After all the buildup, it is here -- SUMMER VACATION!

Whether your school year is over or the end is right around the corner, I've recorded a "very special" practice for the beginning of summer.

MAY 2018 - LETTING GO & TRUSTING THE PROCESS

Letting things go is HARD. There’s a mourning process that occurs when we experience pain and disappointment. Also, to clarify, letting go isn’t about spontaneously getting over something or stuffing down our suffering so we can pretend that everything is okay. That’s denial.

APRIL 2018 - GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH DISCOMFORT

We are imperfect beings living in an imperfect world. Every day we experience unexpected challenges and bumps in the road, and the better we can get at rolling with these challenges, the more ease we can have in life.

As the name Teaching Balance suggests, one of the primary themes of my work is to support educators in finding balance in their lives.  Part of this is the idea of work-life balance, but I’ve increasingly observed that more and more people alternatively use terms like work-life integration.  
The idea of work-life integration suggests that the work we do blurs into the other parts of our lives, and often by choice.  This is certainly true for educators.

MARCH 2018 - SLOWING DOWN

We know that “busyness” increases our stress levels and should be avoided. There is another, deeper problem with chronic busyness, though. Busyness keeps us from sensing the truth of our lives.

A STRATEGY FOR ELICITING SELF-COMPASSION

Life can be challenging.  Sometimes these challenges arise when things don’t work out the way we’d prefer.  Sometimes we create our own struggles without realizing it.  Sometimes bad things just happen.

Many of us, when we’re in the midst of a personal challenge or struggle, put unnecessary pressure on ourselves.  We lament our circumstances and beat ourselves up for not making the right choice or behaving in a way that could have (theoretically) helped to avoid this problem.  Some of us even self-flagellate about how we suck in general, and that our personal crappiness is why these life struggles arise. 

Beating ourselves up like this doesn’t help, and I would like to offer a strategy that may, at the very least, help us be gentler with ourselves in order to deal with our struggles more skillfully.
 

FEBRUARY 2018 - SELF-COMPASSION

While typically associated with romantic love, this month I’d like to invite you to make February your month for SELF-LOVE. I’ve been thinking a lot about the kindness and compassion that we readily offer others, but which we often deny ourselves.

JANUARY 2018 - NEW YEAR, NEW “NO”

Happy new year! For the month of January, I’d like to invite you to take advantage of this time of renewal by reflecting on what you’d like to let go of and say “no” to.

Half-asleep, still in bed, sitting up in the very dim light of my smartphone timer and trying to stay warm with my robe wrapped around me.  That is what my meditation practice looks like.

I have a perfectly nice meditation cushion.  It’s on the floor next to my bed.  I can literally roll out of bed and land right on it.  But I don’t use it for my daily practice in the morning.  One reason is because my bed is warm and the cushion is not.  The other is that I’m already here in this comfy bed and getting out of it requires an extra step.  Extra steps and cold are my personal kryptonite, and when they’re involved, I’m much less motivated.