lara simmons

        "Patience. Understanding. A cup of hot tea...." --From Day 1 of " 28 Days of LOVE " So begins MY definition of LOVE on the first page of my latest book, 28 Days of LOVE . As we head towards Valentine's Day, many of us may be thinking more about LOVE than usual. How to express it. How to find it. Maybe even how to define it. If you are thinking about LOVE this week now is the perfect time to buy 28 Days of LOVE . Whether you have twenty-eight days, or only 28 minutes, my new book will help you explore - and find - your own definition of LOVE. Full of photographs of "found" hearts, inspirational quotations, as well as exercises and meditations designed to bring more LOVE into your life, this is the perfect book for February explorations. Starting TODAY, 28 Days of LOVE is available in electronic format from the Blurb website for just $4.99. Just follow this link to purchase a copy. May you find all the LOVE your heart can handle this V...

"Love begins with yourself. The moment you accept what you are, you awaken your capacity to [give and to] receive love."   --Amrit Desai Kind of like all forgiveness is self-forgiveness , all love is self-love. If we don't love ourselves, how can we love others? After my first ten-day Vipassana meditation retreat , I came home and wrote these three rules on my fridge: Three Rules for Life 1) Be kind to yourself 2) Do not harm others 3) Purify your mind According to Vipassana teacher SN Goenka, being kind to yourself comes first because if you are not kind to yourself, you cannot be truly kind to others. You can try to be kind to others and you can pretend to be kind to others, but you cannot be truly kind to others if you are feeling angry, dissatisfied or stressed out. I think about this a lot when I am feeling tense or annoyed or angry. I try and ask myself: How can I be kind to myself? Which is kind of like asking: How can I love myself? So, ho...

"L ☺ ☺ K with eyes of love." -- The Universe  I have no idea where this quote came from - did I hear it somewhere and forget to write it down? - but it sprang to mind, fully formed, this morning as I was talking to a friend.  She wasn't feeling so attractive and was lamenting how her body had changed over the years, how she was aging and feeling just plain ugly.  I empathized and commiserated and finally advised her to look upon herself with "eyes of love." And then I made her say three things she liked about her body before we hung up. Because that's the key isn't it? How we look.  We can look with eyes of judgment. We can look with eyes of guilt. We can look with eyes of hatred or even with eyes of lust, but none of these give us the clearest picture of ourselves or others. It is only when we look with eyes of love that we see as God sees, as we truly are.  So I challenge you today to look with eyes ...

"Embrace who you are and teach your kids to do the same." --The Universe in meditation

"I'm a little bit of everything all rolled into one. I'm a bitch. I'm a lover. I'm a child. I'm a mother. I'm a sinner. I'm a saint. I do not feel ashamed....So take me as I am." --" Bitch " by Meredith Brooks Sometimes you hear a song without really hearing it. And sometimes, at just the right moment, you can hear it all. Driving in the car this weekend, "Bitch," by Meredith Brooks came on the radio and it was like I was hearing it for the first time. I don't think I know a better song as an anthem for spiritual practice and the path we are all on. As Pema Chodron puts it, "Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better, it's about befriending who we already are."  It's about befriending who we already are - the Bitch. The Lover. The Child. The Mother. Whoever you are today, make friends with yourself. Love yourself. Embrace who YOU ARE right now....