I LOVE celebrating a new year. There is something about a fresh start and the prospect of change that incites optimism and hope in me each year. As I reflect on the start of 2018, I think about not only the changes I’d like to see in myself, but also the changes I’d like to see in the world. This …
Finding Loving Kindness in December
When Dickens set up his novel The Tale of Two Cities with his famous line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of time….”, he may have well been describing December. December. A month filled with a myriad of emotion. For some, it’s their favorite time of year, for others their least. For some, a time of …
The Happiness Formula
I recently learned about the happiness formula based on scientific research from the field of Positive Psychology. This formula teaches that our daily happiness is somewhat predictable. The majority of our daily experiences of happiness (50%) are determined in the first 3 years of life by our parents, siblings, and caretakers. This is called our set point. Another 10-12% of our daily …
Entrainment: Why Our Energy Impacts Others
Fireflies flash in unison. Two pendulum clocks on the same wall swing to the same rhythm even if they didn’t start out together. Women who spend a lot of time together begin to synchronize their menstrual cycles. This phenomenon is called entrainment and it’s a natural law that can be observed in nature, chemistry, pharmacology, biology, neurology, and psychology. I …
My Meditation Journey (thus far…)
It was 20 years ago I was first introduced to meditation while on internship at the University of Miami cancer center. I was required to attend daily meditation over the noon hour. At first, all I noticed was my racing mind, impatience, and annoyance that I wasn’t spending my lunch break in the warm sun. Within a few weeks, however, …