The central question of a person's growth in wisdom is not how we avoid pain, injury, failure, or struggle but how we relate to discomfort. What do you do, Reader, when you feel pain or experience difficulty? Rather than seeing pain or difficulties as problems, we can recognize them as beacons alerting us that something important is happening that is worthy of our attention. Ordinarily, our habits wash over us, and we don't interrupt our patterns even a tiny bit. If we pay attention to what...
almost 2 years ago • 3 min read
Seems there's already a theme running through my day today Reader. In fact, the theme was already emerging in the wee hours of the morning as I awoke and found myself ruminating on the nature of awareness. No doubt this emerged from reflections on my work with clients yesterday as well as my upcoming series' on transitions, and recalling Rumi's poem, Don't Go Back to Sleep. A little later... During a guided meditation, the few words spoken reminding that "trying", "leaning in", "seeking to...
over 2 years ago • 3 min read
We had an interesting discussion after class on Tuesday. In fact, the topic has come up big and bold a couple of times in the last couple of weeks The long and the short of it was that it seemed to be a surprise for some to hear that the Feldenkrais Method® can be helpful with our emotional wellbeing too. Paradox? Yes, the Feldenkrais Method is all about movement. No! The Feldenkrais Method is not just about movement! I can feel pretty comfortable making both these statements. It all depends...
about 3 years ago • 2 min read
Over the years, I’ve come to the realization that the more we open ourselves to the sublime emotions of joy and awe, the more we also open to the pains of life. These are inextricably linked, like the two poles of a magnet. It seems it’s the price us humans’ pay for our heightened sensitivity to discern and discriminate. Along with this polarity comes another… We have the remarkable faculty of envisioning and crafting a future. And this faculty is intrinsically linked to our remembering the...
about 3 years ago • 2 min read
Habits. Love 'em and hate 'em. Habits are brilliant in that they make life easier. Habits are also brutal because they become so automatic that: we don't even know we're doing something that is harmful to ourselves (like compressing the bejeebies out of our poor low back joints every time we go to stand up or lift something) we keep doing 'em even when we don't want to (like clenching our jaw to concentrate or holding our breath to do anything strenuous) Escaping Our Automated Habits "There...
about 3 years ago • 3 min read
It might be fair to say I'm a synthesizer. I'll read books, listen to podcasts and watch videos from all sorts of domains: sports, business, spirituality, science, art etc. For instance, going deep into the topics of learning, creativity and wellbeing, I went and pulled up a book from my library from way back called: The Opposable Mind by Roger Martin. It's a biz book. I am not interested in business as a topic. So why the hell am I reading it, and more to the point, why on earth am I writing...
about 3 years ago • 4 min read
[Read time: 2:30] "I don't know if I can trusty myself. It suddenly looks see easy. How can it be this simple? How could I not have seen this before? How can this be happening?" That's what Matt said today in our writing class while we were doing a tear-down of an article that's been loved by many. Chuckling, I had two concurrent thoughts going through my head. One I shared aloud with Matt (I'm sure you can guess which): Thought #1: Lucky duck! I wish it was coming to me like that. (Yes, I...
about 3 years ago • 3 min read
I've been thinking a lot about the power of being able to make distinctions since my conversation with a friend the other day. As a Feldenkrais® practitioner, I've learned to make a lot of distinctions about movement and using my kinaesthetic senses. And... There are so many other ways and realms in which to make fine distinctions. My friend was talking about the amazing way gifted writers make distinctions in language (words, sound, metaphor, rhythm, feel...). And their creativity! I've been...
about 3 years ago • 2 min read
I'm talking about: attention. It's amazing to me that this superpower is not taught or nurtured in school (or if it is-- only just barely) in a deep, embodied, sensorial way. Most of the time, most people think of it as something done solely "in our head" and most of the time, people become more immobilized when they try to pay attention more or better. These are...not so good. Winifred Gallagher wrote in Rapt: Attention and The Focused Life: "The real problem is that we don't appreciate our...
over 3 years ago • 2 min read