In yoga and meditation this morning, as I wrapped my arm around my waist from behind, I hugged myself. Yoga teachers call this "bound." After today, I will always think of it as "hugged." I felt awash in love for myself, for continuing to practice meditation and yoga day after day after day, even when [...]
Bodhisattva. For the non-Buddhist, it is almost certainly a foreign term. Maybe you recall the name of an old Steely Dan album, at best. Put simply, bodhisattva is “a Sanskrit term for anyone or anything motivated by great compassion.” It is a combination of two separate Sanskrit concepts: Bodhi—meaning awakening or enlightenment Sattva—meaning existence, reality [...]
Chibi, which means “little one” in Japanese, is the main character in my books, “What I Heard & What You Said” and “Why a Fly?”. I created jewelry designs from my first illustrations, a childlike figure floating on a chain that can stand upright, lie down sideways or do a head stand. […]
It is uncanny how many people I meet who had early childhood trauma. It’s not just patients in my office, it’s people I meet in casual conversation. I mention Jizo & Chibi, and the moment I start telling them about Chibi — the inner child, the infant self — they open up and tell me [...]
I don’t like noise. That is putting it mildly. So is saying I’m sensitive to noise. I’ve been this way my entire life. So I went looking for a solution. In my meditation, I am encouraged to welcome my anger toward noise, note it and breathe it out. That hasn’t helped. I’ve tried it hundreds [...]
We wait to be perfect. In meditation, we can see that there is no place to get to where everything will be better or different. So, we wake up and live now.
Reflections on anger floated up during meditation the other morning. Here is what came up: It’s neither good or bad to be angry. There is nothing wrong with being angry. It is the acting angrily that blocks our growth and causes harm. As 2 and 3-year-olds we are told to STOP our tantrums. I suspect [...]
I gave the awesome Madeline Martin a gold Jizo pendant at the DPA Golden Globe Gift Suite at L’Hermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills. Madeline plays Becca, the teenage daughter of two very lovesick parents on Showtime’s “Californication.” […]
This Sunday, we celebrated our first attachment figure: Mom. Like it or not, we internalized her since we were conceived. I remember a New Yorker cartoon depicting a new mother holding her baby while talking with a friend. The caption read, “I know the voice she hears in her head at my age will be [...]
Modern Family’s Ariel Winter and I met last summer at the DPA Emmy Gift Suite in Hollywood. It was a poignant meeting as her grandmother had just died and she was bravely showing up with her sister. […]
