Practicing Kindness

I've been working on my February newsletter column most of this week. Some months the column just flows out of my fingertips. Not this time. I've written and re-written numerous times until last night I refused to read it one more time before sending all the newsletter components to my wonderful web administrator, Lisa Keene.

The column is called "A Call to Kindness." In it, I am laying out a February challenge for myself and for my readers to refrain from any and all forms of nastiness throughout the month. I should have written something about this being a moment-by-moment practice because it's not even February yet and I'm already struggling with this.

This morning it was hard for me to get out of bed for yoga at 5:30. I was tired and cranky. When I arrived, I had a flash of disappointment and irritation. There was this very new instructor who is soft-spoken and conducts the class as though she's reciting a script by heart -- which may well be the case. She doesn't unlock the studio doors until the first student arrives so maybe she's as ill at ease with life in general as she is as a teacher.

I really dragged myself through class today. She's a very sweet woman, but totally unmotivating. As I lay in final savasana, my mind was buzzing with negativity and some rather unkind judgments. Remembering my intentions, and realizing how badly I'd fallen short of keeping them, I was ashamed of myself.

The instructor was folding towels as I was putting on my sweatshirt and shoes in the studio lobby. I scrambled for something positive to say, just to stem the tide of my own negative thoughts. "You are getting more confident." She lit up and her ever-present smile broadened. "Yes, she said. "Seeing you and Nancy (another "regular" about my age) makes me feel comfortable and helps me do better."

My heart energy shifted as my expanded. Yes, kindness. I like it.

EFT to the Rescue!

A few weeks ago I gave a free EFT introduction at the Women's Health Center in Walnut Creek. One of the participants sent me this note afterward:


"I want to share with you that the night I got back from the EFT class I introduced MIA to do EFT on an issue she has been having for the past 2 years with one of my nieces that goes to the same high school...(long story) MIA has gone thru stress about her so we did EFT together, did it around 4 times. Amazinglyyy!!! she did shift!!... she woke up the next day and surprised me of her reasoning. It has been the greates shift EVER!. MIA is now doing EFT at school when she needs to...she shared with me...Mama...I went to the restroom to do EFT on a situation I had at school and I feel great!. We have been also doing EFT when she is overwhelmed with so much school work and amazingly!! she says she feels motivated and capable to handle the work.

Just wanted to share that with you."

This is reprinted with permission; MIA is not her real name.

I did it!

I just finished the first of a series of webinars with Tapas Fleming. "Practicing Presence" is a requirement of my certification process as a TAT Practitioner.

To participate in the class, I had to purchase a webcam and learn how to use it. It seemed daunting, but was remarkably, relatively simple. I have to admit that the biggest hurdle was my own resistance to the whole process. I hated the whole idea of a virtual gathering and judged it to be cold and undesirable.

Imagine my surprise as I found myself enjoying the opportunity to connect with people all over the world -- to see and hear them.

How many other places in my life am I holding myself back with these ungrounded opinions?