stillness

The Tree that Reminded Me to Appreciate What Is

Posted by Barbara Techel

This is the view outside my kitchen window. Beyond the tree is an athletic field and a walking path that winds around it. To the north of the field is a small woods where I love to walk. Though with the snow we’ve had it’s made it hard to get to the woods and so I’ve not been there in some time.

Working from home and as much as I love my writing cottage and hibernating in the winter, this time of year as we edge toward spring I can begin to feel a bit antsy. I’m ready for more color and warmer temperatures.

But there was something about this view out the window that called out to me after I came home from a walk several times around the walking path. I was feeling a bit down with the weather of cold and no sun and realized this view was reminding me to appreciate what is right now. It was as if the tree was reminding me to appreciate this time of quiet and stillness that winter brings with it.

Soon enough kids will be riding their bikes down the path laughing and yelling out to each other, I’ll hear neighbor dogs barking again, church bells ringing, and lawnmowers humming. And I will welcome this.

But I was also thinking about how when I walked round and round the path how I relished the quiet. The only thing I heard was a lone crow call out and the wind rustling through the pine trees. Just being out in nature was so uplifting. 

It was a great reminder to enjoy the here and now…and just like the end of summer when my ears will be wishing for quiet, I’ll remind myself then too to enjoy what is right now because soon enough the stillness will come once again.

And I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the faster the seasons seem to come and go. So it seems to me practicing this being in the present is really the best gift we can give ourselves every day.

xo,

Barbara

Meditating Buddah Dog

Posted by Barbara Techel

Meditating Buddah Dog

Just a few days ago I wrote about how Gidget rarely spends time in my writing cottage as she did in previous years. As I’ve become more aware of allowing her to make her own choices instead of automatically scooping her into my arms thinking she wants to be with me, I’ve discovered she is perfectly content to stay in the house.

I also shared how when she did spend time in this space with me, where I go through my morning rituals before settling down to work, meditation being one of them, that often she was wiggly when I’d place her next to me in my big chair where I like to meditate.

As the colder temperatures have now become the norm for the season, I find myself wanting to linger as long as possible in my 1,100 square foot home before heading out to my 10 x 12 writing cottage. Home is one of my core values and though I’m not always fond about the cold temperatures outside, I do love the cozy feeling this time of year provides.

And so wanting to linger longer, I’ve been doing my yoga practice and meditation in my living room, with Gidget snoozing nearby in her bed. 

There is no right or wrong way to meditate, but what feels right, I believe. Of late, I’ve been laying on my back on my yoga bolster with my arms out to the side as I listen to a favorite meditation on Insight Timer. 

Just this week, everyday so far, something new and welcoming has occurred. Within about five minutes of my meditation, I will feel a little cold snout push its way under my hand. Then soon enough a soft, silky long body will be pushed up against my arm.

You know what they say that distance makes the heart grow fonder?

While I’ve grown to be more in partnership with Gidget, allowing her to make her own choices, there are times I do miss her in when I’m in my writing space. 

But these last three days and her wish of wanting to be within the space of my meditation has warmed my heart. As I finished the last pose of my yoga today, Gidget popped her head up from under her blanket and made her way over to me.

Holding her tiny face in my hands, I said, “Does someone want to meditate again today?”

This time I sat on the sofa and waited to see if she wished to join me. Sure enough. She sat at my feet looking up at me.

Picking her up, crossing my legs over each other, I nestled her into the hollow space of my legs. Calm as could be, and together, we shared a space of 15-minutes of stillness and peace.

Namaste – “the divine in me honors the divine in you” my dear little buddha dog. 

XO,

Barb

Finding Clarity through Tuning in and Really Listening

Posted by Barbara Techel

I share with you today the book trailer I made for my latest memoir, Wisdom Found in the Pause – Joie’s Gift.

When I decided to write this book, I wanted more than anything for people (especially women) to read it and know that they deserve to take time for themselves – that really, it is imperative in order to live the life they want.

A part of me felt vulnerable at times for sharing my story about grief, letting go, and not knowing what was next, because I’d thought I’d had it all figured out, and then realized we will have many transitional periods in our lives. I also believed in my heart that many others were going through a similar transitional time, or would be in the future.

While I envisioned being in the place I am today, a new direction of helping and encouraging women to take time for creativity, stillness, and looking within to listen to their own soul whispers, I look back now and see that every step I took until this point was necessary – even though at times it felt like I was in murky water and I’d never get out of that questionable place.

Putting together this video today is just another way in which I want to encourage others and let them know that is perfectly okay to be in a space of transition – to see it as a gift – to sift through your thoughts with gentleness.

I hope you will enjoy the video. And if you are a reader of my blog who lives nearby, I’d welcome you to take time just for you during a winter women’s creative sacred soul circle I’m facilitating at my studio, Joyful Pause. It begins January 19th, and you can learn more about it here. I’ve extended the early bird pricing because I truly want to be of help to others.

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