This 2020 self care blog was written with an intention to focus our attention on sustaining our own well-being through these chaotic times. A roadmap with points for reflection and a number of mind-body self-care practices were presented with an emphasis on developing skills to up our game in paying kind attention to ourselves and […]
In the las blog, an activity exploring selfhood was introduced wherein one bore witness to what remained of a sense of selfhood when asked to imagine placing all roles, responsibilities and objects of identification upon the shelf. Recall in this practice, the body and the senses were also shelved, so that aspect of the self […]
Motivation to make the time may be discovered by considering the consequence of self-care’s opposite qualities. Given self-care promotes thriving, neglecting it may lead one to the opposite of care; disregard, neglect, oversight, omission and thoughtlessness or the opposite of thriving; withering. With the understanding we are bioplastic and therefore grow stronger at whatever we […]
Recall that the act of compassion begins first with recognizing suffering is happening, then responding to relieve it. Here, now in the midst of the disruption of our lives by the corona-virus is an opportune time for noticing your suffering is likely to be present. Using your body-mind as a laboratory, notice the breadth of […]
Life always calls for compassion! Generating compassion for patients, family and community when we are all in this time of disruption may be more challenging than usual. Humanitarian, author and Zen Buddhist scholar Roshi Joan Halifax describes the following four conditions as a map for creating compassion: the capacity to attend to the experience of […]
The how of compassion can be generated using the acronym of G.R.A.C.E.: gather attention, recall intention, attune to self and other, consider what will serve, engage and end. Simple practices for gathering attention and attuning to oneself to become fully present to our experiences have been presented previously. Recall attention is gathered by developing these […]
The acronym of G.R.A.C.E. described by Roshi Joan Halifax provides us with a map for generating compassion: gather attention, recall intention, attune to self and other, consider what will serve, engage and end.To know when to engage and end, it is helpful to check in with your ANS (Autonomic Nervous System). Your ANS regulates whether […]
From the work of Roshi Joan Halifax, the acronym G.R.A.C.E is a tool for cultivating compassion. It calls for us to gather attention, recall intention, attune to self and other, consider what will serve, engage and end. Last month’s topic focused on the R/recalling intention as how to BE in order to support that which […]
Mindfulness is often defined as paying attention in the present moment without judgement. If you have practiced this, you likely have become aware of a rather continuous flow of sensations and feelings that happen within you, around you and between you and others. Happenings are phenomena; observable occurrences. It is a mindful form of play […]
This blog entry invites us to engage in contemplative practice with the notion of the self we are caring for in our present scope of self-care. Working with the universal constant of change, begin by adopting a perspective of oneself as a continually changing happening in your inner, outer and other environments. Every breath, every […]