Guest Blog: Janel Harrell

Posted by on Jan 27, 2012 in cultivating peace, mindfulness, relationship to self, relationships, yoga of relationship ~ life, yoga of relationship ~ others | 1 comment When I was old enough to realize that my family of origin was slightly more damaged than was functional I made a vow to myself. I swore that I would be the last person in our genetic line to deal with life the way my parents and the generations before them had. And I have spent the better part of the last 15 years (the vow came well before my ability to do anything about it) pursuing ways to...
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Point of View

Posted by on Sep 22, 2011 in mindfulness, power of now, yoga of relationship ~ life, yoga of relationship ~ others | 3 comments Have you ever noticed that when you are trying to make a decision and if you try to make that decision based solely on what you think someone else thinks you kind of throw yourself off?  That’s not to say that considering other points of view is a bad thing.  In fact, I think it would serve us all to be able to slide into another point of view, and allow other points of view to impact...
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the perfection in imperfection

Posted by on May 18, 2011 in mindfulness, power of now, relationship to life, yoga of relationship ~ life | 6 comments I have a cracked flower pot on my front porch.  It’s far from perfect.  Yet, there is some beauty in its imperfection that fills my heart.  It reminds me of the sweet container that is my body.  Less than perfect. My body at 52 can no longer do all the cool stuff it could do without effort in my twenties, thirties and even forties.  Yet, still it carries me around everyday.  It is a...
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becoming a life artist

Posted by on Aug 31, 2010 in cultivating peace, mindfulness, sacred threads | 9 comments Thich Nhat Hanh a contemporary Buddhist monk, writes with great elegance of the joy to be found in bringing our awareness to the present moment.  He encourages us to be so completely immersed in the task at hand that it becomes to us the most important thing in our life. In The Miracle of Mindfulness, he writes, “While washing the dishes, you might be thinking about the tea afterwards, and so...
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little pockets of beauty

Posted by on Aug 24, 2010 in cultivating peace, mindfulness | 8 comments I really appreciate a beautiful garden.  I love checking out books on gardening from the library and reading them on my couch, while my yard goes neglected.  As an army brat, I never learned and really don’t know the first thing about where you even start when you want to create beauty in the yard. That’s all changing.  In fact, I now understand that it’s not about creating...
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on being flexible

Posted by on Aug 12, 2010 in cultivating peace, mindfulness | 10 comments Things don’t always unfold as I think they should.  Does that ever happen to you?  Come on, you can tell me. Long ago, for Lent, I gave up having expectations, not that I’m Catholic or Episcopalian.  I just like the idea of Lent.  (Note to Self, write about Lent, during Lent!)  I found that I was not so successful at completely letting go of expectations, but it sure did make me...
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follow your nose days

Posted by on Aug 2, 2010 in mindfulness | 7 comments I love love love ‘follow my nose days.’  I aim to have a ‘follow my nose days’ at least once a week.  These days were inspired by one of my long time favorite books, “The Secret River” by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. These are the days I wander through my life, following my nose.  It feels like finding and re-aligning with the Current of Life moving through me...
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packing a balanced boat

Posted by on Jun 1, 2010 in meditation, mindfulness, power of now | 10 comments Personal Peace – YUMMMMMMM.  Sometimes it seems so very far away, yet the key is as close as your next breath.  When you realize that and take full ownership of your experience in life, you are in for a pretty sweet ride. When I was in my twenties, I spent several summers as a guide on the Colorado River in southern Utah.  I’m still unpacking what I learned on the river and from...
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want this, not that

Posted by on May 12, 2010 in cultivating peace, meditation, mindfulness | 7 comments I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but suffering in life is not going away.  I’m reminded of this for many reasons.  And, no the suffering in my life is not one of them.  Just turn on the news or talk with someone for whom you care.  Suffering in our very human lives is here to stay.  Still reading? Here’s the good news, not all of life is suffering.  What this means in...
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sacred threads ~ wisdom in the present

Posted by on May 3, 2010 in mindfulness, power of now, sacred threads | 10 comments There is a beautiful story by Leo Tolstoy that further illustrates the sublime practice of the present moment, “The Emperor’s Three Questions.”  This story is replete with teachings about recognizing and serving the Divine in each other as well as practicing the present moment to experience the Presence.  In Tolstoy’s story, the emperor sent out the decree that he would richly...
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slow down

Posted by on Apr 26, 2010 in mindfulness | 4 comments Last night I had a really funny dream about a friend and me.  She was convinced that we just HAD to get tickets to an upcoming RUSH concert, because it might be our last chance to do so.  First, I know I’m an oddity, but I’m not a big fan of concerts.  Second, I’ve never seen Rush in concert, nor have I wanted to. When I told my friend about the dream, she laughed (via...
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practicing silence

Posted by on Mar 24, 2010 in mindfulness | 1 comment I’ve received a few emails from people about my previous post on silence (y’all can comment on the blog if you like).  Anyway, it occurs to me that not everyone is drawn to take a few days and spend them in silence and if even if that appeals to you, you may find it challenging to integrate your experience of silence into your daily life. To that end, here are a few tips about...
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