The other day, my friend Gretchen said, “I decided I have to be happy. I’m going to find something awesome in each thing I do until I feel grateful and feel the purpose of my life again.” I love this. I love this more than gratitude lists, which can feel contrived. In looking for something…
Category: Practice
Interesting Solar Activity
Are you having trouble sleeping? SpaceWeather tells me Yesterday, July 30th, a dark magnetic filament on the sun erupted and hurled part of itself into space. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory tracked a bright CME moving away from the blast site at 700 km/s. Although the CME is not coming straight for Earth, it does have…
New Moon in Leo (and other assorted energies)
The energy right now is all about being authentic and owning who you are in all of your awesomeness. Figure out what you are interested in, rather than what you think you should be interested in. Have fun, because you can’t be inauthentic when you’re having fun. Discover your superpower. Carry around a little notebook…
Stress Management for Parents
Being responsible for another life form can be stressful. Our society puts a lot of pressure on parents who care; the standards can feel impossible to meet and, honestly, they probably are. Whether both parents work outside the home or now, the obligations of today’s parents are immense. I am constantly in awe of people…
Solar Calm
I received this missive from SpaceWeather this evening: Less than two weeks ago, the sun was peppered with large active regions. Now, the face of the sun is almost completely blank. Suddenly, the sunspot number and the sun’s x-ray output have dropped to their lowest levels in years. Is Solar Maximum finished? Probably not, but…
Stress and the Relaxation Response
(sorry for the lack of article last week, the Fourth of July seems to have messed up my schedule) Now that we know a whole lot about the science of stress, let’s talk about it’s antidote: The Relaxation Response (coined by Dr Herbert Benson in 1975). While some feel that this is just a fancy…
Web of Information
It’s the late-night blogs, written when my household is asleep, that can give you insight into my motivations, my values, and how my mind works. They’re not generally the well thought out entries, the ones that get researched and planned. No, these posts are off the cuff, welling up from the darkness, still oozing the…
New Moon in Cancer, Moving out of Mercury Retrograde
We did our monthly New Moon Gathering tonight, and had some new people, which is always lovely. It was a powerful meditation for me. Here are some barebones notes about the current energies: New Moon in Cancer (water sign) – first lunar cycle of the summer (Mad Midsummer Moon) Intentions set now have the possibility…
The Importance of RSVPing
We all get busy. Life happens. Mercury Retrograde or Murphy’s Law can throw a monkey wrench into the best laid plans. We frequently think that our ability to show up (or not) for an event won’t affect anything. We even forget to let people know that our plans have changed (because, well, busy). You do…
Weekly Web Links Round Up from Around the Web… Links…
As I wander around the web, I come across links that should be shared, and this is my way of keeping it down to one post a week… Ways to celebrate the longest day of the year Day-to-day actions & attitudes that research has shown strengthen a relationship Stray cat finds a friend at the…
Stress in the Home
This is a part of a weekly series, posting on Wednesdays, about stress. Today’s installment focuses on techniques for mitigating stress in the home. The body responds to stress by releasing chemicals that raise your blood pressure,speed up your heart rate, and raise your blood sugar levels. Evolutionarily speaking, stress came from perceived threats, like…
A new tool for stress relief: Acoustic Therapy
“Stress can be defined as the brain’s response to any demand. Many things can trigger this response, including change. Changes can be positive or negative, as well as real or perceived. They may be recurring, short-term, or long-term and may include things like commuting to and from school or work every day, traveling for a…