Muth’s Zen Shorts is one of our favorite picture books. His accessible retelling of famous Zen stories packaged in a visually delightful format make this book a great way to encourage mindfulness in children and adults.
My boys were initially drawn in by the gorgeous illustrations. Muth’s beautifully rendered watercolors are full of color and light, and wonderfully express the humor and serenity of the points he’s trying to convey.… Continue reading
“In the end, just three things matter:
How well we have lived
How well we have loved
How well we have learned to let go”
― Jack Kornfield… Continue reading
“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”
― Henry David Thoreau… Continue reading
Today it is cold and very, very snowy. In spite of the lovely weather we had last week, spring feels a long time off.
This made today a great day to examine flower petals, with our hands, our minds, and our imaginations.
We engaged all of our senses as we looked at the various petals. We looked at them first with our naked eyes, and then with a magnifying glass.… Continue reading
Today, unplug. Take a media sabbatical for yourself.
Media is a near constant presence in our lives. It creeps in to all of those quiet places and fills them with noise. Some media is helpful, beneficial, and even necessary. But much of it is simply noise.
Browsing online is not doing nothing. Listening to music is not doing nothing. To truly see what is inside our minds, to truly give ourselves space to think unfettered thoughts and to dream amazing dreams, we need to give ourselves space and to give ourselves quiet.… Continue reading
Life with two young boys in the house can be loud. Very, very loud. Loud games are commonplace. Loud voices – frequently laughing and having fun, though not always – punctuate the hours. There is always a lot of crashing, be it boys tumbling into something, block towers collapsing, or a bookshelf being cleared by my toddler. Our house is filled with lots of chasing, lots of somersaults, lots of jumping, and more dancing than I ever would have imagined.… Continue reading
“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life… Continue reading
“Looking at beauty in the world, is the first step of purifying the mind.”
― Amit Ray… Continue reading
Yesterday it snowed all day, and we ended up with almost a foot of snow. Today it’s in the mid-50s, and the snow in our yard is rapidly melting. The bright sun shining makes today a perfect day for painting snow mandalas.
To make snow paint, I simply mixed food coloring with water, and then sent my boys outside with containers of paints and paint brushes.… Continue reading
“With mindfulness there is more to unlearn than there is to learn.”
― Michael H. Brooks, This. Only This … Continue reading