Sangha of Auspicious Companions

November 23, 2016

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How to Protect Against Nature-Deficit Disorder

With today’s use of technology, it can be easy to forget to go outside, but studies show that making this a habit can be bad for your health, especially for kids. In this interview with Richard Louv, author of the book, “Vitamin N: 500 Ways to Enrich the Health & Happiness of You Family & Community,” Louv talks about the upsides of getting outside. Spending time in nature can result in a host of benefits, such as improved use of senses, greater ability to focus, better physical and emotional health — plus, caring about it is good for the planet’s future. Going outside doesn’t cost anything, and is actually enjoyable to experience. While it sounds like a no-brainer, it still can be difficult to implement, which is why it’s important to put it in your calendar. Better to schedule a visit with the local park than the family physician. Read on for more ways — and reasons — to enjoy. { read more }

Be The Change

Go for a walk in the fresh air today after lunch and notice what it does to your mind and your mood.

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November 22, 2016

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John Muir’s Spiritual and Political Journey

A self-taught mechanical genius and trained botanist, John Muir was offered a lucrative job, but an accident that had nearly blinded him had given him the resolve to abandon convention, renounce the prospect of wealth and success, and go “wholehearted and unafraid” into the American wilderness. Read on about how his spiritual awakening became a catalyst for social change. { read more }

Be The Change

Find a way to honor the natural world in its “unspeakable richness” every day this week. Write a poem, send a letter to your congressman about climate change, or water a tree.

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November 20, 2016

Small Acts of Kindness

Featured Kindness Stories

	50 friends came together to spread kindness for her 50th birthday.
	He witnessed the ripples of kindness spreading right in front of his eyes.
	She was discharged from the hospital but wasn’t quite ready to leave yet.

Idea of the Week

November 20, 2016

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Tending the Quiet Cadence of Our Lives

“Oysters open their shells when the moon is high. The chambered nautilus forms a new chamber in its spiraled shell every lunar month” In this lovely essay, Wayne Muller entreats us to pause the hectic pace of life to tune into nature’s quiet rhythms. “There is a hum the earth makes… We are blessed with ears that allow us to hear music, and birds awakening at sunrise, and, if we take the time, if we listen with tremendous care, wonder and awe, to the symphony of the spheres, we, too, will hear those potent inner rhythms within us all speak to us, and tell us where we are, and where we may need to go. Now, more than ever, we are called… to remember who we are, what we know, and how the rhythms that saturate the whole of the natural world live and thrive in each and all of us –if we will only listen.” { read more }

Be The Change

Listen deeply to nature’s music. Let its rhythm soothe you and comfort you. Let its light call you back to your place in creation.

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November 19, 2016

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Flowers from the Sky

Brenda Louie grew up during China’s Cultural Revolution. She walked out of the country looking at the stars as she waited for her bound-foot grandmother to catch up. An extraordinary journey led her to Stanford. Her message is about the hope for humanity to. “We have the sky. The rain and the sun come from the sky on old people, young people, rich, poor — all colors and races, not honoring and blessing one place, but coming down from above for everybody unconditionally. And on that vast scale, our petty troubles fade away. I want my title [of her work] to be a metaphor for something like that.” This interview shares more about a remarkable artist whose work is reminiscent of Georgia O’Keefe’s. { read more }

Be The Change

Keep an eye on yourself for a few days and see the moments where you could experiment by trying something new.

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November 18, 2016

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Ode to Lesvos

“It was natural to help.” “Next time it might be my family.” When over 300,000 refugees passed through the island of Lesvos, Greece, in 2015, the people there fished them out of the water, opened their homes and businesses, fed them, washed and ironed their clothes, and held their babies. This ode to the people of Lesvos celebrates the triumph of compassion and kindness over the tragic politics and dehumanization that has swept the Mediterranean regions. “To be rich is not what you have in your bank account, but what you have in your heart”. May the light of inspiration that shines through this ode create ripples of positivity across the globe! { read more }

Be The Change

Watch more about Lesvos in this film as tourists and refugees transcend boundaries.
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November 17, 2016

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The Power of Emotional Agility

Just like physical agility, emotional agility is important to overall health, well-being and successful relationships at work. Psychologist Susan David, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School and author of the book, Emotional Agility, offers insights about the “critical skill set” needed to achieve emotional balance. She notes, “emotions help us not only to communicate with other people but also to ourselves. This is a critical aspect of my work and of the book itself. This idea that we can learn underneath our emotions, if we feel a sense of guilt, if we feel a sense of anger, there’s often something that is instructive to us. Now, the very clear distinction here is that our emotions are data, not directions. We can learn from them, but we don’t need to obey them or be dominated by them.” { read more }

Be The Change

Take the time to truly feel and identify the emotions you are experiencing. Consider the emotions to be data rather than directions. What do they tell you about yourself or your circumstance? How do you choose to respond?

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