Dharma lessons I learned from my cat
I lost my beloved orange cat Rusty last June. There’s something about a relationship with a pet that’s so different from any with humans. Apart from his sister, Bella, I was Rusty’s entire world. He wanted nothing more than just to be with me. It’s like he took it on...
Becoming a Buddhist Minister and Mindfulness Coach at 47: Sunada’s Story
I'm very honored to be interviewed on the blog Hélène T. Stelian Coaching, featuring women who reinvent themselves in midlife. Thank you, Hélène, for arranging this. Here's a link to the full post. Becoming a Buddhist Minister and Mindfulness Coach at 47: Sunada’s...
Morning stillness
I just returned home to Boston from visiting my 90-year-old mom in Tokyo. It’s a 13 hour flip of day and night to travel from one to the other. My body clock is all haywire. There’s one positive side of jet lag and waking up at 3am. I got out of bed and sat in the...
16-Year-Old Malala Yousafzai Leaves Jon Stewart Speechless With Comment About Pacifism
What an amazing young woman. After being shot in the head by a Taliban member, she has come back fighting. Fighting for the right of Pakistani women to be educated. She is now the youngest person ever nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And though she didn't win, she...
Why we love to worry, and what to do about it
Janet, a woman in one of my mindfulness classes, was feeling nervous. She was afraid of speaking up in class. It was a fairly large group – 20 people – and she felt self-conscious about the prospect of so many eyes on her. But she also worried that by staying silent,...
There’s something about the Dalai Lama
Richard Davidson and The University of Wisconsin Madison recently hosted conference called "Change Your Mind, Change the World" attended by many heavy-hitters including the Dalai Lama himself. During one session the presenter talked about a research study showing that...
Meditation as an act of love
"Don't meditate to fix yourself, to heal yourself, to improve yourself, to redeem yourself; rather, do it as an act of love, of deep warm friendship to yourself. In this way there is no longer any need for the subtle aggression of self-improvement, for the endless...
How to get out of your own way
I used to write and blog regularly - for many years. But then last summer I went through a major house move that totally disrupted my life and brought my writing to a halt. But that’s mostly just an excuse. I’ll admit it’s inertia and my inner critic that’s getting in...
What to Do When You Have to Work with Someone You Don’t Like
I thought this was such a helpful article -- not just in a work context, but with anyone we find difficult. Rather than focusing on the problems with the person out there, stop and consider what's being triggered in us. It's a way to start changing the relationship,...
Practice when life gets tough
Sometimes life comes at us full force and overwhelms us. That’s what happened to me the last few months. Things happened that were so overpowering that all my usual routines went out the window just so I could get through each day. My work, my social life – and yes,...
The dance of allowing
There is no controlling life. Try corralling a lightning bolt, containing a tornado. Dam a stream and it will create a new channel. Resist, and the tide will sweep you off your feet. Allow, and grace will carry you to higher ground... I recently discovered this...
Lessons from Those Who Lost … and Found
What an inspiring trio of life stories. Three people who went through a major loss -- one that took away arguably their biggest gift in their lives -- and used it to become all the stronger and wiser because of it. The three are Grant Achatz, a chef who lost his sense...
What the internet does to our minds
Some words of caution on web surfing, from Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains: "When you’re constantly taking in new bits of information – as we do when we browse the Web, check e-mail or read text messages – we take things...
The ‘Pursuit Of Silence’ In A World Full of Noise
Silence isn't just an absence of sound. It creates a spaciousness and clarity that opens up our perceptions in new ways. And far from being a empty void, it has a fullness, richness, and an inviting warmth, in my experience. This book, In Pursuit of Silence:...
Buddhism & the Mindfulness Movement: Friends or Foes?
This is a post by Vishvapani, a mindfulness trainer and senior member of my Buddhist order. I'm very much in agreement with his views -- that the meeting of these two streams is creating a wonderful synergy that can profoundly benefit both. I, for one, am dedicating...
What’s your emotional style?
This little quiz is a little taste from Richard Davidson's latest book, The Emotional Life of Your Brain. It's a self-assessment test to identify your emotional style along six dimensions: Resilience: How quickly you recover from adversity. Outlook: How long you are...
A back tip for meditators, or how to sit with more ease
Can't seem to find a comfortable way to sit in meditation? Here’s something really simple to try. It’s actually a mindfulness practice in itself. It’s a way to balance your natural ability to relax with the forces of gravity to find a well-aligned posture that’s...
Mirror in the Mirror
A friend posted this beautiful piece on Facebook recently, reminding me how much I’m always so moved it. It’s by the contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Called “Spiegel Im Spiegel” (“Mirror in the Mirror”), it refers to the infinity of reflections that happen...
The Seven Fears of Highly Successful People
This is an excellent post by Martin Murphy about what it takes to live up to our potential. As he puts it, "Your ability to create and experience more success is equal to your potential (which nobody knows), minus the resistance... Successful people experience the...
Journalism and Compassion
This is a wonderful interview with Nicholas Kristof, the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist for the New York Times, who often covered the worst of human suffering -- like Darfur. In particular, I appreciated his insight that telling the stories of individual people...