Dear Friends,

Take a time out from busyness.  Let a feeling of lightness wash over you.  Stretch your arms out and think about something that makes you happy. Stay with it for at least five more seconds..... Breath a long breath - there, you have just changed your energy pattern, you are now wired for more presence and resilience.

Spring has come early to Northern California, wildflowers and roses are popping out. Butterflies are enjoying the sweetness of spring flowers. Although it is beautiful, we are in a drought that has most people worried over dwindling water reserves. This means that we have to change the way we use water. As awareness increases, conservation becomes a familiar thought on most of our minds. But as we know, change is not something that comes easily in a culture or an organization. Habits run deep and attachment to what is familiar pull us back into ways of acting that are so natural that it takes effort to do it differently. As my dear friend George Leonard wrote, "... the built-in resistance is proportionate to the scope and speed of the change."  Yet if there is enough incentive, we can find leverage on ourselves and we can make the extra effort to do things differently.

Whether the change is to take shorter showers or to keep a dignified open posture when criticized, if we do it enough then it becomes easy and finally natural. Repetitive practice is the shortest way to change a behavior. Practice rewires the way the brain processes an activity. Presence isn't just paying attention - presence is inclusiveness. When we practice being more open we increase our presence, our compassion and our capacity for inspiration.  So do it again - let a feeling of lightness wash over you. Stretch your arms and think about something that makes you happy.

Many blessings, 

Wendy