Keys for Improving communication to enhance love and intimacy:

Identify what you are feeling. What you are really feeling, not what you believe you ought to feel. This can be harder than it sounds. It takes practice. Part of the value of quieting your mind with meditation or prayer is that it can help you pay greater attention to what you’re really feeling. For example, in the middle of an inense discussion I often ask myself, “What am I really feeling now?” Paying attention to your emotions also can be a clue to what another person is feeling. Hearts tend to resonate with each other. When I studied psychiatry as part of my general internal medicine residency, I was trained to pay attention to what I felt when a patient first entered the room as a clue to what that patient might be experiencing. For example, if I suddenly began to feel a little depressed or angry or happy when a patient walked in, chances are that person might also be having those feelings.

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Seeing into the life of change

Dear Friends,

Often, it is not the change itself that we fear, but the fear that we will have to adapt our rigid sense of self to a new set of circumstances. We lock into an identity that defines us—married, single; rich, poor; old, young—and any change that threatens that identity is viewed with suspicion. Change can also make us feel out of control, helpless, and at the mercy of chaos. Although we can't stop the cycles of change from turning, we can learn to see change as friend rather than foe. One way of doing that is what I call "seeing the possibilities"—something I refer to in The Book of Secrets. For me, this approach is crucial for shifting my attitude towards change. It involves seeing the possibilities in whatever happens, even if the situation seems dire. It means a willingness to take a deep look into whatever arises, even a sense of disappointment or loss. As the Sufi poet Rumi described in one of his poems, "Every need brings in what's needed/pain bears its cure like a child."

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Pool of Akki
Invigorate and Play!

Relax & Rain

Try this: While taking time to meditate on an actual raining day can be very restorative, you don’t have to wait for it to rain to use this powerful visual tool. When you find yourself becoming heated or stressed, take five minutes to recreate the rain over the Pool of Akki for yourself. The more relaxed you become, the more it rains on you, gently washing away tension, cooling anger and frustration. Allow your troubles to move further away, like a distant rolling thunder, giving way to the lulling rhythms of the rain.

The spring season brings new life and new fortune to all. Nature has a "no holds bared" on growth and so do you.

This month, allow the skills gained and wisdom gleaned from last fall and winter to spring forth. Take time to breathe deeply, bring in the newness of life.

Let the energy of this season be a celebration and receive it into your body with each breath as mother nature steps up the forces of growth and blossoming.

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