BALANCING HEART, INTELLECT, AND INSTINCT
I’m lying in bed and wake up to the sound of rain. It’s a cold Spring, the rain is icy and it’s a holiday. The sound of the rain brings a feeling of duality. Feelings of coziness and the knowledge that winter continues even though it’s officially spring. I’m thinking that it’s never been this cold on this particular holiday. It’s usually sunny and bright and flowers are starting to bloom. The world is awakening slowly from winter. We are also well into the year of the dragon. The dragon, the most powerful sign of the Chinese zodiac, is unstable, … More
death: The bittersweet teacher of life
Death, the hauntingly tragic sister to life, nudges us to contemplate a forbidding reality we often shy away from. Our varying experiences as humans may shape our circumstances differently and grant us varying degrees of opportunities or rights, but the one thing we all have in common is our fated ending. No one is greater than death; no one can escape it. It’s a natural cycle of life, much like the seasons changing and phases of our lives ending. Although our time here on earth is merely temporary, it is perhaps what makes it even more beautiful. In most Western … More
coping with anxiety
A few nights before I was supposed to give a group presentation on a topic, I was informed that I would, in fact, be giving the presentation by myself. I began feeling nervous and felt a sense of impending doom. I imagined myself failing and making a fool of myself. Every time I sat down to prepare, my heart raced, I began to sweat, and I even found myself trembling. I had trouble concentrating, and the worry was ever present. I didn’t find any relief when I tried to sleep, and found myself up all hours of the night. I … More
impermanence and present mindfulness
We spend our days preoccupied with endless thoughts of the future and dwellings on the past. When it is the dead of winter, we wish for the warmth of spring. When it is the blazing days of summer, we wish for the cool autumn winds. When we are at a noisy party, we wish to be alone. When we are quietly alone, we wish for the rush of the party. When we are at work, we wish for our shift to be over. When it is a long weekend, we wish for the structure and organized nature of the workweek… … More
