Self-Care
Trees – the Iconic Metaphors for Resilience
Grass pushing up through concrete has always been such a powerful, universal symbol of resilience. Here’s that same spirit of life surviving and thriving under the most difficult of circumstances on a large scale – 20 images of trees manifesting resilience and thriving forwarded to me by a client who is nourished by time in […]
Staying Sane when “Sheltering in Place” and Self-Sequestering
The San Francisco Bay Area, where I live, entered a “shelter-in-place” protocol last week in efforts by public health officials to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Schools and all places of social gathering – restaurants, bars, gyms, sporting events, theaters and cultural events – now closed for weeks to come. And citizens instructed to […]
The Body: A Guide for Occupants
I have recommended The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson to so many friends and clients, I realize I really should-could recommend it to you, too. Bill Bryson is an awesomely gifted writer; The Body is a head-to-toe tour of the marvel of the human body and three billion years of evolutionary tweaks, […]
Learning Goes On Forever
A good friend sent me this quote last week from T.H. White’s The Once and Future King: The best thing… is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may […]
Keep It Moving!
Knowing full well the importance of keeping my body moving, stretching, flexing during my recent marathon of sitting-watching 26 films in an 11-day film festival [see Shifting Perspectives], I intentionally developed a routine of yoga movements I could quietly do standing in line or sitting in the theater. And one 20-minute intermission at a concert […]
Awe, Gratitude, Equanimity = Skillful AGEing
We don’t have to be old or aging to experience the expansive shifts in perspective that come from moments of awe – a glorious sunset, the sparkling shimmer of sunlight on a lake, a tiny wildflower hiding in the grasses. We certainly don’t have to be old or aging to experience the openness and lightness […]
From Age-ing to Sage-ing
The woman above is Peggy Freydberg, who began writing poetry at the age of 90 and wrote until she died at 107. Her collected poems, Poems from the Pond, offer a distillation of her sage wisdom gained in more than a century of living, observing, loving life. The title of this post is from From […]
Blue Mind: Boost Your Resilience – and Happiness – By Being Near, In, On or Under Water
A client of mine, a near-professional surfer, recommended Blue Mind to me, a wonderful exploration of “the surprising science that shows how being near, in, on, or under water can make you happier, healthier, more connected, and better at what you do.” Like similar compilations of the benefits of spending time in nature [see Linda’s […]
Earth Day 2019 – Re-sourcing in Nature
Earth Day 2019 is an international celebration of the magnificent planet we call home, and an invitation to take the actions necessary to help the planet itself be resilient in recovering from the effects of climate change, de-forestation, pollution, etc. Earth Day is also a reminder that we can spend time in nature to recover […]
Learning How to Learn Something New
A colossal number of brain cells, hundreds to thousands, are born each day, but most die within weeks unless the brain is forced to learn something new. Learning rescues these new cells from death. Then more neurons survive and sprout connections to their brethren. The harder the task, the more the survivors. – Tracy Shors, […]