I have not blogged for some time. Life became very busy last year with such distractions as family emergencies, moving house and renovations. Moving house was from one city to another – from Vancouver to New Westminster. Vancouver was my home for 17 years until last August. For three months I commuted from New Westminster to my office in Kitsilano – it was a long way and made extra long days. I decided to make a professional commitment to my new city and moved my primary practice to New Westminster. I gave up my Kitsilano office in November and started seeing clients regularly in New Westminster in December. I still see some clients in Downtown Vancouver, but I am fortunate that most of my Vancouver clients travel to my new city to continue seeing me. And I am equally fortunate that I am developing a new client base for clients in the local and surrounding areas to New Westminster. In addition to being a Vancouver Career Counsellor, I am also now a New Westminster Career Counsellor.

I sit here early on Sunday morning, my preferable time to write my posts, and I decided to do something different today. Before I put finger to keyboard, I lit two candles – one for you dear reader, and one for me. I feel compelled to write from my heart today, rather than taking the regular lead of my mind. I awoke this morning around 5:30am, quietly leaving my bedroom with my sleeping husband and dog. I decided to sit in our dining room by the fire rather than the office, on this cool winter’s morning. I journalled for 30 minutes and then, spent the next 60 minutes reading and meditating on the moving words of Mark Nepo’s, “The Book of Awakening“. The book was a beautiful and thoughtful gift from a beautiful person in my life who thankfully came into my life last year. I share relevant readings from Mark’s book with family, friends and clients sometimes.

I try to meditate every day, but do not always make that time. I do not always meditate in the same way or for the same length of time. I let my meditation practice be led by what I feel serves me on a particular day. Sometimes it is through reading, Qi Gong, yoga, running, sometimes inspired by a walk in nature with my dog, or walking to my office, maybe I will listen to a guided meditation or participate in a group, and other times I sit quietly and listen to what comes up for me, independent of my surroundings. Meditation helps me keep me present rather than letting my thoughts take over. I find it helps me with stress management and to be able to focus on what is important to me, rather than be caught up in the day-to-day busyness of life.

Meditation helps me be more mindful, as I am able to be more aware and appreciative of moments in a day as they happen. Moments that when I focus on what I am doing, I find I am better able to concentrate and appreciate what I am doing and/or experiencing. Many times it can be challenging to have this focus and appreciation. That is why I view mindfulness as a practice too. It is interesting to me that the word M-I-N-D-F-U-L-N-E-S-S has the word M-I-N-D in it, as many times, I find that it is my mind that adds to, or causes the busyness in my life. Nevertheless, I will continue to practice as often as I can allow my busy mind to take a moment, and listen to my heart.

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