Rachelle's blog

I must say I really enjoy this video clip of Ven. Jigme speaking about Nonviolent Communication. She lives at the Sravasti Abbey outside Newport, WA where it appears people in her community have been practicing NVC for a few years. She does a beautiful job of describing the radical essence of NVC reminding us that NVC is an extraordinary tool to help us examine how we approach our exchanges and that it takes time. In a nutshell, to practice NVC is to train yourself to do the following:

Is it just me? Or do others also have some unsettling sense of foreboding? It seems to me that despite the New Age notion that we "create our reality" which has had the effect of increased sales in the area of personal development, success coaching and meditation cushions more than anything else (which I'm not knocking but merely noting), there is a "reality" that continues to knock on our global door for attention: the issue of environmental and economic sustainability. If we don't address it, there simply won't be a world for us to meditate in and be successful in.

Here we stand at the foot of 2012 while still basking in the afterglow of the festive season. What will the year bring? What manner of changes? What manner of discoveries, heartbreaks and celebrations? Whatever the flavour one thing is certain; it’ll be much more satisfying if our relationships can not only withstand but also buoy us through the more difficult days that will inevitably make an appearance. There's no doubt there are plenty of them. And have you ever noticed how the speed

More and more, I am paying ever greater attention to our natural world.  I feel both sadness and elation as I breathe through my days ... sadness at realizing how much of my time is consumed by a world that is so tragically removed from the natural world with its great to-do lists and endless deadlines and all the consequences of that disconnection, and elation at how much beauty and mystery there is to behold when I take the time to head into the wild or discipline myself to notice when, for

This summer I had the privilege of attending two residential workshops; one with Stephen Jenkinson (whose 2 year program I am currently enrolled in) and the other with David Abram.

The teachings of these individuals had and continues to have a profound impact on me. What especially strikes me is how much emphasis both place on the power of the spoken word which I had not realized going in. What it boils down to is that the every day use of our modern English language has an unfortunate way of narrowing our perspective and

I’ve ordered my Americano. The radio is on the music of the 70s station and so I will be quietly reminded of the tonal quality of my teen years. “You’ve got to hide your love away …” The Beatles were big back then. I sit down, get comfortable … and I watch. Small tables with two or more people gathered ‘round … deep in conversation. Students surfing the web or posting on Facebook while another is absorbed in the latest fiction. Two senior men with newspapers spread wide open between their hands, absorbing all that a comparatively

Love is the opposite of fear. We hear this axiom regularly and I'm not sure I concur. It's closely related to We're either coming from love or we're coming from fear. Well, for better or worse I'm a stickler for detail and if I probe it a bit, I translate these to we're either coming from a state of expansion or a state of contraction. THIS is a concept my mind fully comprehends. Expansion. Open. Contraction. Closed. I totally get that. I also get how love is associated with expansion and openness and fear is

Don’t get me wrong. I value the great life as much as the next person but this morning when I opened my laptop I was struck by the overwhelming number of emails in my inbox that have something to teach me about becoming happy and successful. I appreciate both the effort and wisdom that shines through but as I read over one in particular that included over 50 tips, I felt a sudden sadness and weariness come over me. I would have to sign up for boot camp to do all these things and not only that … I have no trust that being so

There is no doubt that empathy is of critical importance to us individually and collectively. Have a look at this very inspiring video The Empathic Civilisation. Some of the highlights are: We are NOT soft-wired for aggression, violence, self-interest and utilitarianism but rather we are soft-wired for sociability, attachment, affection and companionship. "Empathy is grounded in the acknowledgment of death and the celebration of life and rooting for each other to flourish and be. It's based on our frailties and imperfections".

Welcome to my blog. It is with equal measures of excitement and trepidation that I am joining countless others who make blogging a regular practice. My sense of blogging is that it is somewhat like a public journal entry. And so I look forward to sharing some of the more interesting things that are on my radar. Here goes: Last night I woke up at 4am, a fairly regular event these days. Rather than toss and turn and attempt to identify the cause of interruption to my sleep, I picked up the book on my bedside table titled Wake Up Now by Stephan Bodian.