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A provocative quote from Vasant Lad's poem, Attachment, is: "Where there is attachment there is no love." In this podcast you will be invited to consider your attachments, and how they help and hinder your experiences during the holidays (and of love). You may want to see the poem which you can find here: Attachment by Vasant Lad. This poem comes from his illustrated collection: Strands of Eternity. Enjoy!

In this week’s Midweek Busyness Break (recording) we’ll be using Macrina Wiederkehr’s poem from Seasons of the Heart to hear her connection and to invite your own connections between baking powder, baking power and our best self. Be ready to write and rise! I was just thinking one morning during meditation how much alike hope and baking powder are: quietly getting what is best in me to rise, awakening the hint of eternity within.   I always think of that when I eat biscuits now and wish that I could be more faithful to the hint of eternity, the baking power in me.  

The pressure of getting things done, so called being productive, encourages us to put off many of the things that in reality truly feed us. This is not a personality defect, there are many forces at work that would keep us from taking the time to replenish, to choose things and create the space for nourishing the gorgeous being that is the magnificent you. Enjoy listening and writing along with this week's Midweek Busyness Break (podcast), and be nourished.  

A full life can be a wonderful life; an overfull life is just like when we eat too much- indigestion, heartburn, stomachache and nagging sense of discomfort. What are the things you do to create a sustainable life? What are the greatest challenges you face in creating a sustainable life? In this podcast you will be invited to explore sustainability and what brings you joy. Enjoy!

My view of god has changed greatly over the years, and these changes have allowed me to be freer, more authentic and real, most importantly, more freely give love to myself, and, others. Listening to this Midweek Busyness Break you will be invited to contemplate god as a verb, do some breath work and be led through a guided meditation followed by a brief journal write. This podcast is especially helpful if you are feeling a bit at-odds with yourself or life. Enjoy!

In the above podcast entitled, Open Heart and New Found Clarity I invite a brief journal write, and offer a poem followed by a guided meditation. If you need renewal, and perhaps a new or different way to think or feel about something, you will find this session to be rewarding. This podcast comes from the Midweek Busyness Breaks. These free 20-minute Busyness Breaks are held live every Wednesday at 1:00 EST. To received invitations to the free live call, fill out the form on the righthand side of this page.  

Welcome to the Midweek Busyness Break, this week's podcast-theme is creating breaks that serve. If you are new to Midweek Busyness Breaks you can expect to do some breath work, and some brief journal writing. In this recording I'll lead you through a process to create breaks that serve on multiple levels. If you’d like you can use it later to plan additional breaks for yourself. Enjoy!   Midweek Busyness Breaks are held live every Wednesday at 1:00 EST. To received invitations to the free live call, fill out the form on the righthand side of this page.

Please enjoy this podcast inviting you to explore your home and work space, identifying what is supporting you and what would support you and your dreams even more.

As you listen to this podcast you will be invited to play with POV- point of view, and choose the story that you like best! Have your pen and paper handy!   Telling the Story of Your Life "...Story is the narrative thread of our experience--not what literally happens, but what we make out of what happens, what we tell each other and what we remember..." Christina Baldwin Storycatcher   What is so very cool about creating our own story is that we can create whatever story we want! The catch and the gift is: we choose our stories. That's hard to remember, or to know what to do about, when we've created a story that keeps us small or holds us back, or one that keeps us blaming or stuck. In this podcast you will be invited to imagine what three powerful and cool characters would say to you to invite you to think and act as your BEST (biggest in a good way!) self.

In the podcast above, you will experience how acceptance and permission can free you from the manacles of urgency and let you experience flow in many ways, best of all-- flowing with the River. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a renowned psychologist, found in his research that women not only perceived that they had less time to engage in flow activities, but also did not allow  themselves to engage in ways that evoked "flow." When you are living life as though many or most things are urgent or an emergency, or that it is your responsibility to respond to others' demands in their timeframe, you loose opportunities for flow, and for enjoyment. In Csikszentmihalyi's research, "flow experiences" are peak experiences where our engagement with whatever it is we are doing is so significant that time becomes meaningless, and we peacefully loose ourselves within the activity.  In the podcast above, you will also hear a lovely poem from Minx Boren's newest book, Life is a Healing Journey. In it she asks gently asks what CAN be let go of? And what might this mean for your life.   Be gentle, be joyful and take breaks! Darlene Midweek Busyness Breaks are held every Wednesday 1pm EDT (12pm CDT, 11am MDT, 10am PDT) Call: 805-360-1000 Enter the access code: 375089#  

This Midweek Busyness Break, The Grateful Guest, will be especially rewarding if you are overwhelmed or need to get reorganized for the rest of your day. I'd love to hear from you after listening, post a comment below or send me a note!

If you are feeling discouraged (in a big or small way) and would like to engage in a 20-minute break (think mini-retreat) to move you forward. The podcast (recording above) of this week's Busyness Break will help you move forward. You can expect to do some breath work, very brief journaling, and hear some inspirational words and ideas to tap into your best and brightest self!   I had an ah-ha over the weekend that's perhaps something you already realized. But for me, I saw this in NEON lights. The word, discourage, is dis-COURAGE. Even though you know that being proactive helps you feel better, sometimes instead of proactive, you just keep doing the same things. When nothing changes, you become discouraged. While some things cannot be changed and are hard to accept, the incredible gift is: you can choose to change your thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and subsequent actions with respect to the situation. Sometimes this takes courage. By having the courage to release what you think you know (whatever story you have been telling about this situation), getting clear about what you really do want (and can change), you are able to see new more effective ways to work with what's there. Best of all- you are more peaceful and gentle. For some, it might also mean you get to sleep at night too! Listen to the above podcast to engage in a mini-retreat to take the first step to move from discouraged to courage! Warm regards, Darlene   Midweek Busyness Breaks are hosted every Wednesday at 1pm EDT (12pm CDT, 11am MDT, 10am PDT) Call: 805-360-1000 Enter the access code: 375089#   Till then, be gentle, be joyful and take breaks!     Darlene    

In this playful podcast you will "travel to mountains, rivers, and cities, ending in "your" garden. Don't forget to have your pen and paper (or journal) ready! Enjoy this Midweek Busyness Break! At the end of this Break, there's an extra invitation that if you take me up on it- you will be VERY happy you did! (By the way, the recording is less than 10 minutes).

    Enjoy the podcast above as you are invited to explore: Who would you be if you weren't busy? How often have you said, if only I weren't so busy, I'd...? But who would you be if you weren't busy? Some women in my classes have told me that they are afraid of not being busy. What do you think? How does this question sit with you? In our society we have confused busyness with success; of course it's not that it doesn't take work to reach our dreams but usually our vision (dream) does not include being exhausted, cranky, or sick, which is exactly what unrelenting busyness can bring. For your enjoyment and reference: A poem by Michael Blumenthal: The New Story of Your Life This poem is read in the podcast with an invitation and a question for you.

This podcast examines how exploring competing priorities gives clues (or direct information) to move towards rather than away from your most fulfilled life. As you listen you can expect to be invited to do some brief journal writing exercises and breath work. The recording is less than 20 minutes. Once you have listened to the call, you might want to explore further by writing your responses to these three questions:   The Questions: Are you forcing something to happen (not happen)? Is your desire a reaction against something, or a vision of what you truly want? Aim for the latter! How does not doing this help AND hurt you? So, what do you get out of doing/not doing, and, how does this move you towards or away from your best self and grandest dreams? Be specific.   Please call if you would like some one to one coaching help with this work, it would be my pleasure and privilege! I have a six-session package that works well for many goals.

This podcast focuses the power of the body to communicate, and how busyness can get in the way of hearing vital messages including how best to move forward in our business and life. If you prefer to read and do the journal writes, the text of the call is below.   Enjoy, be radical- TAKE BREAKS!   What is one thing that you have already learned from your body? This morning as I was contemplating some changes in my business, I noticed that I was holding tension in my solar plexus, and that my heart area was not open and spacious as it can be. This beautiful communication let me know that I needed to set this idea aside for now, and ask for guidance. As many of you know, our bodies hold some of the 10,000 messages that are available to us at any point in time, if we are willing to pause, open our minds and hearts, and listen. And as far as I know, you can’t open in this way when you are operating in the urgency-control mode, in other words: in the grip of the beast of busyness. So to be help you switch gears, start with breath-work designed to prepare you for listening to your body. Get as comfortable as you are able, put both feet on the floor, and On the in-breath say to yourself, Oh blessed body, On the out-breath, Release your mysteries to me Do this three times, each time really feeling the words and releasing any tensions you are holding. Pick up your pen, and write down any thoughts that come to mind, whether you feel like they are from your body or not, just write for two minutes, whatever comes up.   Reread what you have written, what do you notice about your writing experience and/or the content of what you wrote?   Listen to these words from Eduardo Galeano from Walking Words: The Church says: The body is a sin. Science says: The body is a machine Advertising says: The body is a business. The body says: I am a fiesta.     Take the next 2 minutes to respond to this question: What comes to mind for you when you think of your body as a fiesta?   If you thought of your body with even more joy, appreciation and respect, how might your life be different? Why do you think this?   What has your body said to you? How often and when are you able to listen? What would happen if you listened more often?   The fact is our body is a treasure trove of communication if we choose to listen. This listening is critical for for aligning your life in health, happiness and creating a future that brings these to you.   Than

The podcast above is a recording of the Midweek Busyness Break entitled: Soften Your Heart and Release Worries. You can listen here or download for listening later. This one is about 13 minutes. Midweek Busyness-Breaks help you recharge your energy & uplift your spirits! Women and men tend to spread themselves too thin, and midweek especially, we can experience a slump. In these calls you’ll take a breather, do a bit of journal writing and hear tips and insights to go from tapped out to tip-top! You’ll leave the call refreshed and energized, ready to bring your best self to whatever comes next. I'd love to have you join us on the live call, and if you would like this too, just sign-up on the right-hand side of this page. You will receive invitations to these free and fun calls!   Be well, and take breaks!

    This blog post is based upon a Midweek Busyness Break (sign up [over on the right side of this website] for weekly invitations). Our theme for today is switching gears. It can be pretty hard to switch gears in order to take a break. In addition, many of us, are switching gears every few minutes, this distracted, fragmented and technology-invasive work, and often life-style, can leave us with little satisfaction in accomplishing what we most want. Switching gears can impair our focus and therefore the joy of engaging in a task or life in general! Congratulate yourself for being the radical break-taker that you are! And know that the research supports you, even if our culture hasn’t caught up yet! You can expect to do some short journal writing, so get your pen and paper handy. Take a moment right now, to come into this break-time even more by completing this sentence stem: These are the thing I will set aside to become fully present to this Busyness Break…   Letting things go begins to bring us into the present. The breathing, reflection and mindfulness that are a part of Busyness Break calls are ways to help counteract the more harmful affects of busyness. As you read the poem below (click on link) from Mary Oliver, be mindful of your breathing. As you breath, and read, notice the way she gives us this gorgeous mind-movie that demonstrates the gift of focus on so many levels:   How Everything Adores Being Alive* – by Mary Oliver   Take two minutes now, to write in response to this question: What is a "deep cup" for you?   Mary Oliver tells the story of a beetle, imagining what that beetle must adore and delight in.  Let yourself switch gears, and really play for a moment, what insect would you like to be? What would you adore? What would delight you? Where might you travel? Start your writing or poem with" I’d love to be a….   After you have finished writing, consider this question and jot down your ideas: How might you take a bit of this delight and adoration into the rest of your day?   Enjoy!   *This poem can be found in the book, Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver.

This post is based upon the MidWeek Busyness Break, if you would prefer to listen, you can do so on the player above.   One key practice for "taming the beast of busyness" is practicing self-compassion. Most of us do not equate compassion with something we feel for our self. It may be what we feel towards marginalized people or groups, or others in weakened conditions. Or the word compassion might bring to mind specific people in our life or in history who are compassionate. Yet, the practice of stepping outside yourself, to offer compassion to yourself, will help you to develop your compassionate inner guide. This guide, or way of being, in turns helps you to sort out what is reasonable and doable, what is energy draining or energy building, and how to handle your mistakes more gently and easily. In the process you will find yourself naturally becoming gentler with others.   Consider this question: What if you felt compassion for your self AND everyone you came in contact with?   Take a moment to do this breath-work, and notice what shifts physically, mentally and emotionally for you. Taking three slow deep breaths, On the in-breath say to your self:                      I breath in compassion On the out-breath                       I breath out beauty   Do this three times. What did you notice? This is a great beginning to becoming compassionate towards yourself- even for just a moment. Remember, you can create as many of these moments as you would like!   Please join me every Wednesday for the: Free 20-Minute Midweek Busyness-Break: Recharge your energy & uplift your spirits! Women (and men) tend to spread themselves too thin, and midweek especially, we can experience a slump. In these drop-in calls we’ll take a breather, do a bit of journal writing and share tips and insights to go from tapped out to tip-top! You’ll leave the call refreshed and energized, ready to bring your best self to whatever comes next. WEDNESDAYS 1 PM EST (12pm CDT, 11am MDT, 10am PDT) Call: 805-360-1000 Access code: 375089#

Listen to this Busyness Break or read, it's your choice!   This Busyness Break invites you to explore how pausing and play can help you build resilience and add joy to your busy days. You CAN enlighten the load of busyness, and it takes pausing, pondering and planning (among other things!) to learn how to work with the River rather than struggle against it. "When you play, your brain secretes more 'brain-derived neurotropic factor,' which promotes brain nerve growth. Play activates the amygdela, which helps you manage your emotions and spurs activity in your prefrontal cortex, home of your 'executive functions.' This part of your brain plans, prioritizes and handles other skills that are central..." in life. Shine, Edward M. Hallowell, 2011, Harvard Business Press How could you add play to your day?   Rumi has this to suggest: Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don't open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument. Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. by Jelaluddin Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks How is "beauty" leading your work?   Please join me every Wednesday for the: Free 20-Minute Midweek Busyness-Break: Recharge your energy & uplift your spirits! Women (and men) tend to spread themselves too thin, and midweek especially, we can experience a slump. In these drop-in calls we’ll take a breather, do a bit of journal writing and share tips and insights to go from tapped out to tip-top! You’ll leave the call refreshed and energized, ready to bring your best self to whatever comes next.     WEDNESDAYS 1 PM EST (12pm CDT, 11am MDT, 10am PDT) Call: 805-360-1000 Access code: 375089#