Affirmations

If you haven’t yet heard of this practice, you have been missing out.  The Japanese people have lived by the concept of forest bathing for ages.  The main idea of the practice is simple:  spend at least 20 minutes a ay in nature.  Why is this important?  Studies, partially spurred on by knowledge of this practice, have found that time spent outdoors can lead to faster healing, less anxiety, slower heart rate and lower blood pressure, among a variety of other ailments.  If this isn’t enough to encourage you to get outside, perhaps the idea of slowing down for 20 minutes might convince you to try it. Forest bathing doesn’t necessarily have to happen in the forest.  For some, it might mean taking a walk through the countryside, walking through an orchard, or even just stepping out of the office and spending time sitting on a bench outside.  For those in the city, it might be difficult to get to a park to forest bathe.  No worries!  Simply g...

Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays… We spend a lot of time preparing for these “big” events and then enjoying the celebrations that that ensue. Those days provide us with great amounts of pleasure, and often give us an opportunity to share that with others.  They are great reasons for celebration. However, in addition to the big events, perhaps we should make an effort to celebrate the small things in life more often as well.  Each of use have different ideas about what small events deserve celebrating  For some, its just a matter of the temperature dropping, or perhaps its the opposite!  Some might think that a day at work without a meeting is also cause to celebrate.  There are any number of “small things” that happen during our day for which we could, or should, celebrate. I challenge you to find at least one “small thing” to celebrate this weekend. Your celebration doesn’t have to be “Thanksgiving” large.  It could even be a small high five with someone...

Good afternoon, Today, I find myself filled gratitude.  I am grateful to have woken up this morning. I hope you are, too. I’m also grateful to be surrounded by a huge support system of family and friends, and friends who have become family. I try to tell each of them “thank you” as often as I can.  I fall short of the mark sometimes, so I want everyone reading this to know how much I appreciate each of you. For whom are you grateful?  What have you said or done recently to show your gratitude to them?  This is today’s challenge:  Choose one of those folks and reach out to them.  Explicitly state one of the reasons for which you are grateful.  You will feel wonderful for having shared with them, and trust me, they will feel great because of it, too. If sharing that with others seems to stressful to you (it can be quite challenging), then choose one of the items in the lead photo and spend a few minutes mediating on the blessing of filling your heart and...