How do you get through the day? With effort or with ease? Of course, it takes effort to complete all the difficult tasks and challenges that you have each and every day, but it doesn't have to feel that way. It doesn't have to feel overwhelming, stressful, chaotic, like you're just playing catch...
We are not on summer break anymore! It's officially fall. so how do you keep the vacation feeling alive? How are you going to manage all the stresses of the day when you can't be on a retreat?
Here are 5 habits that definitely help:
Habit #1 To Keep Vacation Benefits Alive: Be Early
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Do you ever feel like there aren't enough hours in the day? Or do you ALWAYS feel there aren't enough hours in the day. If time is a human construct, can we find better ways to shape our days?
Over the years I have tried a lot of different planning systems. As a librarian, organization is...
What happens when you hold a rock in your hand? Go ahead, look around your house and pluck a rock out of a flower pot or decorative jar. No rock? Take a walk in the park and choose your pick!
Hold it. I’m not talking a fancy crystal, just a plain rock, so don't go nuts.
Whenever I...
As the New Year approaches, we often feel pressure to add more. More tasks, goals, habits, and achievements. But what if, instead of piling on, we focused on subtraction goals? Rather than creating elaborate to-do lists or ambitious resolutions, consider the power of letting go. Subtraction goals...
Finally, the weather cooperated and New Yorkers were able to get outdoors and not get soaked. We've had many weeks of rain on the weekends so whenever the sun appears, we go to mountains, beaches and parks and welcome the warmth.
We go to the trees.
Weekends indoors were...
It's never too late to go back to school! I took two graduate courses this summer, even though I have been an educator for over 20 years. Learning and teaching are inseparable practices. Plus, we all must stay current to thrive.
I became a librarian for the love of books and reading but there is...
What does it mean to live a luminous life? This question has been tossing around my mind for many years. Being luminous is a state of being, a way of life, philosophy, health care routine, presentation powerhouse, parenting energizer, and teacher motivator. It also can put us on the fast track to...
In yoga and meditation we often speak of "monkey mind." It's as if a monkey is swinging in your gray matter while your focus tries to follow. Good luck following that monkey. All you can do is slow it down because there will always be distractions.
My students created a pollinator garden at...
Before Covid, I taught several yoga classes a week and was either presenting Writing Yoga® workshops or planning them during every second of my spare time. I miss my yoga students! But I had no time to focus on doing the work I was meant to do. Now, I can serve even more people, take...
Greetings Readers, Teachers, Yogis and Librarians!
Library Week and Poetry Month both fall in April and with all of the yoga classes popping up at libraries over the past few years, you will have plenty of opportunities to sit, write and move! This is the special formula from the...
Much of the year, most of us live and work in climate controlled environments. Bugs are not welcome. Spring invites us to get outside and create.
In the school where I work as a librarian, the kids are developing a native pollinator garden. I didn't even know it was a thing! The idea is to...
A recent challenge with a coworker left me reeling. I often hear from clients and colleagues about serious challenges, inequities and outright mean-spirited behavior that they must deal with on a daily basis. Maybe that is you? I rarely experience conflicts and live...
You can't blame the people of Long Island. Until recently, most cultural, literary, and historic landmarks were hard to find. As a reader of blog posts with Whitman in the title you might not believe me, but it seems that more Long Islanders have heard of the Walt Whitman Mall...
Our principal asked us to pick a word at the start of the school year. The word would be our North Star to guide our goals, inform our lessons, and inspire us to do great work. School initiatives sometimes fall away as the year progresses, but a good administrator won't let that...
It’s the official start of the most chaotic time of the year. Take the pressure off and read a poem, quote or chapter of a book. Bibliotherapy is one of the best ways to escape the stressful buzz of cyber Monday and nurture your spirit.
What books most inspire you? Take one off the...
When have you been a beginner? It can be a little bit scary, but also exciting and invigorating to be brand new at something. Yoga teaches us how to approach arriving on the mat each day with a new attitude. Holding a beginner's mind can help us perform better as writers and teachers too....
Even if you are not a teacher or a parent, you still can feel a back-to-school kind of energy in the air. Everyone seems to be running around trying to settle back into the routine of learning and more structured days.
If you are looking for quick ways to stay calm, focused,...
After working with thousands of students over the years, I know for certain that most people believe they do not have enough time, talent, or energy to live the life of their dreams. I also know it's just not true!
Keeping a journal helps us to consider our deepest desires, dreams,...
Give me a beach. Find me a corner in the reading room. I know, I know, not everyone likes a beach. Some people can't stand the stillness of a library. That's okay, we all have destinations we love and ones we avoid but if you ever spent time watching sea birds wade, you know...
