Thoughtful Resources for Difficult Times
We are in uncharted territory right now. It’s a reminder of how little we control—even in the best of times.
To acknowledge this difficult time, I’ve created a select list of resources for you. If you find something of interest here, please let me know.
Stay safe, be well, and thank you for reading and subscribing!
Meditation
Become the calm amidst the chaos with davidji’s Accepting This Moment 10-Day Meditation Series. I studied with davidji for a weekend at the Chopra Center years ago when he was the head meditation teacher there. That voice. His humanity. It’s free, so check it out.
Insight Timer claims to be “The largest library of guided meditations on earth” with 40,000+ meditations. I’ve been using the app for many years, and there’s no way I could get through all the meditations. They add new teachers all the time, as well as podcasts, talks, and courses. There’s a premium version, but the free app is fantastic.
Fitness/Wellness/Yoga
Down Dog is a fun suite of apps that includes Down Dog, Yoga for Beginners, HIIT, Barre, Prenatal Yoga, and 7 Minute Workout. Down Dog is giving away access to all of their apps—until May 1st.
YMCA 360 has several free videos ranging from Tai Chi and Bootcamp to Active Older Adults and Kids. Take a look; there may be something there to keep you moving.
Get a free month of online yoga (new members only) at YogaWorks.
UCSD's Center for Mindfulness has free live and recorded meditation/mindfulness sessions.
Books & Journaling
If COVID-19 isn’t a good reason to start journaling, then I don’t know what is. My friend Tammy has a lovely little e-book for sale ($5!) based on her online course of the same name: Write to Flourish: A Beginner’s Guide to Journaling. Check it out and get started writing down all those weird coronavirus dreams and thoughts.
My friend Christina, who is a licensed psychotherapist, travel blogger, and lovely human, just created for a journal for people with chronic illness, but also wonderful for beginner journalers. She offers her journal at various price points, including a free mini e-version at www.beginwithintoday.com (use JOURNAL10 for 10% off the paid versions).
I have just two books* to recommend for this challenging time:
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron. A classic work of support, now timelier than ever.
Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words by poet David Whyte. Mini essays that explore the essence of individual words. Just open it wherever and read.
*Yep, affiliate links. Hey, I’m a newly unemployed writer, so if you want to use the links, I thank you, but if not, it’s fine—really. Just search for the titles and purchase from your favorite source. Happy reading!
Other Things
Creative Mornings Field Trips are virtual events that are happening instead of their usual slate of global in-person activities. And for me, that’s great as the Creative Mornings live monthly meetings start way too early in the morning for me!
Oregon State University is offering, for free, the vegetable gardening series of their renowned Master Gardener course. It’s only a 4 to 6-hour commitment, it’s online, and did I mention that it’s free?! Although this freebie is over at the end of April 2020, once you enroll, you’ll have access for a year, so get on it if you think you’d like to plant a little victory garden and up your self-sufficiency quotient.
other places to find me: