Poetry. Benedictine Spirituality. Love.
Relaxing Forearm Stretch
Do this right now, it takes less than a minute. Extend your arm (it doesn’t matter which one), palm up, as if you’re a cop motioning traffic to stop. With your other hand, pull your fingers toward yourself until you feel a gentle stretch on the under side of your forearm. Hold for 10 seconds (but don’t hold your breath!) Don’t over stretch. Don’t look at my photo to measure how far to stretch. I’ve been doing this for years and am fairly flexible. Listen to your body. Now, let your hand flop downward from your wrist (like an 18th-century …
Aggravating and Alleviating Factors in Fibromyalgia
In most cases, these factors will help alleviate fibromyalgia symptoms: Restorative sleep Moderate physical activity Warm baths Warm and dry weather and the following factors will make symptoms worse: Non-restorative sleep Fatigue Overwork Physical inactivity Stress Anxiety Cold and damp Managing fibromyalgia can be exhausting, because it involves making lifestyle changes. To help you reduce exhaustion, my blog is, on purpose, only 1/5 specific fibromyalgia help, and 4/5 general inspiration and motivation. The only way I could change my life, was a little at a time. I began by concentrating on alleviating the symptoms–one factor at a time. Then, I slowly …
Aggravating and Alleviating Factors in Fibromyalgia Read More »
Pain: Victor Frankl Calls it an Opportunity
Victor Frankl is an Austrian neurologist, psychologist and Nazi death camp survivor. His book, Man’s Search for Meaning, explains how he found the will to live despite witnessing the Holocaust. The following ideas paraphrase portions of that book: When we find pleasure in beauty, art or nature, it offers us the opportunity for fulfillment. This is easy to understand. This next possibility, however, is harder to fathom: everything we experience, even suffering offers us an opportunity. Pain gives us a chance to achieve something within ourselves, to create a generous and loving perspective, and to realize the true value of life, apart …
Cheap Trick to get your neck to Surrender tension
Every now and then, it’s good to think about where your head is sitting in relationship to your spine. Your brain, after all, weighs about 3 pounds and the skull adds a couple more pounds. Carry around a 5 pound sack of flour, and pretty soon you’ll want someone else to carry it for you. Since it’s not a good idea to have somebody else carry your head around, give your neck muscles a relaxation break from time to time. First, put this thought into your mind: I’m not stretching my muscles; I’m only relaxing them. Next, whether you’re sitting …
Cheap Trick to get your neck to Surrender tension Read More »
Everyday Greatness
“The great commitment is so much easier than, and can all too easily shut our hearts to, the ordinary everyday commitment.” Dag Hammerskjöld I feel noble when I make sacrifices for something great–charities or campaigns, ministries, missions, art, a quest, a pilgrimage, a career. To make room for the everyday and ordinary, however, can feel annoying. When I’m worn out by the great things I’ve been doing, it requires commitment to do humdrum chores, exercise, eat and share wholesome food, or listen graciously to my loved ones’ everyday concerns. Here’s a stinger, the next sentence of the quote regarding greatness: “A willingness to make the …
Cézanne Instructs Us to Capture Fleeting Moments
“Right now a moment of time is fleeting by. Capture its reality … To do that we must put all else out of our minds. We must become that moment, make ourselves a sensitive recording plate…give the image of what we actually see, forgetting everything that has been before our time.” Cézanne*** Observing and appreciating fleeting moments is one way of saying yes to life, despite everything, yes. I’ve decided to make a habit of capturing these moments. Today I took my camera outside (because walking with my camera forces me to see). I’ve discovered that Seeing the beautiful world, helps: When …
Cézanne Instructs Us to Capture Fleeting Moments Read More »
Let us now praise non-famous men, and women!
I thought blogging was letting people eavesdrop on my life. I wasn’t interested in holding an open house at “www”–doesn’t that mean I’m inviting the whole wide world? But now I see that blogging is one of the most profound ideas of the last century– It’s whatever the blogger wants it to be! I’ve decided this blog is going to be a collection. There are two kinds of collectors: those who hoard and those who make museums. (I feel clever, as if I just made that up, but I’m old enough to realize someone else probably thought of it before I did). I’ve …
- « Previous
- 1
- …
- 23
- 24
- 25