8 items found
6 Mar 2009 by Jennifer Louden
I always preach this to retreat pilgrims and I remind coaching clients- beginnings are always slower than middles and most certainly than ends. Beginnings can be dangerous, feel crafty, shift under your feet. We must never compare our output or clarity or mood during beginnings with what we remember about finishing our last project or about the pleasure that can come from the middle,....
2 Mar 2009 by Jennifer Louden
When something feels "difficult" or "hard," that is not a signal you should not proceed or that you are not "living on purpose" or any other new age nonsense. I've had so many clients and retreat participants stay stuck for years because they thought they shouldn't do their business or creative ideas because it didn't always feel easy or "in flow." Instead of deciding a lack of ease is an....
26 Feb 2009 by Jennifer Louden
Long time amazingly intelligent and even more resourceful Helga sent me this story yesterday - I had to share it with you! From Helga: Tried hard to arrange to get to your most recent retreat, but couldn't get kid-care on short notice. Guess it wasn't meant to be. I know it'll happen when the time is right. Meanwhile, I had a different kind of retreat. Knowing how much I wanted to go to your....
18 Feb 2009 by Jennifer Louden
I recently spent four days alone in a rustic cabin on a bluff on the wild Washington coast. I worked on my novel, read, napped, did yoga, ate huge salads, sat in the sunshine, and watched eagles eat crab scavenged from the ocean’s edge. It was one of the most truly restful retreats I’ve ever savored. It wasn’t so long ago, however, that I would have taken this time to rest but instead....
14 Feb 2009 by Jennifer Louden
I stand by the bedroom door, warily eyeing the pile of books and magazines by my bed. Has it grown? I believe so. I'm not sure I can even get into the bed anymore. I move closer, pull out a sticky collection of mini-books. Just as I suspected! The books are breeding with the magazines, producing sound bites I will be forced to read. I quickly back away. That's okay, I'll simply go outside to....
28 Jan 2009 by Jennifer Louden
I spent the last 8 days just off Vancouver Island, British Columbia with my family; paddling kayaks, watching orcas spy hop, a bear eat crab, and sniffing drifting wood smoke. My sister and brother-in-law came along on our adventure and they both said, at different times, "We would never think to do something like this." We watched these harried city dwellers find the burnishing pleasure of....
28 Jan 2009 by Jennifer Louden
A friend's email read: "Guess what? I wasn't depressed, I was bored.I got a part time job and I'm taking a weekend off every month for a retreat. Time away from full time motherhood, and I feel like myself again. Who knew this was what it would take?"
28 Jan 2009 by Jennifer Louden
It’s mid-afternoon and I’m feeling the itch to move my body, but instead I return phone calls, wipe the kitchen counter, sort my daughter Lilly’s school papers. I haven’t really moved in almost two weeks, at least in any meaningful way, and I’m in “the box,” a place of parched fear, scratchy overanalyzing, and tart self-judgment. I find myself here about five or six times a year,....
8 items found