Expanding the definition of rest

The blooms pull me back to what is here right now. What is true in this moment.

What happens when you take a deep breath and give yourself the space to pause.

Coming to the senses is a powerful way to practice a presence of mind.

When this theme surfaced, I didn't immediately know what it meant. I've worked with these themes enough to know it's not necessary for me to understand the full meaning right away. Instead, its emergence was a signal to pay attention.

What can you give preference to?

When things don’t go according to plan…

You are exactly where you are

By merging conservation with restoration, I'm creating the conditions for sustainable growth, movement, transition, and evolution.

I see as it gets caught on the reality that life is short, precious, and unpredictable. I choose to keep the curtain lifted. To see how I can be present and appreciate each moment as it passes.

I get into that “doing-mode” trying to fix, solve, or correct. When the answer, oftentimes, is to simply be.

What are some simple activities you can integrate throughout your day to unwind from stress as you see it arise?

Rather than getting swept up in the frenzy of return, what if we could allow ourselves to emerge?

Those piles have long since melted and have been replaced with blooming daffodils and crocuses. And those hardened places within have melted as well.

And now with this changing season, it feels like time to leap. To trust that there is a mama otter there to catch us, to pick us up when we need, and to offer us a moment of tenderness.

By taking this step back, by pulling away from the swirl of it all, I was able to connect to what I needed at this moment. I connected to a community of support. I connected to the present more acutely and consciously than I have in months if not years.

And I found myself grateful. Realizing that each morning is a gift. A precious opportunity to offer more.

We are not in a sprint right now, this is a marathon. And I believe it to be vital to take care of ourselves not as a means to "check out" from what's happening, but to charge our batteries, to nourish ourselves so that we can show up externally from a grounded, clear, compassionate and thoughtful place.

I shared this challenge with my therapist this week and she invited me to explore a different perspective. What if the project wasn't about the outcome, what if the project was the process itself?

I start to peel away the layers, slide past the news stories, untether from the short term and the long term fears. When I look deep down at what I'm feeling. When I distill it down to its core essence, I find feelings I have encountered before.