Summer is Definitely Here

Today is one of those days unlike most where I live. Instead of the "June gloom" in the morning, the sun is out in full-force. There are times that the sun doesn't show itself until 2 P.M. (and I feel as though we are living in Seattle with all the grey). But today is different.

There's something about the sun shining down upon me. It brings warmth to my heart and soul. It shines down the promise and hope of what's yet to come.

Today, as I'm watching my son's baseball game, teaching a prenatal yoga class and seeing a client, I vow to use the sun as a metaphor for radiating all that's good.
I vow to pause and feel the sun's glow before I speak. I vow to pause.... and be still... like the sun.

Happy sunshine day,

Lisa

Hard Candy at a Farmer's Market?

Isn't the image I'm sharing supposed to be what a Farmer's Market looks like when you go to shop? For years, the Hermosa Beach Farmer's Market has sold hard candy. You know, the kind that you find at Cosco or your local grocery store.

I want my kids to grow up having an image in their mind's eye of the picture above. An image where they think of local, fresh produce and hand-made items. Not an image of candy laden with high-fructose corn syrup, dyes, and artificial ingredients.

I wrote a letter to the local Chamber of Commerce and the issue received support from other concerned parents. Today I received word that there will no longer be the sale of hard candy. It's the little victories that really do make a difference.

If I had a horse, I think I'd get on it and ride off into the distance. :)

Your Farmer's Market Image Lover,

Lisa

Could I Be Silent for 1.5 Years, like Jack Kornfield?

It's been 2 days since my mindfulness training with Jack Kornfield and Dan Siegel. I find myself slowing down and being mindful of every thought, spoken word and action. Just being in those 2 men's presence has definitely reinforced the notion that I am on the right path for this lifetime.

Could I ever go live in silence for 1.5 years, as Jack Kornfield once did when he lived in the forest as a Buddhist munk? I'm not sure. I know I'm open to the idea, however. Dan Siegel (amazing neuro-biologiest) reminded us that focused intention really does create new synapses in the brain. So what I may have never thought possible, actually is.

I didn't go to the forest today, but I do live 3/4 miles from the beach. I took a mindful run and went down by the water's edge. It's cloudy here in Hermosa Beach today. I thanked the clouds for creating that moment of perfection. Everything and everyone is as they should be.

Leaving the beach, I found myself more able to answer work emails, schedule my family's day. I just blessed each activity, trusting that it's my mind that needs to stay calm and feel like I'm in the forest or at the beach, even when I'm not.
Since my brain really doesn't know the difference between what is real/not real, I might as well keep imagining myself in a forest monestary.

Thanks Jack, thanks Dan, as I know have pieces of you in me. We are all one.

Mindfully,

Lisa