The Transformational Power of Gratitude
As the Thanksgiving season approaches, I’ve been thinking a lot about how gratitude shapes our inner world . . . especially in a culture that profits off of stress, pressure, and anxiety. At Back2Youth, we spend time talking about mental resilience, emotional intelligence and there is neuroscience behind this to emphasize its importance. And the more we explore . . .
Campfire Conversations
At the beginning of this school year, Back2Youth hosted a three-day, two-night camp at the Oregon coast — a retreat filled with adventure, laughter, and moments of stillness that seemed to hold their own quiet lessons. For ten campers — six boys and four girls, ranging from eleven to seventeen years old — it was more than a chance to hike, run, and explore. It was an invitation to learn about themselves, each other, and the deeper values that shape who they are becoming.
We filled the days with energy and curiosity . . .
Mindfulness in Action: How Honoring Our Pace Leads Us Towards Empowerment
As a new volunteer with Back 2 Youth, I had the recent privilege of watching its mindfulness-based curriculum come alive in real life. On my very first day of camp, we visited the Salem Ropes Course — a place filled with challenges of varying heights, each designed to test both physical and mental limits.
Two courses, in particular, stand out in my memory. The first was a dueling course…
Embracing Your Unique Gifts
Drawing on Dagara wisdom, this talk by Sobonfu Somé at Connecting for Change 2011, brings to light how everyone has a personal gift that is vital to the well being of the individual, the community and Earth. This timeless truth is a reminder of your unique value and the need for you to bring your personal expressions out into the world.
Living from the Heart: Spiritual Bypassing, Building Community & Introspection
How is your heart? Can you feel it in your body? Are you aware of sensations in and around it? Is it light as a feather or does it weigh like wet cotton in summer? Okay, enough of the third degree. If you don’t know then sit and feel into it because it matters; the condition of your heart is the condition of your life.
3 Writing Practices to Untangle & Illuminate Your Life
Try writing new or re-sequenced versions of past events. Doing so can untangle sticky patterns and open your life to joy.
Creating through Joyful Expectation
When we are grateful for all and everything, that inner joy is ever present. For in gratitude lie the keys of life itself. For joy unlocks our inner creativity and more than this, further unlocks the thousand petal rose in our hearts. For joy contains the Lightness of Being!