Summer’s Almost Gone

Can it really be late August?  Why is it that the summer months seem to fly by and the cold dark winter seems to drag on?  Why is it that my favorite memories of the year seem to revolve around the months that are warmer and filled with more daylight. As I prepare for the transition back to a more complicated and demanding schedule, I reflect on my summer highlights:  Quality time with friends and family *doing meaningful work* volunteering at local farm feeding baby goats and caring for the crops * creating meals with my weekly CSA share* listening to live music, being with others who love to listen to live music, and playing live music for appreciative audiences* getting better acquainted with Mary Oliver’s gorgeous poetry* reading a few novels* intermittently rooting for the NY Mets *spending some time with my camera (but not near enough)* being inspired, beyond words, by my professional EFT community * enjoying my garden as it  creates such beauty *

I also realize I did not get enough physical exercise and I slacked off on my meditation practice. The excitement of the long daylight hours , and pull to do other things, got in the way and now I feel it. My physical body is a bit stiff and I am projecting what life will be like when the winter comes. I have wasted precious moments worrying about what hasn’t even happened, robbing myself of the present.

Summer’s almost gone

My zafu and yoga mat

Call out “Steffani”

I cannot afford to lose any more precious time nor can I afford to continue to treat the winter months as second class.

As a reminder to myself and a helpful resource to others, just below is a link to one of my favorite teachers,  Jon Kabat-Zinn.

I have had the good fortune of attending a week -long retreat with him many years ago and the experience was truly inspiring.  This man is responsible for bringing mindfulness meditation to Western Psychology for the past 40 years. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. is founding Executive Director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is also the founding director of its renowned Stress Reduction Clinic and Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

This Youtube clip is an hour-long presentation he conducted for the staff at Google. I chose this one because it offers a good overview on what Mindfulness is and offers a short guided meditation so you can get a taste for yourself. If you do a search on Youtube for  Jon Kabat-Zinn you will be able to find many of his talks.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc