The Mindful Lighthouse

A Glimpse into the Pandemic

The ground around the mall is covered with snow and ice. People are covered with masks and parkas. I imagine tight lips behind the masks, but I can’t see so maybe I’m projecting. I follow a couple who looks lost in some random search for Gucci or Kate Spade. We’re in the middle of nowhere […]

What is Bardo?

Bardo is a Tibetan word that means in-between. It’s sometimes translated as intermediate state. Chögyam Trungpa, author of The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing In The Bardo, says Bardo means gap. It’s not only the interval of suspension after we die but also the interval of suspension in the living […]

Harness the Wind

During the last half of my jog on this typical 37 degree lower-Manhattan morning, staggering and breathless, a strong gust of wind came at me from behind. I was pushed forward and jolted, suddenly aware of this force of energy. What is this, I asked, this force of wind, given to me from the great […]

In the Age of Face Covering

“The eyes are the window to your soul” William Shakespeare For women, the eyes are especially telling and even more so in an environment that requires face covering. Now, women (and men) all over the world are covering their face to protect themselves. The impact of this visual landscape is mesmerizing. In New York City, […]

When The Soul Moves

We tend to distrust these feelings and avoid them at all costs because we are scared of being uprooted. We need to lose this fear. Pema Chödrön, Living Beautifully Whenever I think of you my soul moves. Not just one, but very few of you and I’m open to more coming. Perhaps you know what […]

Rely on Your Strength

As we move into the next phase of recovery, many of us are suffering from anxiety. I think it’s because we know it’s time to move forward but we don’t know what to expect. We also can’t be sure that we’re not going to cause more harm to ourselves or to others. My morning meditation […]

Love in The Dark Night of the Soul

“Real love always involves a transgression.” George Bataille It’s always important to start and end with love even when we’re conditioned otherwise. Like, how we deal with this strange heaviness about us. This dark night of the soul. Any experience of darkness needs to be looked at with love or else we might get lost, […]

Coping with Grief and Fear

I lost my husband in November after 25 years of marriage. I’ve joined a bereavement group on line and realize that there are so many people suffering. Grief and fear have always been part of the human experience but now with the virus, we are facing these emotions globally. I’m learning that emotions like grief […]

Managing Love and Sex While Isolated

In this post, I talk about love and sexual energy with a single woman in quarantine living in Madrid, one of the friendliest cities in the world now raging with the Corona virus. Sexual energy is an essential life force concentrated in two energy centers in our body, the Root Chakra and the Sacral Chakra. […]

If you’re wondering what mindfulness is really about

Mindfulness is really about love. Love and creativity. I know these are foolish, simple words these days, but sometimes it’s that worn out picture book in the library that speaks truth… generation after generation. When we choose the practice of mindfulness coupled with a daily, contemplative discipline like meditation, we are cultivating our capacity to […]