Waiting on the Corners
Posted: December 24, 2014 Filed under: Kindness, Meditation, Yoga | Tags: christmas, Donald Hall, family, friends, holidays, Poetry, Waiting on the Corners, winter 1 Comment…
Glass, air, ice, light,
and winter cold.
They stand on all the corners,
waiting alone, or in
groups that talk like the air
moving branches. It
is Christmas, and a red dummy
laughs in the window
of a store. Although
the trolleys come,
no one boards them,
but everyone moves
up and down, stamping his feet,
so unemployed.
They are talking, each of them,
but it is sticks and stones
that hear them,
their plans,
exultations,
and memories of the old time.
The words fly out, over
the roads and onto
the big, idle farms, on the hills,
forests, and rivers
of America, to mix into silence
of glass, air, ice, light,
and winter cold.
: Joy :
Posted: December 22, 2014 Filed under: Kindness, Meditation, Yoga | Tags: christmas, kindness, love, meditation, Omaha, passion, winter, yoga 8 CommentsWhen you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy-
The season of “peace” … Hanukkah, Festivus, Kwanzaa, Christmas, winter solstice, and New Years arrive once a year. Some folks look forward to this time – Others, like myself … Dread them. Can we peel away some of the stress, and find time for peaceful days?
…
I’m not a complete Scrooge – Really! I enjoy winter and the holiday season, all of the celebrations, traditions, and joyous gatherings they bring. And there are some tangible benefits we can reap from this time of year – like spending more face-to-face time with friends, rather than “liking” them on social media. Also hidden within the holidays are remedies for being a grinch and a curmudgeon. Such as joining family and old friends for a pick up hockey game, a walk after dinner or even a bike ride. For most of us though, the wear-and-tear of the most “Wonderful Time” of the year is simply too much to handle. As much as hibernation sounds like the perfect solution …
Daily Meditation:
Meditation or whatever you want to call it, can truly bring us peace. Slow down with me this morning, let’s take in the lovely sights, the alluring scents and sounds that are traditional for this time of year … And as Cousin Eddie once said: “That’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year.”
Alive, I
Posted: December 23, 2013 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: blogging, christmas, compassion, Contentment, cycling, Everyday life, exercise, family, Festivus, fitness, free range, freshly pressed, friends, gluten free, happiness, health, hipster, holidays, hope, kettlebell, kindness, life, love, lululemon, marathon, meditation, motivation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, perspective, pilates, recovery, running, Silence, trail running, whole foods, writing, yoga 16 CommentsIn Silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving and see how the pattern improves-
How different would everyday life become, if we embraced silence?
…
Over the course of writing this blog-o-thing I have adapted a leisurely pace in life … Attending more yoga classes, spending more time unconnected from the web and partaking in long, flowing bike rides without a care in the world.
As Festivus and winter set in, the bikes resting at ease in the front bedroom. I turned my attention homeward, focusing more on the events of my daily life. It truly is possible to attend a silent retreat, where my only interactions with my surroundings are with a smile and an attentive ear. I stopped listening to the radio while driving, the TV stays off when I get home from work and magically … My son and I are reading more in front of the fireplace.
It is such a relief to be free of “noise” … The stillness in my heart is based solely on silence rather than a frantic beat or change in tempo.
I have begun to notice in this “silence,” the crunch of salt on the walkways leading into work, the rustle of a few stubborn leaves in the breeze, a red tail hawk gliding past …
Silence has kindly given me clarity and inspiration.
Daily Meditation:
Be kind your body and heart today …
The Meeting
Posted: December 19, 2013 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: American, art, blogging, christmas, compassion, family, free range, freshly pressed, friends, happiness, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, holidays, kindness, life, Literature, love, meditation, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, perspective, Poetry, simplicity, World Literature, writing, yoga 5 Comments…
After so long an absence
At last we meet again:
Does the meeting give us pleasure,
Or does it give us pain?
The tree of life has been shaken,
And but few of us linger now,
Like the Prophet’s two or three berries
In the top of the uttermost bough.
We cordially greet each other
In the old, familiar tone;
And we think, though we do not say it,
How old and gray he is grown!
We speak of a Merry Christmas
And many a Happy New Year
But each in his heart is thinking
Of those that are not here.
We speak of friends and their fortunes,
And of what they did and said,
Till the dead alone seem living,
And the living alone seem dead.
And at last we hardly distinguish
Between the ghosts and the guests;
And a mist and shadow of sadness
Steals over our merriest jests.
Skating
Posted: December 17, 2013 Filed under: Meditation, Yoga | Tags: art, beauty, christmas, compassion, Enviroment, family, Freinds, happiness, health, holidays, ice skating, inspiration, kindness, life, love, meditation, memory, mental health, musings, nature, Omaha, passion, Power Yoga, Self-compassion, Self-esteem, Self-Help, Style, yoga 3 CommentsCompassion is the basis of morality-
Here is the flat-out, honest truth you have been searching for your entire life: You are going to screw up eventually.
Everyone, You, me – the dude picking his nose in the car next to you … Make many mistakes, daily.
A few times in the not so distant past, I have lamented painfully about self-compassion. Self-compassion (loosely defined) is the extent to which you treat yourself with kindness. Self-compassion differs from the likes self-esteem (its critical to note this), which is how good you feel about yourself. Self-compassion determines how well you spring back from adversity during the course of the day. Like getting down on ourselves when “things” go sideways … Treating ourselves and others with kindness, makes it infinitely easier to recover from harmful experience(s).
Daily Meditation:
When our sole focus is intent on protecting our self-esteem, we can’t afford to look at ourselves objectively, honestly and with a pure heart. We fail to acknowledge the need for improvement, because it means acknowledging weaknesses, shortcomings and maybe – That we screwed up somewhere in our past …
CultFit 