Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the day when the North Pole is tilted farthest from the sun. Ancient people observed this day, watching the stars and the shortening days, patiently abiding and taking note until one day…it changed. They learned that the darkest day is followed by a little more light.…
Yesterday, a group of us sat an afternoon retreat. It happened to be the first day of Hanukkah, and in a sense sitting down to turn our attention inward is a way of rededicating the temple of the body and heart. It is usually under the control of outside forces, worshipping and appeasing all kinds…
“Today we have gathered and see that the cycles of life continue.” The Mohawk Thanksgiving greeting to the world is a spectacular act of mindfulness. They gather together to notice and honor the living world around them. They offer thanks to the People, to Mother Earth and all her plants and herbs and creatures, to…
Life is difficult. This is true for everyone. Always. Beautiful people suffer inner torments. We tend not to allow for this because we compare our insides with other peoples’ outsides. But every so often a story breaks about suicide or hidden illness and we realize that realize that suffering is universal. And yet this is…
Now seems a good time to gently remind people that presence can be a refuge and resource. On paper, it may not seem like much. The Oxford dictionary defines presence as “the state or fact of existing, occurring or being present.” This seems so rudimentary, just bare existence, as if you are showing up at…
“In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself in a dark wood where the straight way was lost.” I for one know how this feels. Once in the vast Yosemite National Forest in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, I lost my way. And I was not alone but supposedly taking…
