What if the challenge of choosing to be present was only ‘hard’, not ‘impossible’?
Tag Archives: Mind
Choosing to be Present – Part 2
Yesterday we talked about the value of being present in the midst of our activities – specifically physical activities such as running. Today I want to get a bit more curious …
Choosing to be Present – Part 1
One of the things you will often hear me grumble about in my race reports is when people where headphones during races. It’s about safety in part, but what if there was more to it than that?
Living a Yin Life in a Yang World
There is this concept in eastern religions of yin and yang. It’s this idea of finding balance between two opposites: things like dark/light; work/rest; tense/release; hard/easy; do/be. And just like we understand that we need muscle pairs to, for example, lift our arm up and then bring our arm back down, these eastern knowledge traditions understand that there can be no dark without a light; no work without rest; no tension without release; no hard without easy; no doing if there is no space to simply be.
Raising an Adult
“If we were going to do a good job as parents, we needed to have a goal, and we needed to be intentional about how our actions today were helping us to get to our goal – especially because the goal was so far off!”
A Rainbow of Truths
What if there wasn’t simply BLACK truth and WHITE truth? What if, instead, truth came in a RAINBOW of colours?
Responding To Self-Harm and Suicide
Because of the role that worthlessness and disconnection play in self-harm and suicidality, if someone is courageous enough to tell me about what’s going on, I do my best to respond immediately with deeper connection.
I might take them out for coffee, for a walk in the woods or by the water; I might invite them back to my place for dinner and some chill hang out time, or even invite them to spend a night or two with us.
I know that this response is not going to fix all of the underlying reasons for where this person is where they are. That’s not my goal.
My goal is to create an immediate, felt sensation of increased connection for the person – like first-aid for the soul.
Getting to Know Your … Mind (Part 2)
One of the most simple tools for understanding the brain is Dr. Siegel’s “Brain Hand”: According to Siegel, the pre-frontal cortex is the part of our brain that is capable of being rational – of helping us think through problems, reflect on previous actions and make new decisions. Awareness of the world around us –Continue reading “Getting to Know Your … Mind (Part 2)”
Getting to Know Your … Mind (Part 1)
When I think of my mind, I usually think of my thoughts bouncing around, competing for attention, and disappearing just when I need them! I think of all of the academic work I have done over the years, all of the experiential learning I’ve done, all of the memories I hold of people and eventsContinue reading “Getting to Know Your … Mind (Part 1)”
Towards Wholeness
What if each one of us was created to be a unique, integrated person – with our heart, soul, mind and strength working together to help us to do the things we were created to do and be the person we were made to be? What if each one of us experienced brokenness – overContinue reading “Towards Wholeness”
