Bird therapy with Black Skimmers is one of my favorite mindful nature therapy practices. Black Skimmers continue to arrive at the colony on Wrightsville Beach. and begin to form pairs. The male makes a mark in the sand as though to suggest, “What about this spot for our nest?” If the female approves, she lies […]
You mindfulness journey toward peace and wellbeing can be an amazing awakening. At times we all become entangled in the busyness of the daily grind and in the habit of bracing ourselves against the challenges of our lives. We may believe that if we keep up the grueling pace, we’ll one day come out ahead. […]
Coming home, the Black Skimmers have begun their return to the south end of Wrightsville Beach. Black Skimmers are found year round in South America and along the Gulf Coast, and they come to Wrightsville Beach each summer to breed. I counted 52 of them this morning flying over Masonboro Inlet and into the dunes. […]
Renewal of the mind body and soul with meditation can cultivate wellbeing and resilience. Spring inspires new growth, both externally and internally. In North America, many of us are emerging from an exceptionally long and cold winter and are gladly welcoming our spring season. In our culture, the season comes with an intention to do spring […]
Making decisions that support wellbeing is a practice that we can cultivate through creating clear intentions. Every week I sit with clients who are making difficult decisions, and every week lately I seem to be making them myself. We each make choices every day, ranging from when we will go to sleep and get up […]
Accepting reality is a practice and a habit that can help us to feel a greater sense of peace and wellbeing. Frequently, mindfulness students say to me that they have a difficult time meditating because they feel restless, agitated, bored or experience physical pain or discomfort. Mindfulness is an opportunity for us to observe with […]
Living in the present with an attitude of kindness and curiosity toward our own experience is at the foundation of mindfulness and mediation practice. We spend so much time ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. Living in the moment can bring a sense of increased peace, happiness and freedom. When you notice […]
Opening up and letting go in meditation can help us to feel a greater sense of freedom and ease in our lives. Our habitual pattern is to resist what is. We don’t like change, and we want things to go our way. When we resist what is, we create a state of inner conflict and […]
Responding vs reacting is a mindfulness approach to stress reduction and resilience. We spend much of our time simply reacting to the various stimuli that we encounter every day. It is possible to change this habitual pattern by bringing awareness to that space between stimulus and our reactivity and expanding it with mindfulness so that […]
Holding hope means that we embrace a feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. Someone asked me recently if acceptance and holding hope are mutually exclusive. I think that both are possible simultaneously. Peace comes when we accept what is happening in this moment and, […]