A Mindful Moment

I can’t believe it, but this is our 100th blog version of our podcast!!! We started out with only about 50 downloads per episode a little over two years ago and were really happy about that, as our goal was simply to spread mindfulness. Today, A Mindful Moment has more than 100 times that number of downloads per episode and we’re approaching 350,000 total downloads and still growing. We’re also in the top 1.5% out of the almost 2,000,000 podcasts out there and ranked in the t

Regardless of political affiliation, I think most U.S. citizens are at least somewhat relieved to have the presidential election behind us. I realize that there are still legal challenges carrying on, but the consensus seems to be that we’re finally moving forward again. In thinking about what it means that about half the country disagrees with the other half, and in hearing repeatedly in the media how terribly divided we are, I at first felt sad that we’ve arrived at this p

Tensions have been running higher than I can remember for a very long time here in the U.S., and all centered around the presidential election. Fear seems to be everywhere and anxiety has gone through the roof. Many other countries around the world have gone through this before, but I think this may be the first time here that one of the big fears is that our democracy is at stake for the first time since the civil war. So first, we all need to take a deep breath. At the time

Labeling our feelings helps minimize the intensity of them, so I’ve been trying to identify how I’m feeling and finally found a word that resonated, which is malaise. Malaise is a vague sense of mental or moral ill-being. It’s a vague discomfort. I think my morals are okay, but mental ill-being and vague discomfort sounds about right. The most applicable example of how this old French word ties into our condition today comes from former President Jimmy Carter. In what became

I can honestly say that each week, I think something like, “We’ve got to be close to the end of this. Things will start getting better now.” And each week, I’m wrong. It’s like 2020 is the year of weird and it’s time I just let this year go as a big, fat learning experience and hope 2021 holds our watershed moment. This last week has been a struggle for me, again. Over the weekend, temperatures here soared and as I watched the thermometer tick up, I actually felt a little f

Let’s face it, things don’t seem to be going very well, pretty much anywhere at this point. With this continuing level of stress and chaos on the outside, it’s more important than ever that we practice strengthening our mindfulness skills and focus on well-being. I’ve been contemplating what we discussed over the past few weeks, specifically who I want to be now. I’m having a little trouble answering that question, so I shifted it to how do I want to be and the first word th

My emotional reaction to the shooting last weekend in Wisconsin of Jacob Blake, seven times in the back in front of his small children, could best be described as confounded. Like everyone else, I don’t know what transpired before the shooting, I don’t know if Jacob Blake is a law-abiding citizen or not, and I don’t know the situation the police were trying to contain. But I am perplexed as to how this can happen, especially now, with everyone on high-alert, a clear understan

No nos referimos a ese tipo de flexible... pero está claro que ya no podemos ser rígidos en nuestra forma de pensar. Bueno, aquí vamos de nuevo en el sur de California. Después de 119 días, estamos de vuelta a donde empezamos en marzo. Creo que hay una línea similar en la película, Jurassic Park, donde los personajes trabajan muy duro para salir del auto que ataca un dinosaurio, solo para terminar también de vuelta en el coche. Escasez de artículos de protección personales, e

We don't mean THAT kind of flexible...but it's clear that we can no longer be rigid in our way of thinking. Well, here we go again in Southern California. After 119 days, we’re pretty much back where we started in March. I think there’s a similar line in the movie, Jurassic Park, where the characters work really hard to get out of the car a dinosaur is attacking, only to end up right back in the car. Shortages on PPE, testing equipment and hospital beds. And now we’re about t

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to Dr. Stoddard’s message last week around “the me I want to be.” I am no stranger to transforming myself into a sometimes better, sometimes worse self. Usually that change is sparked by some event, like loss of a family member, a personal crisis, a move to another state or a health issue. This pandemic shutdown has been completely different. Over the last few months, I think I know the me I want to be and then so much time passes, I change m

Aunque parezca que vivimos el mismo día una y otra vez, la incertidumbre del futuro nos está dejando a muchos de nosotros sintiéndonos ansiosos. Otro día, otra semana, casi otro mes. Un momento tan interesante e irritante de estar pasando ahora, pero viene un cambio en adelante, que es emocionante y aterrador, y hay monotonía más allá de la creencia que es aburrida. He escuchado personas describiendo sus vidas en este punto como Groundhog Day, de la película con Bill Murray.

Even though it may feel like we are living the same day over and over again, the uncertainty of the future is leaving many of us feeling anxious. Another day, another week, almost another month. Such an interesting and irritating time to be going through. There’s change afoot, which is both exciting and scary, and there’s monotony beyond belief which is boring and tiresome. I’ve heard people describing their lives at this point as Groundhog Day, the movie with Bill Murray. Bu

El Día del Padre y el primer día de verano están solo unos días de distancia, y otro recordatorio que la vida no se siente normal. Entonces, tal vez es hora de ver lo que entendemos por normal. Como adjetivo la definición de normal es "conforme a un estándar, o habitual, típico o esperado." Como sustantivo, se define como "el estado o condición habitual, promedio o típico." Básicamente, lo que esto me dice es que lo normal es lo que decidamos que es. Creo que podríamos estar

What, exactly, is the new normal? Father’s Day and the first day of summer are just days away, and yet another reminder that life does not feel normal. So, maybe it’s time to look at what we mean by normal. As an adjective, the definition of normal is “conforming to a standard, or usual, typical, or expected.” As a noun, it’s defined as “the usual, average, or typical state or condition.” Basically, what this tells me is that normal is whatever we decide it is. I think we mig

Ready or not, change is everywhere. Instead of focusing on external events, first consider looking inward to map your course to your new beginning. I hope you’re well and safe and continuing to practice mindfulness in the midst of a lot of chaos. I wrote a script for one of our animated shorts a couple of weeks ago stating that stay-at-home mandates were not the most effective way to prevent the spread of a virus. We are still in the midst of a pandemic, by the way, even thou

Creo que hoy deberíamos comenzar respirando profundamente por la nariz y despues exhalar suspirando con alivio. Un gran suspiro. Listo? Dentro ... ahhhhh. Gracias, yo necesitaba eso. Lo necesitaba porque las cosas están cambiando de nuevo y hay una parte de mí, la parte más antigua de mi cerebro, que realmente quiere resistirlo. Mi amígdala, como la mayoría de las suyas, interpreta el cambio como un probable peligro. Y francamente, creo que nuestra amígdala esta cansada de lo

I think today we should start by taking a nice deep breath in through the nose and then exhale by sighing with relief. A really big sigh. Ready? In….ahhhhh. Thank you, I needed that. I needed that because things are changing again and there’s a part of me, the oldest part of my brain, that really wants to resist. My amygdala, like most of yours, interprets change as potential danger. And frankly, I think it’s tired of the constant changes we’ve been experiencing over the last

It seems the whole world changed in a matter of just weeks. Each of us has been impacted in different ways, but we all share one thing in common – life has changed. In the first weeks of the shutdown, businesses had to freeze in place or pivot fast. Individuals had to relocate to working from home or just be home without working. Children of all ages had their school schedules abruptly ended and are in various stages of remote learning or having a very long spring break. And

I just did my first virtual retreat that was created for a group that has been going through a lot of changes over the past year and couldn’t help but realize that I was describing what the entire world is going through now related to the pandemic. One of the reasons that we struggle with change is because when we experience it, we expect it to be over immediately. But change doesn’t occur like taking a trip from one side of a street to the other. There’s a psychological proc

Estoy entrando en mi sexta semana de lo que estoy tratando de recordar de llamarle como un retiro aislado. No parece posible que no he salido absolutamente a ninguna parte, aparte de tres viajes a la tienda de comestibles, en seis semanas. Sé que algunos de ustedes han estado en casa incluso más tiempo. Y sé que estoy muy bendecida de haber podido seguir trabajando durante todo este período, aunque me he quejado un poco por estar demasiada ocupada. Ese ajetreo probablemente V