August 2018 - Kelly Inselmann

The Wretched and the Glorious

March 25, 2024August 26, 2018 by Kelly Inselmann

LIFE IS BOTH WRETCHED AND GLORIOUS
BY Pema Chödrön

“Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected.

“But if that’s all that’s happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction.

“On the other hand, wretchedness–life’s painful aspect–softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person. When you are feeling a lot of grief, you can look right into somebody’s eyes because you feel you haven’t got anything to lose–you’re just there.

“The wretchedness humbles us and softens us, but if we were only wretched, we would all just go down the tubes. We’d be so depressed, discouraged, and hopeless that we wouldn’t have enough energy to eat an apple.

“Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.”

– Pema Chödrön, Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living

What Cancer Leaves Behind

May 14, 2020August 20, 2018 by Kelly Inselmann

Have you seen this video produced by the Mental Health Channel at the University of Texas?

It’s worth a look because in less than 6 minutes it encapsulates many of the feelings cancer survivors face.

Robyn, a PhD student at UT who had endometrial cancer, speaks eloquently about the duality of going about her daily business, while having an entirely different awareness of the fragility of life.

Check it out: http://mentalhealthchannel.tv/episode/what-cancer-leaves-behind

In your experience, what does cancer leave behind?

Who is the Healing Well Course for?

May 14, 2020August 15, 2018 by Kelly Inselmann

Online course begins Sunday, August 19, 2018. Women who have had cancer would benefit! Join us today.

Kindness

March 25, 2024August 7, 2018 by Kelly Inselmann

Kindness

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Before you know what kindness really is

you must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt in a weakened broth.

What you held in your hand,

what you counted and carefully saved,

all this must go so you know

how desolate the landscape can be

between the regions of kindness.

How you ride and ride

thinking the bus will never stop,

the passengers eating maize and chicken

will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,

you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho

lies dead by the side of the road.

You must see how this could be you,

how he too was someone

who journeyed through the night with plans

and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,

you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

You must wake up with sorrow.

You must speak to it till your voice

catches the thread of all sorrows

and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,

only kindness that ties your shoes

and sends you out into the day to mail letters and

purchase bread,

only kindness that raises its head

from the crowd of the world to say

it is I you have been looking for,

and then goes with you every where

like a shadow or a friend.

From Different Ways to Pray, 1980.

Two Yogic Strategies for Cooling Off

April 2, 2024August 6, 2018 by Kelly Inselmann

It’s hot! And when you are hot you can feel irritable, uncomfortable in your body, and less tolerant than usual. Cancer survivors often experience hot flashes from hormonal medication or from chemically (or surgically) induced menopause.

Statistics show that anger and violence are more common when the city heats up. And heaven knows our news and social media are full of hurt, anger, division, and, literally, wildfires.

Last week In Austin, Texas, an iconic sign advertising cowboy boots spontaneously combusted. Hot enough for ya’?

So, how to keep your cool?

Here are 2 practices from the yogic traditions for cooling the body and mind:

1.Sitali Pranayama (Cooling Breath Exercise)

Roll your tongue like a taco or straw. Breathe in through the circle the tongue makes, as though breathing through a straw. Exhale through your nose. Let the breath become slow and deep.

Being able to roll your tongue is genetic. Either you can do it or not. I, for one, cannot. If you can’t, simply inhale over the tongue, exhale through the nose.

On Saturday, I taught a workshop for Honoring Your Own Sacredness. We practiced Sitali Pranayama and one woman shared a profound experience with the breath. Her mind became completely quiet, and she was aware of nothing but the breath. For a few moments, she couldn’t identify where the breath began and where it ended. Absorbed in the practice and in the present moment, she had a glimpse of the whole, through focus on the part. She had a felt sense of her own prana (life force energy), the breath of life.

You can experiment with Sitali Pranayma here: https://www.3ho.org/meditation/sitali-pranayam/

2. Coconut Oil Self Massage – self massage is a simple, yet profound way to take the time to nourish your body through the skin. Ayurvedic medicine (holistic healing system from India) teaches that coconut oil is cooling. Set aside a few minutes for appreciating and gently massaging all the parts of your body with coconut oil, even the ones you try to ignore. Breathe long and deep. Listen to relaxing music. And then take a lukewarm shower or bath.

Stabilize your own inner state with these deliberate practices and notice how it affects your day.