Breathing in, I see myself in anger, irritation, impatience, and blaming

Breathing out, I smile with compassion at the suffering within me that needs care to transform

Use any or all to spark some creative summer writing.

“The moments I have heard news, or felt the suffering in another person come at me, or moments when I have been confronted in an interaction that activates trauma responses in me but remained unafraid, those moments were true gifts because they created ripples of non-fear, within me, and out into the world.”

Fresh-start energy can be so invigorating - the lightness, the excitement, the wide-eyed curiosity and energy of purpose. When a fresh start comes from a place of self-awareness, confidence, and self-trust, it feels so full of potential, right?

The thing is, my fresh start energy rarely comes on cue with calendar events like New Years Day. Does yours?

“How do YOU feel about community? Do you feel connected? Supported? Valued? Seen? Do you feel love and pride for your contributions to your community? If you were to fall severely ill today, how confident are you that your community could hold you, and maybe even your loved ones, as you journeyed through severe illness?”

If you have built barriers around yourself that make it hard to lean into community, take a few minutes to read and reflect.

Diagnosis and treatment at 41 brought up the childhood trauma of losing my mother to cancer when she was the same age (I was 11).

More than a decade out from my own diagnosis and treatment, and with much support, I’ve transformed those emotional wounds to the point where they don’t overwhelm. Or, more accurately, when they do arise, quite overwhelmingly, I experience more than the pain and suffering of grief and fear. I also experience peace. And compassion. And even joy.

Whether you’re a cancer survivor or not, chances are that the tools that have helped me transform trauma can help you, too.

Our practice asks us to be present. Here. Now. With this breath. In this body.

In the present, there is no measurement of success or achievement, no evaluation of merit or worth. There is just breath. Just life. Just deep awareness and the joy of it.

Explore the Yama & Niyama as they apply to travel (and revise to reflect your own understandings and calls to action).

“5. Aparigraha - Non Grasping: I travel with openness to learning and experiencing, without a sense of entitlement for particular services, experiences, or consumption”

Ohhh the long list of times that I have embarrassed myself.

I have acted in ways that made others cringe. Hard. I have spoken and acted in ignorance, embarrassing myself and even doing harm. I have acted in ways that burned bridges (although sometimes that was intentional, even if not particularly graceful).

If you’re feeling like the ripples you’re producing are something other than what you’d like, it’s probably a great time to pause, and tend to the layers of suffering that lie beneath those embarrassing and harmful actions.

Every YES and every NO can be a positive affirmation of self