A prayer...

Let the mind be natural

Let the body be

Let the heart be open and flowing

Let there be curiosity

Let every inbreath be a surrender with gratitude

Let every out breath be a response from that

When there is nothing left to surrender

Let there be silence

I was alive but perhaps I did not live...

Darkness is not black
Silence is not silent
Stillness is not still
Emptiness is not empty
Meditation is not meditate-ing

Somewhat less than 30 years ago in my undergrad intro to public speaking class I wrote a speech about meditation and called on the class to try it for some of its, then sparsely, published benefits. I remember the teacher rebuking me for making a speech with religious orientation. I was a rebel, so every speech from then on was somehow related to meditation. Needless to say I squeaked out with barely passing grades.

So, nearly thirty years later, I share my own detour from my own speech to others and my coming home with this:

Meditation is not sitting, with eyes closed, and silent with nothing on the mind in an empty room. I would challenge any religion that claims to own meditation. On the contrary, meditation is not even a verb- its a state that happens when, perhaps, all the senses connect to the whole and all happens just as it should. Everything happens as before- the mind chatters, the desires rise and fall, anticipation happens, memories replay, some foods create a lot of gas, some people piss you off, aches and pains come and go like the seasons, etc. But, something gradually changes or maybe it goes back to its own way.

The doors are everywhere; the key is in the heart; open it, and walk right in.

Is anything ever lost?

Why, O Why....?

Why do we stay within a gypsy-circle, when being is boundless, everywhere
Why do we fear death, when being is timeless, eternal
Why do we fear life, when being IS life itself
Why do we fear love, when being is unconditional love
Why do we fear the other, when there is only one?

The antidote is within the heart; look, listen, follow it.

All I needed...

Someone wiser than me once said, there's a football field worth of space for every golf-ball size of matter in the existence. Some of it is right within. That space is the fertile ground for the very growth of that seed. Here's to the hope and promise that everyone of us finds that space...


All I needed was a little space,
    to contemplate,
      to flow, and
        to heal
In my darkest night, I needed you, 
    who called me their own, 
        to hold this space for me
Instead, what I got was a heartbreak,
    how could I have gotten anything else,
       from those who lack themselves
For this, though, I offer my deepest gratitude,
    infinite were its broken pieces strewn across,
        each a little heart in its own,
              arranged in vastness beyond all imagination,
                  each inviting me to dive right in
To dissolve in this space, to surrender, to discover, and to grow.

Do Aspens tell us something about ourself?

What do 125 hearts beating in harmonious rhythms sound like?

Recently I had the honor of presenting HeartMath to a group of leaders within a local organization. As I walked into the conference center, the participants were busy eating their lunch and conversing with one another. The room had very high ceilings, nonetheless the din was very pronounced. There was a lot of movement. Meanwhile as I centered myself for the presentation in the green room, I noticed a fear that after lunch people might doze off, yet remained curious to see what unfolds.

The presentation started with a video and an overview of the value proposition for them and I introduced myself sharing a little of my background and the journey. I invited the participants to try the Heart Focused Breathing technique... followed by participants sharing their own experiences. They described it as: connected to self, calm, relaxed but alert, silent, etc.

To reduce their cognitive overload, I shared only a few slides of the science behind the technique. Then we tried a slightly longer Inner Ease technique to end the presentation, while I remained curious to feel the harmonious rhythms of 125 hearts.

As someone wiser than me once said the only difference between noise and music is that the music has energies in harmony. So, what do 125 hearts in harmonious rhythms sound like?  A musical piece like no other I had heard before... perfectly silent, still, awake and aware. It was a surreal yet energizing experience.