Calm in the Storm

"If you hear your phone ring or a notification alert come in, do not rush to find which pocket our phone is in and then answer in a stressed way. Instead, take a moment to become aware of your in-breath and out-breath. Life is happening now. We can become aware of our body. Are we tense? We can become aware of our state of mind. Are we able, with an out-breath, to let go of what is preoccupying us? Can we be truly present when we listen to the caller’s voice or view an incoming message?"

"Often after the holidays at the end of the year, when we may have overindulged, we sign up for a gym membership. We may go to the gym for a few weeks, but then perhaps our old habits kick in. Spirituality is not so different. We may have the wish to be mindful and lead our best life. Mindfulness is sexy now, and many people sign up for mindfulness courses every New Year. That’s good, but we have to understand that this practice is not something for a week or a month; like exercise, it’s something to bring into our daily lives."

"Many of us have forgotten how to rest. We’ve become strangers to stillness, untrusting of silence, uneasy with simply being. We’ve been taught we must prove our value through doing, that love must be earned, and that there’s always a better version of ourselves just out of reach. In that striving, we lose touch with the profound truth: we are already enough. We already belong. None of this is about blaming ourselves for the distance we’ve traveled from home, from our stability, but about naming that distance with clarity and compassion. Only by seeing what clouds our vision can we begin to clear the way. These reflections are not meant to create judgment, but to spark curiosity. What beliefs have we inherited? What patterns are we ready to loosen? What if the ease we’ve been searching for has been within us all along—quiet, patient, waiting to be remembered?"

"It takes visceral knowing, not intellectual understanding, to bring about fundamental change. If we want to see greater kindness in the world, we need to find our own tenderness within. If we want the world to move away from polarization to deeper collaboration, we ourselves need to find ways to listen deeply to those we believe to be the cause of our suffering. If we want others to feel less isolated and lonely, we need to see past our own beliefs about our separation and disconnection."