Someone I know brought up his fear of old age and death. It made me think of a Zen Parable I had read a long time ago. I always carry it close to my heart and it has been a source of inspiration for me.
Have you ever heard about the Zen Parables? They are called a Koans, a Japanese term that dates from the 7th century. These parables were used to produce doubt, […]
Mindfulness
How to Create New Emotional & Spiritual Energy for 2023
The beginning of a new year can start a new chapter in our lives
Why is it so difficult to follow through with our New Year’s resolutions despite our best intentions?
From a therapeutic perspective, for a resolution to work, it is crucial to bring self-awareness and honest self-reflection into the process.
We can design real and permanent change if we take some time to look back, assess and reflect on what worked and what did not work in our lives. […]
Three Tools for a Stress-Free Holiday Season
While this time of the year is for some a source of joy and pleasure, for others it can be the biggest trigger of anxiety
We are bombarded with expectations of being happy and generous, and sometimes we may feel inadequate and alone by feeling just the opposite. Such is the case with a client I have been mentoring lately who was going through moments of intense worry as the end of the year is approaching. […]
The Art of Acceptance
Sometimes, the only choice we have is to surrender, to stop fighting the inevitable, and to accept our lack of control. How we inhabit our vulnerability will determine the quality of our experience.
On Friday, August 31, 2015, I woke up at 4:00 am to my cell phone ringing on my nightstand. Distressing news from Argentina. My mom had just had a stroke, had been rushed to the hospital and was in the Intensive Care Unit. […]
What impermanence can teach us
When we realize that the nature of things is change, our appreciation, our gratitude and our ability to value what we have when we have it increases exponentially.
Like nothing else, impermanence can teach us how to treasure every aspect of life and how to live fully. Let’s not wait. Life is as fragile as a sand castle. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. In the face of impermanence, only love can exist, […]
How to work with anger
Monica explores how to meet anger with conscious awareness
This article was first published on Lion’s Roar on June 28, 2022.
While I don’t consider myself an angry person, I have always had an open curiosity about anger. As a child, I remember experiencing deep fear in the chaotic moments of my mother’s angry spells. I felt helpless and anxious, but I suppressed these emotions because of my fear of adding more intensity to my mom’s outbursts, […]
Como trabajar con la ira
Monica Jordan explora como relacionarnos con la ira de una manera consciente
Este artículo fue publicado en Lion’s Roar el 28 de junio de 2022
Aunque no me considero una persona que se enoja fácilmente, siempre he tenido mucha curiosidad con respecto a la ira. Cuando era niña, recuerdo haber experimentado un miedo profundo en los momentos caóticos de ira de mi madre. Me sentía impotente y ansiosa, […]
Two Components to Freedom
Indispensable elements for our Self-liberation
In the Buddhist tradition, there are two essential components to our freedom. The first one is awareness. It is the wisdom that comes from training your mind to see clearly and the second one is compassion for yourself and for others.
These components are compared to the two wings of a bird, without which the bird would be unable to fly and be free.
Awareness
The first wing is our conscious awareness that allows us to recognize what is really happening in our moment-to-moment experience. […]
Fear, Anxiety & Grief? What to do with it
Also in Spanish
Fear and Anxiety may be flowing through our system now. Our hearts may feel tender and raw for the suffering we see around us these days. We may be tired of so much going on around us both nationally and globally. Please, know this is understandable.
The unprecedented challenges we are going through have shattered the world as we knew it, and we may find ourselves irritated and impatient, […]
The Art & Power of Listening
Every act of communication is an act of tremendous courage in which we give ourselves over to two parallel possibilities.
First, the possibility of being seen and understood, and of being accepted.
At the same time we are planting into another mind a seed sprouted in ours, and watching it blossom into a breathtaking flower of mutual understanding says Ursula Kroeber Le Guin in her book The Wave in the Mind
Feeling understood brings along a sense of validation that connects us to the other, […]