One Deep Breath: January Edition

Hey friends! Welcome to the archived version of my once-a-month mindfulness newsletter, which my list received last Friday(and you could too, if you sign up to be on my email list, which you totally should!)

Invite an inhale. Let it all go. Invite another inhale. Let it all go. Relax your jaw. Drop your shoulders. Take one more deep breath.

This week on LinkedIn, I replied to a comment about how we should talk about books more in our networking chats with, “born to write smut. Doomed to write about health.” and then posted on threads that that comment was a career highlight for me.

I’m now considering making “Born to write smut. Doomed to write about health.” My new bio on all social medias. Please talk me out of it.

Okay, let’s get down to business(I sang that as I typed it).

For many of us, the deep cold of winter is in full effect. Even if you’re in a place that isn’t particularly? icy, I think it’s safe to say that the world feels generally COLD these days. Regardless of the temperatures surrounding you, I’d like to explore the theme of inner warmth.?

While recently stopped at a red light on a particularly cold morning a sign caught my attention:?

“In a cold world, we need warm hearts.”?

And isn't that the truth?! As I momentarily sat with those words I felt a sense of comfort. We could all benefit from some extra inner warmth — which is exactly what we’re cultivating today!

One Reading

I Have Decided?

I have decided to find myself a home

in the mountains, somewhere high up

where one learns to live peacefully in

the cold and the silence. It’s said that

in such a place certain revelations may

be discovered. That what the spirit?

reaches for may be eventually felt, if not

exactly understood, Slowly, no doubt. I’m

not talking about a vacation.

?

Of course, at the same time I mean to

stay exactly where I am.

?

Are you following me?

-Mary Oliver

One Practice

These words are borrowed/adapted from a Happiness mediation by Peloton’s Kirra Michele.??

Happiness. This isn’t something that we choose.?

It’s something that we welcome in, something that we allow.

Bring your awareness to your breath. Notice the gentle rhythm, the rise and fall. Notice the nature flow, reminding you that you are alive. You are nature.

Release any ideas of needing to be perfect. There is no need to fix or change anything.

As you breathe, imagine a soft golden light, glowing at the center of your chest.?

This is the light of your happiness, your innate joy that has always been here and always will be here.?

As you sit here envisioning that soft golden light glowing deep within, I invite you to allow happiness to be here.

Say to yourself, quietly or aloud, “I welcome happiness. I allow it to flow through me.”?

Repeat these words. And as you repeat this mantra feel the golden, warm light in your chest expand…radiating heat and warmth throughout the totality of your body.

One Song(Because Music is Medicine!)

Check out Northern Attitude by Noah Kahan (bonus:: there’s a version featuring a? collaboration with Hozier).?

There’s something icy about this song but it also feels warm and catchy, which is a fun play on temperatures for me.

Warning: Listen to this once, it will be stuck in your head forever

One Bonus Practice

I opened by sharing an observation made while sitting at a red light. I wrote that BEFORE coming across Thich Nhat Hanh’s idea of mindful driving.?

He reminds us that driving a car is a form of practice and positions the red light as a bell of mindfulness…

“Smile to the light and enjoy mindful breathing.”?

-Thich Nhat Hanh

One Note For My Readers(and a Resource)

There’s no getting around saying this: every day feels heavy these days. I’m not here to encourage you to have “positive vibes only” or some bullshit like that. I send these out in the face of the fear I feel for my country, for the people here, and for people around the world, because I believe there is nothing more important than slowing down long enough to remember that we are all interconnected.

Slowing down long enough to be able to hold all of our emotions together - anger, fear, compassion, empathy - all of it. Slowing down long enough to move from a place of reactivity to a place of wise action.

Now, more than ever(those famous words every generation says, lol) I think it’s so important to reach out and connect with one another. To be able to live in love, not fear.

I’m reading a book my mother-in-law recommended call the Gravity of Joy. The author points out that joy comes from a place of grit. It’s not some light, fluffy thing. It takes a real digging in.

So, let’s dig in, friends. Together. No one excluded.

And if you’re looking for a way to be more civically engaged, I highly recommend ResistBot. It can help you send letters and sign petitions and keep you up to date on what Congress is doing(because literally no one likes writing letters or calling their Congress people).

I’d love to hear back from you if you feel called to respond! Let me know what resonated with you from this week’s deep breath.

No matter who you are, there is always a place for you here, in love.?

And thank you for being here.

Be back soon with marketing advice for my fellow medical writers!

Until Next Time...

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