,
My name is Maria and I’ve been raising my two daughters on my own, for 15 years, working very hard to provide the best that I could for them. Now that they are now both in college and I am 57 years old, I have decided to think a bit about myself, and who knows maybe find ... Views: 1416
Question:
I'm in my early 30s and I've never dated anyone that I didn't meet through online dating or speed dating. While I've met some good people through these means, I always feel it is a little forced and wonder what people did before we had these things. I don't meet many single men I'm ... Views: 625
This Sunday Michelle Obama will spend her first mother’s day in the White House. We don't know much about the surprises planned -- other than that they will almost certainly involve her two daughters, her happens-to-be-President of a husband and a dog named Bo. Yes, she already gets a fantastic ... Views: 524
When I was a young girl I was so unsure of myself. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up but I knew one thing for sure, I wanted to be a mother. It doesn't sound like I was much of a feminist does it ? I had no idea that when I became a mother how much more of a feminist I would be! ... Views: 650
Question:
As an "elder Law" attorney, I counsel clients daily who are experiencing the "losses" associated with declining bodies and minds. But I KNOW that the real self is intact and eternal and PERHAPS that this time of decline is a time to FINALLY realize their essential connection to ... Views: 1507
In my last Intent posting I discussed the healing with my mother which was positive outcome after many years of friction.
The metaphysics of the relationship with my mother were obviously very karmic. My mother and my father were the perfect parents for me. Throughout my younger life the lack ... Views: 919
What does it mean to be a man? Strong and brave? Sensitive and sweet? Unfortunately, this is a question that gets little attention in the public sphere today, leaving so many of us gentlemen unenlightened. In my experience, growing up in a solidly progressive area of the US (the Pacific ... Views: 1334
According to family legend, my relationship with my mother did not start well.
Just after I was born, I developed a bad case of eczema. It was determined that I was allergic to my mother’s breast milk, along with most of the baby formulas on the market back then.
While my mother was ... Views: 671
If my clientele is any indication, many of us have psychospiritual garbage around our mothers. A client sent this story to me via email. It seemed perfect for the aftermath of Mother’s Day.
“One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when ... Views: 1452
The Buddha said that life was suffering. He also said that suffering was caused by desire. Our desire is fueled by fear, sadness, frustration and envy. By dropping our feelings of desire, we can end our suffering.
The opposite of desire is acceptance and gratitude. If we accept our current ... Views: 1237
Close your eyes and imagine an endless blue sky underneath your eyelids.
When your mind begins to think, for example, "I wish I was sitting on the beach with this blue sky instead of in my bedroom", see the thought on a puffy white cloud and watch it float through the sky.
When your mind asks, ... Views: 1523
When my son was little, he often had trouble falling asleep – he had night terrors that caused him to be fearful. Often to calm him, I nestled beside him in his bed and rubbed his back until he dosed off. I began to talk him through a guided meditation that I used on myself, and which in time ... Views: 542
A little while ago I had an "AHA" moment. Actually it was more of a "shower-of-bricks-on-the-head" moment. I realized that my life had become a flurry of tasks over which I gave little thought. I was back on the hamster wheel, spinning constantly and getting nowhere.
Late last year, during a ... Views: 711
What does a mother do on Mother’s Day, or every day for that matter, when one of her children has died? What does she do with the emptiness of that child’s non-presence, even as she continues to receive joy from her living children? Does she reach out to her deceased child through prayer? Does ... Views: 883
My mother is no longer living in a physical body, and that makes mother’s day different than it used to be. While my relationship with my mother was difficult, I still miss her very much. She was not well emotionally most of my life, and so life with mother was complicated. But I still miss ... Views: 1112
I’ve always fancied time travel. When I was younger, I wanted to travel into the future. I dreamed that life at 30 would be sophisticated; I would dab Coco Chanel on my wrists before stepping out of my New York City apartment for a glass of champagne with friends. Now I long to travel into ... Views: 556
I was going to stay off the computer today as a Mother’s Day gift to myself,until I realized that being able to write to, for, and about you is in itself a gift.
That hit me hard last night when, distracted by conversation, I closed my index finger in my car door and for a moment thought I’d ... Views: 782
This day for my newly formed and combined family is about a search for simplicity within the complications of modern day life: absent mothers and fathers, present mothers and fathers, surrogate parents within loving friends, and even the gift of new grandparenthood.
A mother only has to be a ... Views: 652
Emu was a monkey. She lived on a small island with about a hundred of her kind. Barely visible on the horizon were other islands with more monkeys. She never saw them, nor did they ever see her. But they were of the same species and shared similar lives and behaviors.
Of course, it was not her ... Views: 1154
A mother’s love is a unique and powerful force of nature. With built in benevolence, understanding and sharing, a mother’s love is extremely special. Any child who has been graced by a loving mother would attest to this as being one of the most influential factors in creating a happy life. ... Views: 563
A little tid bit of information I read on Facebook today sparked this blog. A friend reported he had seen his first Colorado Rattlesnake on a popular trail out here. I commented, congratulating him, offering to show him more. He replied that the snake was very unhappy because people were ... Views: 588
Mothers tend to give so much of themselves, and in the process, can lose their sense of identity. The following are suggestions to help create balance and harmony in your life.
Appreciate your abilities as a mother.
Forgive yourself; even mothers make mistakes. Do the best you can ... Views: 628
Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful, nurturing women in the world! i think we are all mothers in some way. We give birth through our creativity and our caring. We garden, feed the birds, volunteer, parent our pets. There is an intuitive sense of care-taking that just comes with being a ... Views: 533
This posting, written by my colleague and collaborator Julie van Amerongen, celebrates Authenticity as a core principle of Working for Good.
Authenticity is certainly worth cultivating. Like happiness, profits, and other such things, it tends to be the result of focusing on other things, rather ... Views: 1205
Eco-beauty…it conjures up images of ecologically-friendly beauty products, doesn’t it? Well, valuable as those may be, I have something else in mind. Specifically, what is your beauty ecology?
This means how do you look at yourself versus how do you look at the world around you. Sometimes ... Views: 855
For some of us, mother’s day was wonderful and beautiful. Hopefully we can give thanks today for the wonderful times we shared yesterday with our families.
For others, mother’s day was tearful and sad. My thoughts go out to all those in grief who no longer have mothers who are living in the ... Views: 933
Today started in typical Monday style - all sorts of things needing to be done, some of which were rather time-consuming. I found myself wrestling with getting the video interviews onto my website, unsuccessfully. They are on Youtube, on Facebook, but not - as yet - on my website. Clearly this ... Views: 606
There is no greater way to escape the troubles of daily life than to ascend into the welcoming embrace of a tree house. Like a bird in its nest, we feel held and safe in the branches, cloaked within a curtain of green leaves. Here we can breathe more freely and think more clearly, our hearts and ... Views: 706
Sugared drinks are fattening because the human brain does not recognize liquid sugar as calories to make you eat less food. We get our sugar in drinks in three forms: glucose, fructose and sucrose (glucose and fructose bound together in a single molecule). Now a report from the University of ... Views: 661
Dating is a process with a beginning, middle and end. Very importantly, the process is different depending on why you are dating.
If you are Dating to Find Your Ideal Partner, be crystal clear; the more you know what you want the more likely you will be successful finding your ideal partner. ... Views: 4362
Earth-based spirituality is based on reverence for the earth and all of its inhabitants and has been practiced from antiquity to the present. Its roots lie in the shamanic wisdom of the ancient Caucasian peoples of Britain, northern Europe and Scandinavia; the Taoist teachings of the East and ... Views: 647
So often people will ask me after I've shared a leadership concept with them: "Great. Now can you give me some tools to apply that idea?" I'll most certainly agree that tactics that create results are ever so important. But may I equally suggest that sometimes, the very idea is the tool. A ... Views: 584
"A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us." - Franz Kafka
When I was working abroad in Japan and going through a particularly miserable period of my life, a friend offered to lend me her copy of A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. Though I had heard of The Power of Now several times ... Views: 1367
Ah, spring has sprung! And like every year with the melting of the snow means the shedding of those winter clothes. But before you bare it all doll, I want to give you the skinny on that skin of yours.
Did you know that the skin is the largest organ of the body? As we recognize May as ... Views: 820
We recently flew across the country with my youngest sister and her nine-months-old baby son.
He didn’t sleep.
At all.
Not a wink.
For five and a half hours.
On an airplane.
Are you squirming yet?
Okay, I’m just teasing you. Everything I said above is absolutely true, but our ... Views: 787
There is power in planning—you make a budget, you’ve got a map to anywhere you want to go. But, for all the plan making and budget creating that I encourage, the real power is in the honesty you bring to the table.
The truth is sneaky sometimes. We think we’re speaking it. Playing our cards. ... Views: 747
Mindlessness equates what is with what is expected to be: when on auto-pilot, the mind rounds up and approximates reality into already-familiar patterns and categories. Hence, the “if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck,” conclusion.
The result is what Buddhists ... Views: 664
Question:
You often speak about the "All Is One" concept, and I am re-reading "Anatomy of Spirit" while working with my root chakra to deal with all my tribal issues, and Caroline Myss is also writing of "All Is One." But as often happens when I contemplate that "sacred truth", I would like to ... Views: 705
My cousin, Aparna, and I had a tradition when we were growing up.
Every year, when I visited India, Aparna and I would sit up all night and watch the movie, The Thorn Birds, starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. We probably did this for over 10 years, and the night before I got ... Views: 1138
It is paradoxical: No matter how many books you read about awakening, you won't experience awakened consciousness using the part of your mind that's doing the reading!
Some of the best books I've read on Awakening help the reader get beyond the "self" and integrate aspects of that expanded ... Views: 1917
If you look in the mirror and view your profile from each side, you may notice that the two sides of your face are slightly different from one another. Additionally, your left hand is similar to but different from your right hand. In fact, these subtle differences pervade both sides of your ... Views: 4807
Do you suffer from cellulite or fatty deposits? Do you experience aches and pains? Are you overweight? Do you experience abdominal bloating? Do you feel bloated or have areas on your body that seem pudgy? Have you been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrom, multiple ... Views: 1162
As someone that has spent nearly forty years studying human behavior, compulsion, mind body relationships and addiction, I have seen over and over again how addiction can be shattering to our hearts, self image, and sense of stability in the world.
I am in the process of designing a program ... Views: 2637
In the United States, we pay for our tap water (either through a direct bill or taxes), and then we pay again when we buy bottled water - forty percent of which comes from municipal sources, which means it's still essentially tap water.
Why are we paying for it twice? We pay more for water than ... Views: 844
Hello again,
This week I continue My Path to Green by "greening" my beauty regime. I checked out Angie Provost's blog "When It Comes to Beauty -- It Ain't Being Green" and the first thing she said is cut yourself some slack! Not everybody has the time or money to green their entire beauty ... Views: 926
A female client of mine years ago was married to a man who was very abusive to her. He wouldn’t get therapy or examine his beliefs, feelings, and actions. After several years of listening to him cut her down, she decided to leave the marriage and quickly went from having a non-glamorous position ... Views: 888