Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Insightful Blogger (as long as you don't mind profanity)

Hello Crew. 
Do you all know of this blogger, Mark Manson? A client of mine just shared him with me calling him "the dark-zen type"--which of course was very intriguing...so I checked out his blog, and he has some super insightful thoughts and posts (as long as you don't mind profanity). 
If you're interested here is his blog: https://markmanson.net

Monday, November 6, 2017

Great Read to Gain Some Perspective

I've started reading Brene Brown's new book, "Braving the Wilderness," and I am loving it. Speaking with some of my friends and colleagues, I realize that not everyone is familiar with this brilliant author and her moving, thought-provoking books. This one is about True Belonging, and I think it just might ring true in more ways than one for many of us.

Well, click here to see Braving the Wilderness on Amazon. Happy reading!

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Curl Up

I love the way nature often mirrors, teaches, and encourages things we humans feel internally but may not have words or motivation for. This photo of a leaf curling in upon itself brings to mind the ability (and necessity) we all have to search inward for soothing, comfort, and rest. For whatever reason, the delicacy of this leaf combined with its flexibility and strength speaks to me.

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Inspiring Documentary: Minimalism

I watched a really inspiring documentary last night on Minimalism. Yes, sure, there were the "Tiny House" people and the people who wear only the same 5 articles of clothing each day, but there were also real-life examples of how to live mindfully with awareness of the things we own and use. I thought the presentation of appreciation for the materials we own rather than an endless hunger for more, more, more STUFF was very cool. It reminded me of the hungry ghost concept from Chinese Buddhism where a certain kind of spirit eats and eats and never satisfies its torturous hunger pangs.

The documentary wasn't necessarily encouraging that we throw away the things we have or stop buying all together, it was recommending that we keep possession only of items we truly enjoy in our lives--materialistic goods that contribute to a happy, meaningful life.

The film ended with the takeaway of: "Love people. Use things. Not the other way around."

You can check out the website for the narrators Josh and Ryan (pictured above) at http://www.theminimalists.com and you can find the documentary on Netflix called Minimalism.

Monday, July 3, 2017

Art Heals the Brain

Among other great information in this article: "The act of drawing can strengthen the visual cortex of a blind person, creating activity where none had existed before." Read on by clicking here.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Great Gratefulness Site

This site is fantastic!
Just wanted to share.
Click here to visit the site
or go to www.gratefulness.org

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Mirror Touch Synesthesia...Something Amazing

People! What an incredible podcast I recently listened to...I couldn't help but share it with you. It is called "Entanglement" from the Invisibilia feed.

This superbly interesting podcast discusses something called Mirror Touch Synesthesia, which is the ultimate empathy a person could experience--an overactivity of mirror neurons signaling to the person's brain that they have had a physical experience when they see another person having a physical experience (they see a child fall down, and subsequently experience in their own body the pain of the fall). So interesting. There is even a bit of art therapy in there to super-sweeten the podcast for this Art Therapist!

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Why do we keep ourselves awake when we are tired?

A very dear client of mine brought this onto my radar today, and I wanted to share it because it seems many of us do this very thing. Keeping ourselves awake at night beyond the point when we are tired has become a bit of a common practice for busy people, drained parents, and many others, but perhaps there is another reason that explains this interesting behavior? Click here to read more.


Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Imagine being able to SEE sounds rather than just hear them

This article is so interesting. It discusses the experience of Synesthesia, where an artist creates beautiful paintings of the sounds in songs she is able to see visually in her mind and project onto canvas. Click here to see the article.