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"These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them." Rumi, Poet It was not an ordinary evening. Last night. It was supposed to be a night of "Follies" - a fun community talent event in Wenatchee. But it was being overshadowed. There was a damper-like feeling in the air, the kind that settles over a small town when something has shifted and no one quite knows what to do with it. John and I were sitting in a little local Mexican restaurant in Cashmere. The room was warm, the

“A ll pain deserves to be held in the warm embrace of compassion, so that healing can occur.” — Dr. Kristin Neff, renowned self-compassion researcher and practitioner In an earlier blog, I wrote about taking the U-turn — that sacred pause where we regain our center, get back to our "home," the seat of focus, attention, and intention (some call it our true Self or best self). The U-turn keeps us from spinning outward in blame or panic. But sometimes a pause, a breath or two,

Both Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King used these phrases ("playing out of one's mind," or "over one's head") to describe their...

We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness. — Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk, prolific author, peace activist,...

Back home, I didn’t fit in. I thought Earth was the problem, but what if it’s me? – Elio Well, I like you and you seem fine to me. –...

“Everything We Do Is an Attempt to Meet a Need.” Marshall Rosenberg I’m going to share a story.  Like the previous blog, this isn’t the...

“We often find that the harder we try to get rid of emotions and thoughts, the stronger they become….” ― Richard C. Schwartz,  No Bad...

“When we fully accept the reality that we are imperfect human beings, prone to make mistakes and struggle, our hearts naturally begin to...

“A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life.” - Dr. Christopher...

"The wound is the place where the light enters you." Rumi, poet Some years ago, my brother, Steve, shot himself.  Steve never recovered...

"Daddy," I whispered, feeling my own breath hitch in my throat, "I love you." Just when I was sure he was asleep, the one corner of his...

For each event, use mindfulness, a sense of common humanity, and kindness to process the event in a self-compassionate way. Dr. Kristin...

Life is choice. All day, everyday. Who we talk to, where we sit, what we say, how we say it. And our lives become defined by choices....

“May you always know you have my hand to hold.” — JJ Heller When my granddaughters were young, they delighted in having their meals...

“Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.” ― Dr. Christopher Germer,...

The cultivation of compassion is really a process of recovery – of retrieving an inherent capacity that has become, either in the moment...

“Virtue is the golden mean between two vices, the one of excess and the other of deficiency.” Aristotle When we have trouble...

Family pathology rolls from generation to generation like a fire in the woods taking down everything in its path until one person, in one...

Stop, breathe slow, and make a smart choice." Aldie, mindful paragon Imagine yourself at bedtime. An adult processing the day. Think...

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own...