Before breakfast, returning home from work or school and when going to bed are all opportune timed for meditation.

I'm reading "The Foundation" of a book called "50 Mindful Steps to Self-Esteem," while walking on my treadmill and thumb typing a blog post ony smart phone. Don't worry, I'm at a 2.0 speed, ain't no rest for the weary. I like Janette Marotta's explanation of what the Buddha describes as the three basic truths of our existence; you may know these but my books on buddhism only look scholarly on my bookshelves. Most of them, I will be eager to promote Pema Chodron's work on letting go when things fall apart anytime, she got me through a week of breakup with a man that I loved very much. Nothing is permanent, lean in and befriend your own fear; sit with the unknowing and do not reach for security for you will not find what you need elsewhere, I think that's what I'd say about the beauty of her work. Marotta, PhD, says that "When you learn to embrace all parts of yourself -accept yourself unconditionally -your inherent worth comes to the surface. You're open and unbuttoned by your heavy defenses, you're able to truly be there for yourself and others." (P.3)

"Being there for ourselves and for others." I remember seeing Pema Chodron's interview on PBS years ago and being mesmerized at the thought of a woman, married in America going through an unwanted divorce from a cheating husband and coming out a full on practice and preaching Buddhist Monk. I do not want that for mus elf but we need to learn from these leaders on her team.

I am beginning a practice of mindfulness because it's been a long time coming and because I am so empty inside that my Dad is agreeing to foot the bill for a year of intensive Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and my homework is to learn a skill called "Mindfulness." Here I go, signing off after 30 minutes of walking on a treadmill, which is called "exercise" and which is a key component of living a life well (it falls under a skill called "PLEASE" in DBT).