Posts

The Soulful Life

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The soulful life is one that exists parallel to the daily life in our conscious awareness. The soulful life is not about the grocery list, the have to's, the should’s, the needs to be best, the need to be right, and so on. It is about moving in tune to our own internal rhythms. It is about being in touch with our inner knowing, and about trusting our gut and moving with it. The movements in this parallel world move slowly and rhythmically. They move with an integration of our inner worlds. When we find ourselves rushing, or needing to make a decision quickly, or running from something, or trying not to feel, we have clues to our being out of tune with that world.  I had an interesting experience recently. I always considered myself an ok singer. There are times I sound good and am in pitch and many times where I am all over the place. My husband is a singer and a good one. I usually just like to listen to him sing or sing along with him and we end up laughing because

Poem: Time

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Time Lost in thought Looking out my window into the beyond, imagined and real In the past and the present at the same time Aware of my dogs at my feet and the trees and squirrels out my window And yet in another world Just as real, just as potent The world of my past The world of my body The world of the seen The world of the unseen Seeing shapes in trees and faces in flowers Putting words to the shapes and faces Where did those words come from? Some deep integral place inside of me Lost in thought Lost in memory Aware of time passing Not aware of time passing Here and not Time, what is time? My soothing words of wisdom for the week is about the finding a balance within yourself through the conflict and strife going on around us:

Learning A New Skill

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Learning something new keeps my mind healthy and moving. I love to learn. Every few years I find myself learning a new skill. Learning and adding skills to my toolbox is just an integral part of what makes me who I am. My latest gift to myself in learning is astrology. I used to think astrology was just woo-woo stuff, and yet at the same time I was drawn to it. I had my chart read a few times, I had my son's chart read when he was a baby, I had my nephew's chart done, and yet, I supposedly thought it was woo-woo. In fact, I think I really thought that it was too hard to learn. I looked at the charts, filled with hieroglyphics and lines and triangles and geometric patterns and I was a bit overwhelmed. I would think, well maybe I will learn it some day. So instead I learned more chiropractic skills, then I learned the Family Constellation work, and I use them all. In fact, each skill I learn adds to who I am and what I can bring to be of service to others. I love to help

Stepping Aside and Being the Observer

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A very difficult thing for us to do in life is for us to see our actions and reactions and patterns we repeat without feeling bad about them or judging them. Usually, we go into our habitual reactions to ourselves and we, with feeling and judgment, say things to us like, darn I did it again, or how could I do this, or I am so angry with myself, etc. What if instead we could just notice and without judgment say and feel, oops I did it again? Being able to see what we are doing and even to be able to joke with us about it is truly a gift to us. When we judge or feel blame or shame we certainly aren't able to change anything. In fact, we make things worse for us and others. Noticing with a distance is a good step towards changing what doesn't work for us any longer. I was working with a patient recently who was describing how she was getting ready to go out to a meeting which she had mixed feelings about. She wanted to go and knew she needed to get out and connect with

Mind Go

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Our minds are amazing instruments. We can learn so much from paying attention to how we think, what we think about, and the games our minds can play on us. Some of us have a lot of repetitive thoughts that circle around us and hold us captive in our own pens. Some of us have minds that never stop and just keep circling around and talking to us. Some of us have more quiet minds and we struggle to find words for our feelings or our images. Some of us have minds that charge us up and can not rest. Do you find yourself in any of these categories? Most of us are a combination of these and of course, there are many variations of how our minds work. Our minds and how they talk to us are connected to our genetic inheritance, the  placement of the planets in the sky at the moment of our birth, the effect of our early wounds on us, and how we have worked with ourselves over the years to understand us and how we work and what makes us tick. I am talking about how our minds talk to

When To Comfort Or To Coddle

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Being a parent is one of the hardest things to do. We never get it right, our buttons are always being pushed, and every one of our weaknesses comes out in blinding color. Every child goes through a period of time blaming their parents, and actually have every right to do so. With all of that, it is still one of the most rewarding things we can do in life; if we so choose to do so, to parent. In parenting, there is an issue that comes up a lot; when to comfort the child as opposed to coddling them. Another way to say this is that as parents, teachers, therapists, mentors etc., when are we comforting the child, and when are we really coddling them? When does comforting change to coddling?  As someone who works with children in some capacity we know that at times what the child needs is to be comforted, and other times they need to be lovingly pushed or stretched. We can easily get confused as to what is best for the child at the time and we can give too much comfort when wha

The Art of Listening

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Listening is tough stuff. Being able to put aside our own thoughts and ideas and perceptions as well as being able to listen through disagreeing with the speaker is truly an art. When someone speaks to you, how often do you stop what you are doing and thinking and feeling and truly be present with the other? So often we are busy cooking or cleaning or getting ready for work or to go out, and also in our own thoughts when someone speaks to us. If you are like me and my husband, we find ourselves speaking to each other even in different rooms. The art of listening is truly an art and it also shows the other person that we care. Another dynamic at play is that we hear the other person through our own filters. An example of this happened with my husband and me just recently. I had explained to my husband the other night how I felt about a television show we watched together. I thought I was very clear. I told him that to me the show was ok, I didn’t love it but I