“You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.”
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Why mindfulness?
It’s a good question.
I have been practicing Mindfulness, through meditation and related “life” practices, for over 20 years. That’s a long time! Why? My first experience of Mindfulness was on a 10-day silent meditation retreat at Spirit Rock in CA when I was 26 years old. It is not an exaggeration to say that it irrevocably changed my life. Like many twenty-somethings I felt as though my life had been chugging along – school, college, work. Then I hit a series of emotional stumbling blocks and wondered “is there something I’m missing?” I had been a success at the things society encourages. So why was I not happy? Mindfulness was not as universally popular then but I was lucky to be living in CA, a displace mid-westerner from chilly Buffalo, and a kind friend suggested a meditation retreat. So off to Spirit Rock I went. It was during those 10-days in that I understood, for the first time, that the power to live authentically and joyfully lied within me, rather than in the factors of my external life. And the more I practiced, the more my external life grew to reflect that clarity – flourishing, growing, sustaining. This is a story not uncommon among Mindfulness advocates and teachers, and science is now supporting that experience: Mindfulness is an accessible tool with great potential to support our well-being.
As my Mindfulness practice has grown and developed over many years with the support of many wonderful and wise teachers, mentors and colleagues, I have come to understand that clarity, balance and authentic connection are three essential building blocks for living a fulfilling and purposeful life and for thriving in relationships, individually and within organizations. Increased joy, ease and happiness follow as natural by-products. So my work focuses in these areas. These are the specific qualities I help individuals and organizations cultivate.
When we are truly present we can respond rather than react – we have the mental and emotional space to choose wise actions even in the midst of turmoil. And in this “space” there is more room for ease, joy, compassion and kindness, even within the stress and busyness that are part of the reality of modern life.
My goal is to help my clients find increased clarity and wellness by identifying their needs and, in turn, offering a unique set of scientifically supported Mindfulness tools that work best for them. Mindfulness is the art and practice learning to be in the present moment without judgement. This means judgement of ourselves and others as well as our circumstances. Mindfulness gives us the ability to move away from our own automatic choices into a place of greater possibility.
Let’s see what is possible together.