The first time I did the Loving Kindness Meditation, I thought it was hokey. A bit like sending hopes and prayers out into the universe. The Metta meditation asks that we begin to share benevolent thoughts for others and ourselves. Taking a few minutes to quiet ourselves with some breathing and mindfulness, we consider some simple phrases: May you be safe…May you be healthy…May you be happy…May you live with ease and grace. We begin the practice by bringing up...

Bardo is the Tibetan term for the time between the critical stages of life, from birth through death and beyond to rebirth. In traditional meaning, there are six bardos, three occurring during life and three arising before and after life. On a secular level, we can see that we are in these transitional times all during our day and through our lives. Those times between meetings (if you can catch your breath), when you arrive home from a trip and...

Last week, I attended a conference in New York where I knew not a soul. As we all entered the main hall for the opening session, I saw two men greet each other with a full-body hug. As their embrace ended, I walked by and commented, “I love seeing the love!” One of the gentlemen looked at me and said, “he is my cousin.” As we chatted, he shared that he considers everyone in the room to be his cousin...

I was listening to a lecture from my meditation teacher, Tara Brach, and she mentioned Mark Nepo’s book on The Exquisite Risk. I came across this quote from his work: “Whether through the patterns left in snow, geese honking in the dark or through the brilliant wet leaf that hits your face the moment you are questioning your worth, the quiet teachers are everywhere, pointing us to the unlived portion of our lives. When we think we are in charge,...

I’m finding that Physical Therapy is one of the most significant advancements in medicine, at least for me. When I had a knee injury in college, the doctors told me to rest and stay off my leg for a month. Today, they’d want me to ice it for a few days, start doing some stretching and see a PT to start working out in 4 days. Recently I’ve had a little bout with some dizziness and balance issues. After ruling...