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Fog and Nature

Salve for the Soul

This page was originally built in 2020 during the shelter in place to offer resources, support, hope, inspiration and connection during a dark time.  

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I thought I'd awaken to a world in mourning.
Heavy clouds crowding, a society storming.
But there's something different on this golden morning.
Something magical in the sunlight, wide and warming.

I see a dad with a stroller taking a jog.
Across the street, a bright-eyed girl chases her dog.
A grandma on a porch fingers her rosaries.
She grins as her young neighbor brings her groceries.

While we might feel small, separate, and all alone,
Our people have never been more closely tethered.
The question isn't if we will weather this unknown,
But how we will weather this unknown together.

So on this meaningful morn, we mourn and we mend.
Like light, we can't be broken, even when we bend.

As one, we will defeat both despair and disease.
We stand with healthcare heroes and all employees;
With families, libraries, schools, waiters, artists;
Businesses, restaurants, and hospitals hit hardest.

We ignite not in the light, but in lack thereof,
For it is in loss that we truly learn to love.
In this chaos, we will discover clarity.
In suffering, we must find solidarity.

For it's our grief that gives us our gratitude,
Shows us how to find hope, if we ever lose it.
So ensure that this ache wasn't endured in vain:
Do not ignore the pain. Give it purpose. Use it.

Read children's books, dance alone to DJ music.
Know that this distance will make our hearts grow fonder.
From a wave of woes our world will emerge stronger.

We'll observe how the burdens braved by humankind
Are also the moments that make us humans kind;
Let every dawn find us courageous, brought closer;
Heeding the light before the fight is over.
When this ends, we'll smile sweetly, finally seeing
In testing times, we became the best of beings.

Podcasts I love

DEAR ANXIETY

THE HAPPINESS LAB

ON BEING

UNLOCKING US

TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE

HIDDEN BRAIN

INVISIBILIA

TRUE STORIES OF GOOD PEOPLE

TEN PERCENT HAPPIER

SUPER SOUL CONVERSATIONS

THIS AMERICAN LIFE

I Love

Things i love

The beautiful wisdom of the book

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

The books, TED Talks, podcast, and basically anything Brene Brown

The Masterclass, guided meditations and mindfulness resources on the Calm app

The uplifting insight of the Greater Good

Baby goats playing

Some Good News

Humans sharing their gifts and spreading love

Ride the Waves

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"When we relax the nervous system, it enables us to reconnect with ourselves. In so doing, we familiarize ourselves with our deepest values, and our deepest humanity. We connect with something essential. It's a bit like coming home, to a place that feels so natural, so effortless, and so right, that you realize you've been missing something very important all along. This realization enables us to better connect with others, because there is no longer a gap between who we are deep down, and what we present to the world."

 

- Will Williams

RAIN

As innately human as it is to have emotions, the habitual human response to feelings tends to be either fight them or feed them.  But there is another way, it just takes practice...

Recognize Notice what you're feeling & name it

Allow Be with what's happening right now without trying to change it

Investigate Notice what sensations arise in your body

Nurture Take a stance of compassion

Dive deeper into RAIN with Tara Brach and Dan Harris.  Remember that this is a practice and we can expect to be clumsy when we are trying new things.  Brene Brown delves into the extreme discomfort of "first times" in her podcast and also reminds us that her decades of research have shown that"if we don't feel our feelings they will eat us alive."  

Coping with uncomfortable emotions

 Jack Kornfield, Buddhist monk and mindfulness pioneer offers this wisdom on coping with the pandemic...

“Epidemics are a part of the cycle of life on this planet.  The choice is how we respond. With greed and hatred and fear and ignorance? Or with generosity, clarity, steadiness and love? What’s needed in a time like this are ways to steady the heart ... The first step is acknowledgment and the willingness to be present. You could almost whisper to yourself, “Sadness, fear, anxiety, grief, longing,” as if to bow to that feeling and hold it with respect. That allows the feeling to open — maybe even intensify for a bit — but eventually to soften. The next step is to bring in a sense of compassion for all the fears and confusion and helplessness. These feelings are all part of the fight-flight-or-freeze instinct in the body and the mind. If I make space for the feelings and they have time to be felt, it’s as if my awareness gets bigger and I can hold all of this with greater ease and compassion and presence and steadiness."

resilience

Positive Self Talk is our armor in a harsh world.  Our words are powerful and the things we tell ourselves make a difference.  Be kind when you talk to yourself, you deserve it.  And research shows it will only help you in the long run. 

 

Humor helps us be with what we cannot otherwise tolerate or integrate.   There is no medicine as sweet as a good laugh and laughter is a gift that we can give ourselves and others.

 

Acting altruistically helps us rise above fear.  Buoying someone else's spirits has the same effect on your own.  

 

Eric Barker shares more details on the above in his 5 Secrets to Mental Toughness.

Happiness

Happiness may sound like a ludicrous idea at a time like this or possibly we need to practice ways of cultivating joy, delight and well-being now more than ever. 

The Atlantic recently launched a new column called “How to Build a Life” which aims to give you the tools you need to construct a life that feels whole and meaningful.

"We must risk delight ... We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world."

- Jack Gilbert

Breathe

We know that anxiety feeds off of the unknown and under these unusual and rapidly-changing circumstances we may feel pulled to follow anxious thoughts but we also have an opportunity to practice intentionally bringing ourselves back to the present moment over and over again.   The breath is a powerful anchor to bring us out of whirling thoughts and back into our bodies.

The Power of Gratitude

Starting a daily Gratitude Practice or "Silver Linings Playbook" will help train your brain to focus on the positive and will reset your system. 

It turns out that it's not finding gratitude that matters most; it’s remembering to look in the first place.  According to UCLA neuroscientist Alex Korb, author of The Upward Spiral,

"Remembering to be grateful is a form of emotional intelligence. One study found that it actually affected neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex. These density changes suggest that as emotional intelligence increases, the neurons in these areas become more efficient. With higher emotional intelligence, it simply takes less effort to be grateful."

 

This is one of my favorite TED talks on the power of positive mindset by Happiness Researcher Shawn Achor who knows a thing or two about gratitude.

Learn more about how to utilize the power of gratitude ...

Nature's Gifts

Relief is right outside your door.

Any amount of time in nature can help lighten the spirits. Take a walk around the block, step into your yard & tune in to the 5 senses, sit on your deck & feel the sun, open your window & breathe in the fresh air.

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Natural Goodness

We all have a wise and gifted teacher and healer available to us at all times, free of charge.  Nature. Whether your brain needs peace, stimulation or distraction you can step outside and tune in to the shapes, patterns, textures, sounds, smells and millions of small wonders in the natural world.  More on the benefits of nature.

"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.

Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely.

It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good."

- Clarissa Pinkola Estes

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