Did you know that literally paying attention to your breath… is calming to your central nervous system? Well, it is! Another fun fact— making your exhale longer than your inhale is even more calming. Perhaps you’re already in the practice of noticing your breath. Perhaps you never have. Or, perhaps you’re somewhere in between. Whatever…
Tag: hope
The Power of Buying a Farm! Or at least Getting Out and Imagining:)
An eerie layer of smoke has been hugging LA for awhile now. The other weekend was particularly tricky, difficult, and sad, for me at least. On a whim, my husband, baby, and I decided to jump in the car and drive to Ventura County…. to look at farms to buy! For fun. We had watched…
Set Limits
In a society that proclaims that people are (and should be) limitless, it can be really hard to believe the truth sometimes. It’s OKaY (and normal and expected!) …. when you feel or know that you are limited. when you feel or know that you can’t do everything. when you feel or know that you…
Integrate Racial Justice as part of Life Rhythm
My dear friend, Teesha, co-wrote a book with her friend, John, called Black & White: Disrupting Racism One Friendship at a Time. Teesha is a black woman and John is a white man. They are friends, both pastors– and met at the church they were working at in Atlanta, GA. The book that they wrote…
Practice being healthfully proud of yourself
I have the tendency to sometimes brush off the hard things I’ve done– and rather instead, to focus on what I haven’t been able to do or what I feel like I’m not able to do. Anyone with me? In her podcast Checking In, Susan David (PhD) posits that sometimes to make a situation more…
my testimony sermon
Take a listen here for some hope and inspiration in the midst of these times: Highlights: I name that I struggle with why God allows suffering– and why He saves some from awful, horrible situations and not others. I warp through my 5 year physical healing (8 year emotional healing) journey of recovery from traumatic…
A Quick Grounding Exercise
Hey there! Try this! Let me know if this helps to ground you in the present moment. Name… I’ll go first. In demonstrating this for you, you might be able to guess what I’m doing: I’m munching on carrots and hummus. 🙂 This grounding activity is an exercise towards building mindfulness, which has been researched…
Video: Paraverbal language– how to calm yourself
In a high-stress pandemic, paying attention to these three things might help bring peace to you and/or to others. These are: These three things make up what is known as paraverbal language. Here is a video I made last week about it: The takeaway here is that the way you speak can make both the…
Self-care today
Ask yourself right now, what is one thing you are able to do today to take care of yourself? For me, one thing is letting myself feel what I feel. That one thing might change from day to day, from person to person. What is one thing for you? Jesus, please calm our bodies, strengthen…