Resilience

Can Mindfulness Make Us More Socially Engaged?

Leadership, Mindfulness, Resilience / By / 4 minutes of reading

There’s a fair amount of criticism about how practicing mindfulness is a selfish endeavor. The assumption is that by taking time for classes or retreats, quietly reflecting on my inner state, and choosing to minimize distractions or “noise”, that I will become overly focused on myself at the expense of the very real local and world issues surrounding me. To that I say: Perhaps, but there’s much, much more to the story. Harmful vs. Noble Selfishness For most of my life, I have strived to be considered a success; to be “enough”. This meant being hyper-fixated on my outward appearance, …

Can Mindfulness Make Us More Socially Engaged? Read More »

Why Silence Scares Us

Mindfulness, Resilience / By / 4 minutes of reading

Like many people, you might hear about mindfulness and meditation and think, “Silence? Slowing down? That’s just not for me.” In our on-the-go, productivity-and-achievement-minded culture, the thought of sitting still, or embracing silence, can seem like the opposite of what will help us make progress in our lives. Yet if we don’t take time to slow down and zoom out from our day-to-day habits, our lives might start to live us in a way that eventually makes it hard for us to recognize ourselves! A result of our achievement-oriented culture is that many people fear or avoid slowing down and …

Why Silence Scares Us Read More »

You’re Stronger Than You Think

Resilience / By / 4 minutes of reading

I’ve been contemplating resilience in adversity a lot lately. We’ve been forced into a position where we can either fold to the insurmountable obstacles in our path or reach deep down inside and find the reserves to climb out of the hole. This pandemic has pushed us all into a place of discomfort and uncertainty, and the question we must ask is how are we going to respond? Because as we are continually reminded, we don’t get to choose our circumstances, but we do get to choose where we go from here.  Where it All Began When I was younger, …

You’re Stronger Than You Think Read More »

I’m Not a Mess! Life is Messy

Mindfulness, Resilience, Self-Compassion / By / 3 minutes of reading

“Life is hard!” It was such a relief when I first heard that phrase. Until then, I had believed that life was hard because of some internal flaw and I was to blame. When I hit a bump in the road, my internal message was, “I am such a mess.” I had entirely missed the message that life is just messy. From my vantage point, all those other people were perfectly happy, enjoying wonderful vacations, and doing meaningful work because they had it together, not because they had found ways to triumph over the messiness of life. Struggling is Not …

I’m Not a Mess! Life is Messy Read More »

The Wisdom of a Broken Heart

Relationships, Resilience / By / 2 minutes of reading

A poem by Jeni Juarez What saddens me the most about the current state of the world is how people everywhere are becoming so paralyzed by fear; that they are struggling so much to access their emotional resilience—their unarmed heart. It is this turning away from—this armored heart—that keeps us separated, alienated from one another; unable to feel the warmth, the magnificence of a heart-to-heart connection. What encourages me the most about the current state of the world is how people everywhere are becoming so paralyzed by fear. Because my deeper wisdom tells me that suffering is Grace. It forces …

The Wisdom of a Broken Heart Read More »

Spiritual Bypassing in the Time of COVID-19

Mindfulness, Relationships, Resilience, Self-Compassion / By / 4 minutes of reading

by Susan Duesbery, as originally posted in Elephant Journal The other day I was speaking with a woman who told me that she was “excited” about the positive changes the coronavirus was already ushering in. She went on to express the hope that a new world order based on love would replace current systems based on corruption and greed. After she spoke these words, I realized that I’d seen a lot of similar comments on social media lately. In many ways, I couldn’t agree more with such remarks. But there are two sides to this coin, and to ignore one …

Spiritual Bypassing in the Time of COVID-19 Read More »

The Practices That Sustain Us, Part II

Mindful Communication, Mindfulness, Resilience, Self-Compassion, Yoga / By / 6 minutes of reading

We’re now in the third week since a State of Emergency was declared in Michigan due to the Coronavirus. Our lives have changed drastically within a short amount of time. It’s okay to acknowledge that this is really hard.   As a follow-up to last week’s blog post, we’d like to share more on how GRCFM team members have been meeting their difficult experiences snce the impact of the pandemic began sinking in, and what practices have been important to us in these challenging times.   We hope our stories give you comfort in knowing you’re not alone in what …

The Practices That Sustain Us, Part II Read More »

The Practices That Sustain Us

Mindful Communication, Mindfulness, Resilience, Self-Compassion, Yoga / By / 6 minutes of reading

As a Center focused on teaching mindfulness, resilience, and self-compassion, we are in the business of supporting our community during the challenging times of life. Each of us has had a personal experience of the transformative power of mindfulness practice, and so we offer it outwardly as a gift with reverence and longing to help. Just like all human beings, we experience fear, anger, grief, and sadness, and it is our continued practice that sustains us. These are unsettling times, and we are all looking for some ground to stand on. We’d like to take a moment to share with …

The Practices That Sustain Us Read More »

Resilience During COVID-19

Mindfulness, Resilience / By / 4 minutes of reading

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” —M. Scott Peck The Coronavirus pandemic has shuttered schools, closed restaurants, canceled events, disrupted travel, and changed our lives in both small and dramatic ways. We are truly in uncharted waters as we try to navigate the choppy waters of uncertainty and change.   Please know that we are …

Resilience During COVID-19 Read More »

What is Resilience?

Recovery & Healing, Resilience / By / 3 minutes of reading

Resilience in nature is often defined as the ability to bend without breaking, or to return to an original condition. Resilience in human beings is the capacity to weather adversity, to encounter difficulty and to bounce back, and to even grow from our struggles.   Resilience is important because no matter what we would like to believe, we can’t insulate ourselves from misfortune. The fact is, no one gets out of this life without experiencing struggle and suffering. And it is often these very challenges that give our lives meaning.   So, how do we meet the inevitable challenges of …

What is Resilience? Read More »

Scroll to Top