Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday growing up. I loved having a food-centric and people-centric holiday without the pressure of expectations of gifts and making time for concerts and church services and all the things. There’s something simple about this idea, of stopping to be grateful and enjoy the bounty of the harvest.
It is, of course, an entirely whitewashed version of events containing very little truth. And I understand that acknowledging Thanksgiving without truly being present to all the harm settlers have done since colonizing North America is problematic, at best.
Photo: Sun peaks through the clouds over the water
And yet, we can all use more gratitude in our lives, I have to imagine, and if you have a good relationship with your family, all the better on a holiday like Thanksgiving, where that gratitude can extend to the company you’re keeping or to the memories you’re cherishing. And I hope you have a community that you love, and feel loved by, whether it’s your chosen family or given family or both.
I try to remember the truth while also enjoying the extra focus on gratitude that I think we’d all be better for focusing on more often throughout the year.
Just as I juggle the duality of Thanksgiving and how we celebrate in the US (as well as in Canada – I get to celebrate it twice!), I also daily see duality in my life. I juggle the duality of gratitude for my many blessings, supportive people, health care, good food, amazing humans and creatures in my life, at the same time that I feel enraged, anxious, fearful around politics, around destruction and violence, around inequalities, around feeling like politicians aren’t listening and/or are mainly complete bought and owned by billionaires.
Are you able to hold on to gratitude and hope? What dualities do you see playing out in your life? And how are you celebrating Thanksgiving this year, if you are?
Thanks for contemplating with me. If you found this useful, you may also enjoy my recent grounding practice for winter.And if you’re looking for more mental fitness tools or would like some help tuning down the sabotaging thoughts so you can enjoy your life more, come grab your free session with me.
You may also know someone else who’d appreciate this. If so, I hope you’ll share it with a friend. Thanks for being here. Keep resisting.
Last week, I explored a grounding practice for the winter, and I offered an audio recording to try with it. It must have resonated with a lot of people, because it was the largest response I’ve seen to one of my posts in a long time. So today, I’m going to offer a moving meditation.
I love moving meditation, because when my brain is busy, as it often is, it’s easier to get myself to incorporate a moving practice than a practice of stillness into my life. Although it’s much improved given my mental fitness practices, I still often find myself with a chatty inner critic and persistent sabotaging thoughts, from anxious to angry to wanting to avoid things, that threaten to derail me.
Fading fall colors and trees overlook the ocean. Photo by Jamie Feinberg.
After unsuccessful attempts to incorporate meditation into my life (at least beyond walking and yoga), I finally found a meditation practice I could stick with when I turned it into a moving meditation. I now do one every single morning, and it’s been extraordinarily life-changing for me.
I credit my mental fitness work with helping me to instill the habit and also to introduce me to just how important the work is.
I could write an entire article on HOW to do it, likely several, but for today, I’m just going to focus on the doing. First, let’s define what I’m talking about.
There are all sorts of moving meditations out there. There’s a beautiful Buddhist practice that can be very popular,involving an extremely slow practice of moving (generally outside). But for those of us whose busy brains or bodies who won’t let us consider that type of practice, we’ve got another option. It’s also a great way to incorporate mindfulness into your exercise routine.
This practice can be done on a treadmill or walking around indoors, though I highly recommend an outside walk (or even a jog or run) if that is possible for you right now. As I type this, I’m indoors, looking out at the gorgeous sun and blue sky. This would be a perfect day to do this outside, because while it is very cold right now on Prince Edward Island, the sun can assist with both the feel of the temperature and with my mental state.
This is the practice. If you’d like to try it, or if you’d prefer to hear it modeled for you rather than read it, here you go.
Begin by claiming this time, and this space, for yourself. Tune in to your breath. Observe the inhale and the exhale. What parts of your body get involved when you breathe?
If you haven’t yet, let’s begin walking. If you’d rather do this practice while jogging or running, that’s also a possibility. Just keep tuning in to your body. If you’re having a challenging time multi-tasking, please put your safety first and slow down.
Let’s begin by feeling the surface underneath us. Notice the sensations you feel with each step. What can you observe as you step? Now let’s tune in to the sounds our limbs make as they land. What else can you notice?
Observe the muscles that get involved when you take a step. Be present to what your feet are doing, and what feelings are present. Notice the movement of your legs as you move.
Now, let’s observe the movements of your upper body. Is there a rhythm to your hands or arms? Feel the feeling of the wind or air on your face. If there’s sun on you, can you feel it? Notice whatever physical sensations you can right now.
Now, let’s focus our attention on our sense of sight. What colors can you observe around you today? What textures can you discern? What movements inhabit the world you’re encountering? Can you find some details that you’ve never noticed before?
I love to notice details in the trees, along walls, and find flowers and other nature wherever I go. What are you present to today?
Let’s try to focus on our sense of touch. Using your fingertips, choose a texture to focus on. It can be your clothing, your skin, or something outside of yourself. Move your fingertips around to feel all the physical sensations of touch
Now, let’s turn our attention to our sense of sound. What is the farthest sound you can hear right now? Focus your attention on it, and see how many details you can discern. Now, let’s focus our attention on the closest sound you can hear. And once more, let’s focus on another sound that calls your attention. What details and nuances can you notice?
These ideas can be repeated ad nauseum. You can also allow yourself to follow your own instincts, focusing especially on the five senses. Enjoy your movement meditation for as long as you’d like to today.
I hope this has been helpful for you. If you found it useful, you may also enjoy last week’s grounding practice for winter.And if you’re looking for more mental fitness tools or would like some help tuning down the sabotaging thoughts so you can enjoy your life more, come grab your free session with me.
And if this was useful, I hope you’ll share it with a friend. Thanks for being here. Keep resisting.
Friends, my head is so in the clouds that I entirely forgot to write a blog post earlier this week. So as I often do, I pondered what I could use support with today, and I think it’s definitely time to move out of my head and into my body. So, I hope this practice is helpful, either as a practice to try on or as inspiration to find your own practices when you need them.
If you’re someone who struggles to meditate, if it’s accessible for you, consider doing some vigorous exercise (at least enough to get your heart rate up) before doing the exercise below. I find that if I’ve already gotten my blood pumping, it’s easier to me to slow down and tap into my wise mind. I have less swirling thoughts that way.Subscribed
Begin by stopping. Allow yourself to pay attention to your breath. Observe the inhale and the exhale. Notice the temperature of your breath. Observe the rhythm. In, and out. In and out.
Make a commitment to you, right now. To taking time for you. When intrusive thoughts, or any thoughts, start to pop in, let them go.
Find a quiet place to sit, a comfy position to take, if you haven’t yet. Close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you to do so. Feel the surface beneath you. Observe its texture, and feel the weight of your body on whatever surface it is on.
Feel your limbs, wherever they are. Observe any tension you’re holding onto. Notice the sensations of your body.
Find your toes, if you’ve got some. Give them a wiggle. Notice the muscles that get involved when we wiggle our toes. See how many of them you can find.
Listen to the sounds around you. Notice the close sounds. Notice the far sounds. Notice the sound of your own breath.
Take a moment to give yourself a hug. Feel the physical sensations of touch, weight, and maybe even notice the temperatures you feel.
Relax your limbs. As you breathe in and out, do a quick body scan to notice any tension you’re holding onto, from your head all the way down your torso and into your feet. If you’d like to, breathe into the spots where you feel tension. Observe the sensations that call your attention.
Gently and being careful not to hurt yourself, tighten the muscles of your body, from your head down into your feet. Observe what it feels like to hold those sensations. See what small details you can be present to.
Relax. Relax all the muscles, and notice what differences you feel now that you’ve let go of that extra tension.
If you’re comfortable doing so, this is a beautiful time to choose a positive phrase to repeat a few times, in your head or out loud (which can be even better for grounding purposes). A message like “I am enough” or “I am grateful” or “I am loved” or anything else that resonates for you can work.
When you’re ready, if you have your eyes closed, open them. Focus your attention on an object in front of you, or near you. Notice the details of it – the color, texture, shadows. See if you can observe a detail you haven’t noticed before. No need to analyze it – just allow yourself to take it in with your eyes, with attention.
Find a new object to focus on. Observe its color, its texture. Allow any extra thoughts to float away.
And now, before you return to your regularly scheduled day, allow yourself a moment to observe how you are feeling in this moment. Consider if you’d like to take a pause like this more often in your day.
That’s it, folks. I’d love to hear if you appreciated this today, and whether you’d like more recordings like this one.
Today I read news, both positive election results (well done!!!) and the sadness and resignation of friends who are out of options, recognizing they can no longer afford health insurance, which means they can no longer afford to see their doctors, pay for their prescriptions, or maintain any illusion that they have a safety net for the inevitable expenses of health care due to the for-profit nature of medical care in the United States.
Photo of a sunset over the boardwalk by Jamie Feinberg
People share their best tips for eating on a budget and making due if food stamps are cut or gone.
Politicians on the wrong side of history pledge to publish people who stood up for themselves and used their power in NYC and elsewhere.
The United States is no longer just a country living under the threat of daily gun violence in schools and other community gathering places. It is also a country at war with itself, destroying any sense of safety and community and any illusions its children and others had.
Those who followed the rules aren’t safe. No one is safe, though the lightness of your skin can help.
I exchange stories with friends who are socking away food for the winter, like squirrels and chipmunks, unsure what the winter has in store or how it will end.
In one hand, I hold gratitude for my amazing family, friends, and neighbors. I work to stay present to the textures my hands touch, to the warmth of a hug, to the creaminess of the oat milk in my coffee. In the other hand, I work to break free of the inner critic, telling me I am not doing enough, and the sometimes paralyzing anxiety about where we are headed and what could be next.
I sit here, warm under blankets and a cat who adopted us in Florida ( once a fun and affordable home for our RV, now a place we’re not sure we’ll ever return to again).
I remember that whatever our own health challenges are, whatever our own financial struggles may be, we are extraordinarily grateful to be in Canada, to be here, right now.
As you write your own poems, remember the joy. I hope you can find the moments of calm, the moments of love, the moments of beauty. I hope you never give up and that you never give in.
You are worthy. And I will do what I can to support you. Love your neighbors, friends.
When mind games are kicking in and you’d like support learningto control your thoughts and stop the self-sabotage, take a saboteur assessment.
Well folks, things are getting spooky in the United States right now, and I don’t mean Halloween antics or that the darkness of evening is coming more quickly. I mean, of course, that millions of people are being denied their life-saving SNAP benefits because Republicans would rather starve people and keep a tax cut for billionaires while increasing healthcare premiums exponentially. They won’t even tap into the emergency SNAP funds that exist just for this purpose. And yes, we need to have corporations pay their fair share too, but in the short term, let’s prevent starvation!
Some other news on my mind:
Trans healthcare for youth may be banned outright. Gay marriage may be relitigated. And no one with brown or black skin is safe from profiling and persecution in Chicago and around the country.
A wellness influencer with a lapsed medical license and a history of sharing lies about immunizations is nominated as the US Surgeon General, aka “the nation’s doctor”.
The wannabe dictator gets closer and closer, killing people without proof of cause, preparing to send more troops around the country, destroying the East wing of the White House, and exhibiting more and more behavior showing he’s likely both physically and mentally unwell (likely had a stroke) and his team is hiding it.
Republicans are afraid to swear in Rep. Grijalva and release the Epstein files. Gaza is once again being destroyed.
National parks are at risk in the shutdown. More drilling? Nuclear war? Apparently it’s all on the table with this administration.
What do we do, in the face of all of this? How do we care for ourselves? How do we care for our neighbors? For our planet?
Here are a few questions I ask myself to help me discern amidst the noise and horror and daily challenges too. Maybe they’ll help you as well.
Are my basic needs being met? Are the basic needs of my family and friends and neighbors being met?
Do I have an emergency fund, and how long can it last? How precarious a position am I in? How vulnerable are those closest to me?
Consider reaching out for help if you need it. There are organizations and maybe some individuals in your network willing to help. And if you do not need help, consider what steps you can take to support your loved ones, and perhaps your wider circle too.
Prioritizing your own survival is important. Supporting those who turn to you for support or sometimes support you in turn is also important. And consider what ways you can support your neighbors and the larger community, whether it’s helping to connect them with resources or sharing resources of your own.
It can be a wise thing to ask ourselves these questions. But worrying about the future is not helpful when it gets us stuck in thought loops. Instead, do some work to ground yourself when worry or fear is dominating. That’s when you’ll best be able to a) recognize the dangers and b) deal with them. It’s also extremely important to take time to rest.
Am I remembering to rest? To feed myself? To shower? To find joy?
Working 24 hours a day isn’t sustainable. The sabotaging voices in our heads will tell us that we are only worthy when we “earn” it. They are lying. Your wise mind knows that you are a treasure, just because you are you. Even if other people, even if your religion, even if the government tells you otherwise. You are worthy of love and joy and a safe existence.
Set some breaks in the day – for a walk, for a meal, for a shower or bath.
Treasure your loved ones. Make a call, watch a show together, play a board game, sing a song. We never know how much time we have left.
Where are my feet?
Take time each day to remember where you are – and to feel it in your body. Feel your feet on the floor or wherever they are. Focus on your breathing. Listen to the sounds around you. Take time to be fully present.
Find yourself getting overwhelmed by the news or anything else? Presence is life-giving. Get present so you can support those who need you.
What is abundant? What can I share? Who can I support?
It may be counter-intuitive, but we do feel better when we can volunteer or give back in some way. We also know how life-giving gratitude is. Find what you have in abundance, be grateful for it, and consider what you have to share. Your time? Your money? A listening ear? A strong body? What do you have to give, from a place of ease and abundance? And who would benefit from those gifts?
You are doing great, friend. This world is TOUGH, especially right now, and you are still here. And you are doing the best you can. Keep breathing. Make a choice to care for yourself and your neighbors, as you have capacity. I’m so proud of you for continuing to show up. Even when it’s hard. Even when it’s hard to see how it matters.
Need some help finding a broader perspective? Want to know you’re not alone? Want to learn how to get the negative voices in your head to calm down and get out of the way so you can get more done, and with ease and joy?
Photo descriptions: I am wearing a flapper feather headpiece for the 1920’s themed Halloween party I lead a singalong for on Halloween. A second is a photo of my husband. We went out for the best Mexican food we’ve had since New Mexico on Saturday, and we are both extremely grateful for each other and for the amazing meals and drinks we were able to enjoy, especially when so many will be going without in the coming weeks unless Republicans fund SNAP. A third photo shows my gorgeously lit grapefruit mocktail (it was amazing) with boba. I hope it doesn’t seem tone deaf to celebrate the joyful moments. I hope you can do the same, whether it’s a night at home or out in the world.
Crafting The Life You Want: A Practice in Living 