lara simmons

"This is the Zen approach: nothing is there to be done. There is nothing to do. One has just to be. Have a rest and be ordinary and be natural."  -- Osho Turns out, I had kind of a hard time RESTING. I kept finding myself DOING. DOING some writing. DOING some Twitter . DOING some marketing for my book . Luckily I had a silent retreat planned for the upcoming weekend. On Friday afternoon I drove to St Andrews House retreat center to participate in a 40 hour do-it-yourself silent retreat with a group of women from Seattle Unity . We had been planning the retreat for a few months and I was really looking forward to it. I arrived a bit harried on Friday night, having hit quite a bit of traffic on the way over, just in time for dinner. I threw my things into the last available room and went right to dinner. After dinner was the ritual to begin the silence and it wasn't until this ended that I could really relax and think about what I wanted my 40 hours of sile...

"Use stillness to effect change."  -- Anodea Judith

"If you want to be happy, be."   -- Leo Tolstoy

"If you open yourself to the hum of the world --if you live in the present rather than in your idea of it-- it will change you."   -- Phillip Shepherd

"In an age of constant movement,  nothing is more urgent  than sitting still." -- Pico Iyer

"Close your eyes  and just BE."  --From "Write Your Life!" Welcome to Week One of WRITE YOUR LIFE! Before you get started, here are a few things it will be handy to have as you move through this process: A journal. Your favorite pen.  A meditation timer.  A quiet spot to meditate.  If you don't have one or more of these things, no biggie, just do the best you can with what you have and you will be just fine. Now let's get started!  Week one is about BEING . Just BEING . That's it. In the fast-paced, ever-changing world we live in how often do you take the time to just BE? Not very often I would wager. So give it a try this week.  First find a comfortable position, sitting cross-legged on a pillow or blanket, or in a chair with your feet flat on the floor, or even lying down with your arms at your sides and your legs splayed out in front of you (in corpse pose ).  Once in position, take ONE DEEP BREATH . Brea...