Embracing the Fall

Fall is upon us. Some of us are sad to see the hot summer days go, others can’t wait for the leaves to turn and temperatures to cool. Most of us can agree that a world with only one season would be much less interesting than our continually changing weather patterns.

Warming Our Experience

Let’s face it. Life can be hard. Not only are we imperfect and continually making mistakes or falling short of our own standards, the world around us is also challenging. Other people sometimes don’t act as we would like them too. Our jobs can be stressful and demanding. We might be struggling to make ends meet. Society may seem dysfunctional and broken.

Bringing Caring Force to the World

The current news portrays a world that is out-of-balance, verging on out-of-control. How can we maintain equilibrium when faced with such disarray? By tapping into “caring force” – a healthy balance between fierce and tender self-compassion – we can find more stable footing as we meet the challenges in our world.

Guarding Ourselves with Love

A huge part of caring for ourselves means guarding ourselves from harm. This doesn’t mean we shut down our hearts, quite the opposite. It means that we open our hearts. But we also open our eyes to the potential of being drained of our time or energy in a way that depletes us.

Reparenting Ourselves with Self-Compassion

Some of us are fortunate enough to have had caring parents who met our needs consistently while growing up (I count myself as one of the lucky ones.)

Many of us, however, had parents who struggled with their own daemons and may not have been able to be there for us in consistent manner.