Happy August!

This weekend was definitely a departure from the norm of this very active summer. Instead of scheduling more visitors and adding to the ‘to do’ list, my husband and I cleared the calendar to take care of our cat who had just received surgery while our son was visiting his grandparents.

Admittedly, we’ve been spinning like the Tasmanian Devil for a while. In April, my husband’s work returned to a hybrid structure. After two years of all of us being at home, suddenly, he was back in Boston three days a week, I was working full time, and my son was in school with many new activities. All of these things while great and hopeful, just felt like a lot. Sound familiar? Instead of restructuring to accommodate our needs as a family and as a couple to ground and come together, we plowed through with a larger load feeling somewhat tired and disconnected.

Since we were pretty much housebound looking after our furry friend, we suddenly had this large swath of unstructured space. We took the opportunity to practice yoga together, have cups of coffee and talk, paddle on the pond together, read, and cook and share meals and conversations together without rushing to fulfill commitments and field interruptions.

It. Was. Lovely.

After dinner one evening an ‘ah-ha’ moment pinged in my brain as I was stroking our cat’s fur to comfort her. I realized that it took taking the time to care for this small and tender animal to remind us to take care of ourselves. Two years of pandemic solitude had taken us out of the practice of consciously creating space and boundaries for ourselves. Embracing these seemingly small moments became a larger lesson in slowing down to find our breath instead of sprinting and gasping for air.

As we travel through August, let’s remind one another to appreciate the moments that we identify and take for our selves. This world and our lives require such a large amount of concentration and output. Often filling our own buckets and taking the time to feel and appreciate the small things that we can do daily to feel refreshed and filled, gets cast aside for what is pressing from the outside rather than what is calling from our insides.

We urge you to take the time to practice, to listen to music, to hold a hand, to take a nap, and to nurture and fill all of the small cracks that make the beautiful vessel that is you.

We are here to practice beside you with a whole lot of love and tenderness!