Do you ever abandon yourself?
Self-Care My primary work involves speaking to men and women at companies/organizations about work/life effectiveness and how to release stress, but a few times a year I get to lead retreats for women. Last spring while facilitating one of these self-care…
Meditation saves me … from myself
Mindfulness I woke up this morning exhausted. Triggered. And I could feel my negative thoughts lining up like little toy soldiers ready to go to battle. After a weekend of push-back from my rapidly maturing adolescent, I felt like I'd just left an…
On being compassionate (with yourself)
Self-Care The quote I chose for my mom's funeral service program when she passed in 2000, was "The fruit of love is service, which is compassion in action." Mother Teresa My mom's ability to feel empathy, acceptance and deep compassion for those…
How self-care transformed my life
Self-Care In 2002, when my son was six months old, I felt a strong but persistent tap on my shoulder to gather women and together explore the age-old question, ”How do we nurture our children … and stay true to our own needs and desires?” So,…
On being anxious (and how to remove cat hairs)
Mindfulness The summer before 6th grade, my parents moved me and my four brothers across the country--away from my best friends Ann, Karen and Laura--to an alternative school on a yoga commune in the Sierra Nevada mountains of CA (this was part…
Are you happy with the “status quo?”
Mindfulness We just got back from a family vacation on the WA Olympic Peninsula (stunning, one of our favorite trips). This nature immersion was just what we needed. Now, I'm looking forward to a new school year and a fresh start for our…
A special invitation from Renee (and Jen)
Self-Care (A guest post from my dear friend Jen Lemen: visionary, big heart, humanitarian, artist and award-winning, e-learning pioneer. Jen’s dreams have carried her across continents and back to her artist studio in Maryland where she generates…
How I plan to simplify my life
Self-Care I don't think I'm cut out for modern living. Lately, things just seem like they're moving too fast: too many options, too much juggling, too many demands, too many (perceived) have to's and too much traffic (I just found out Austin is…
Technology: are you master or slave?
Self-Care Is technology bringing your family closer together or driving you farther apart? As I look at how I can spend even less time online this fall, I'm hearing I'm not the only one examining this topic. Every family I know navigates the technology…
3 types of stress
Self-Care On a scale of 1-10, most days, how stressed are you? If you asked your partner (and kids) the same question, what would their number be? My son and I just returned from visiting my brother and his family in Celo, North Carolina, a small…
How to have the summer you desire
Self-Care "It's summertime and the living is easy ..." Or maybe it's not. Last weekend I led a retreat at Kripalu Yoga & Wellness Center for 65 women. During our Saturday break, I attended a dance class and the instructor opened with these…
Are you living your life (or someone else’s)?
Self-Care "It is 1976, and my dad has left his booming medical practice in San Antonio. We have abandoned our comfortable, sprawling ranch-style home on two acres and have moved into a twelve-hundred-square-foot home with a wood-burning stove on fifty…