Blog Address Change!

I am happy to say that I've made it possible for viewers of The Healing Nest to have access to this blog's RSS feed!

For some reason there was a glitch with this address which did not make it possible for wonderful readers like to you subscribe to my blog.

So, I've moved my site to a new blogspot address (the name is only slightly modified; a "the" was added to the address) and all of my new posts will appear there!

Here's the new address: http://thehealingnest.blogspot.com

Go on over and check it out! You now can update your bookmarks and site feed information, too.

I will use this old site as an archive site. All of my posts (from December 2006 - September 2008) will be accessible here and there will be a link to this archive from my new site.

See you in the land with the extra "the"!

peace and positive change,

Courtney

Sneak Peek...

I have been moving a little slowly lately, so my apologies for not writing here more frequently. These gray skies are making me feel sluggish and I seem to want to sleep a lot these days. My grief process has sure added more nap time to my schedule. Sheesh.

But I do have one mini accomplishment to share with you. I have just devised my 2-hour fall special (after long, long brainstorming sessions) and my postcard order is at the printers as I write this!

I want to give you a sneak peek at what goodies are in store for you this fall. So, here you go...

Autumn Special: Pumpkin Spice

This autumn, surround yourself with light and warmth while taking in the nurturing scents of pumpkin, cinnamon, and clove.

This two-hour experience includes:

• A citrus spice foot spa, warm herbal chai, and a light fall-inspired snack to awaken your senses.

• A full-spectrum light therapy session to boost your mood.

• A pumpkin spice body polish treatment to revitalize your skin.

• A hot stone massage using heated basalt river stones for deep relaxation and warmth.

Cost: $120. Gift Certificates Available.

What a way to embrace the coming of fall! This is going to be a fun special and I am lucky to benefit from all of those wonderful autumnal smells as well.

Alright, I'm off to receive a massage, so I'll say goodbye for now. But my goal is to write here much more often and to offer exercises, prompts, and other bits of healing wisdom for you. Thank you for your patience as I work my way through the fog.

pumpkinly yours,

Courtney

Catalytic Musings

"Catalyst for Beauty," collage, 4" x 5"

1. Chemistry. a substance that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected.
2. something that causes activity between two or more persons or forces without itself being affected.
3. a person or thing that precipitates an event or change.
4. a person whose talk, enthusiasm, or energy causes others to be more friendly, enthusiastic, or energetic. Source: Dictionary.com

Have you seen the movie Amelie? This film is on my top-ten list of favorite movies in large part because of the catalytic actions of the main character Amelie. Through her deliberate actions she ignites an artist's creativity, teaches a grumpy man a lesson, sparks a reunion of once-estranged family members, and helps repair a widow's broken heart. And she does all of these things with curiosity, compassion, and hint of mischievousness.

In what ways have you been Amelie-esque in your life? In what ways have you been a catalyst for change of some kind?

Try this:
Freewrite about your feelings about being a catalyst. Is this a comfortable place for you to be? Or do you feel awkward or uncomfortable in the role? Perhaps you've been the recipient of some catalytic intervention. What was this like? Write for 15 minutes without stopping and see if you can write fast--like you're sprinting on a track. Keep the pen moving as much as possible and allow yourself to be messy.

Spine Metaphor

"Spine Hawk," mixed media, 4" x 6"

Alright, creative wonderfuls,

I know that you think about your spine. I just do. It's rare that someone comes to me for massage and doesn't ask for their back to be addressed. I don't often hear comments like, "You know, today my back feels so loose and free, you can just avoid even touching that area." So that is how I know you think about your spine. Or at least you spend a portion of each day feeling and interpreting sensations in your back and spine.

So I invite you to tinker with this writing exercise (below). If your spine were another "thing" in the world, what would it be? And please, please, oh please consider emailing me your metaphor writing for inclusion in my next issue of The Healing Nest Newsletter. Oh, pretty please. Email: cputnam@rising-bird.com

Writing Prompt: Spine Metaphor
What is the life of your spine like? On a typical day, do you feel expansive in this area or cramped and compressed? Write about the purpose and function of your spine, as well as how you experience your spine in your body. Now imagine your spine is not your spine at all, but something else. Is it a ladder for your headaches to climb to reach your head? Is it a river flowing from your cranium to your sacrum? Is it a snake? A rain stick? If you get stuck in your writing, I recommend that you connect with your spine by doing some small movements and stretching in your torso. What does it feel like when you bend forward, back, or to the side? How does your spine respond when you engage with it? Perhaps this movement will help you to reveal the metaphor.

Landslides

"My Island," mixed media collage, 6" x 7"

My, has it been over two weeks since I last posted here? I thought about writing last week and then this last weekend -- and both times I got cold feet. I had that feeling I used to get as a high school student when the longer I was quiet in class, the harder it was to speak. I used to get red blotches on my neck just thinking about raising my hand to answer a question. But I digress a bit. I don't have red blotches this time; I just feel a little shy.

I created the above piece today when reflecting on where I've been these past two weeks. I do feel like I've been on an island -- a little island of grief. And just when I think I'm ready to leave my island, I slip off the edge and fall. I am still so curious how grief can come like a sudden landslide. I can feel fairly steady and then I'm flat on my face and sludging through mud. The little things seem to cause my fall. Last week when playing cards with my partner, I felt the loss of my dad so keenly I couldn't breathe. With cards fanned out in my hands, my body suddenly remembered the marathon games of "manipulation" I played with my dad. I didn't expect this memory to surface, and there I was falling again.

This Jane Kenyon poem reminds me of the the little things that can create mountains--or landslides--of emotion.

What Came to Me

I took the last
dusty piece of china
out of the barrel.
It was your gravy boat,
with a hard, brown
drop of gravy still
on the porcelain lip.
I grieved for you then
as I never had before.

Try this:
Think of the physical details of your life--household objects, jewelry, trinkets, stones, clothing, dishes, etc. Choose one you are energetically drawn to and write for 15 minutes about this object. What feelings does this object conjure for you? What big idea, feeling, or event does this small object carry for you? Allow yourself to feel whatever emerges as fully and deeply as you wish. And remember to breathe. Breath will calm you and reconnect you to your heart center.

Deep Loss

I'd like to officially introduce you to someone. The picture above is my dad, Ed Putnam, who died this past Tuesday morning, August 12. He died at home (in the house he built) with his family around him. Some of you know about my dad's struggle with kidney cancer--a struggle which began in January of this year. It's been a tumultuous ride these past 7 months, and I find it hard to contain or even encapsulate the events of this year.

I will say, though, that my relationship with my father deepened during this time, and that my healing work kept me afloat in ways I am just starting to grasp. One dear client who knew of my struggles asked me during a session, "How do you care for other people and hear other people's problems when you have such big stuff going on in your own life?" It was such a good question. I surprised myself when I heard myself replying, "I find it very grounding and centering to give bodywork. I can tune into the relaxed breath of my clients and the sacred space I have created for healing." I also heard myself say something about the universal nature of suffering--that I can connect to the suffering of others (even small moments of suffering or discontent) while holding my own sadness about my father because it all comes from the same source. Suffering is suffering. Grief is grief. Loss is loss. The specific circumstances and degrees of intensity may differ, but I have a hard time ranking or categorizing these things. Until my client asked me her question, I hadn't realized that I truly felt this way.

So while I may be taking some time off right now to attend to my sadness and that of my family (I'll be back giving sessions again during the week of August 25), please know that when you come to see me it's okay to mention my loss (I know, it's hard to know what to say when someone has lost a loved one) and it's okay to focus on YOU during your session. Prior to each session I give, I create a safe space for you to relax, find relief, and heal. Rest assured that I will find my own time for my own healing (Olympus Spa here I come!). This time is for you and I am honored to witness whatever it is that you bring to your sessions.

I also want to mention that my posts here may be few and far between or very frequent with many philosophical musings about the nature of life and death, of healing and illness, and of finding inner peace. Right now I am reading Thich Nhat Hanh's No Death, No Fear, and I imagine many of his words will make their way to this blog as well.

peace and healing,

Courtney

Creatively Ignited!

This last Sunday I offered "Writing from Your Body," the first workshop in my "A Year of Living in Your Body" series. For four hours I led my lovely and creative participants in exercises with breath, sensory experience, movement, and physical touch. We wrote from our feet, intestines, and hearts; engaged with all of our senses; took a centering walk; breathed into our bellies; wrote in different positions and locations; shook out stress and balanced our brain hemispheres; and shared the messages we received from our bodies in a safe and open setting. And much, much more! Wow!

I want to send a scrumptious thank you out to my participants! You were sensorily-activated, bodily-focused, and creatively-ignited writerly rock stars! This was my first time leading such a long workshop--and yet those four hours felt like absolute PLAY for me. And even though I played facilitator, I did have some interesting moments of my own writing, including the discovery that "my pelvis is a bowl in my body, catching the contents of my desires--a bowl to catch my heart when it drops." I think there's a poem hidden in there.

One of the books that I introduced to the group (and that influenced my workshop) is Laraine Herring's Writing Begins with the Breath: Embodying Your Authentic Voice. If you have any interest in how breath (and being fully in your body) can allow for a deeper writing experience, Herring's book is a must-read.

In honor of my workshop, here is a little exercise you can try as a way to engage with your body in a different way. Choose of these pairs of words and write from the part of the body with an awareness of the sense listed. For instance, if you were to draw "elbow" and "smell," imagine what your elbow might smell on a daily basis. Lemon pledge? Pizza dough? Printer toner? And feel free to write in the voice of that part of the body. You never know--perhaps your teeth have something to get off their chest, so to speak!


teeth - smell

eyes - touch

knees - sight

hands - taste

heart - sound

Saying No = Opening to Yes

“I’m learning to embrace the word no, for balance, for equilibrium and to honor my intuition. Like a box, no provides walls and boundaries. It’s a container, a framework in which creativity can come forth with controlled abandon. No stops me in my tracks and opens up a new place for me to begin. It can hold possibilities. Time for me and my ambling.” --Susan Wooldridge, Foolsgold: Making Something from Nothing and Freeing Your Creative Process

“Soon I realize I am saying yes, and inner yes, supported and held in place by an outside no. Yes to doing what I want. Yes to how I feel.” --Susan Wooldridge

While in Hawaii with my family over the past week, I was immersed in constant activity and interaction. It was heaps of fun. Well, most of it anyway. But since being back home in Seattle I realize that I hadn’t had much privacy or down time. You see, we were all sharing a small condo together. (We = six adults and a baby.) Boy was it noisy, cluttered, and alive with movement!

During the first half of the trip I hadn’t really noticed the close quarters and lack of private time so much. In fact, I was enjoying the shared space and constant stimulation, introvert though I am. But this soon grew overwhelming and a tad exhausting. One day I realized that I hadn’t even had a moment to use the bathroom without a worry that someone else was waiting to use it! And I noticed that I had only read seven short chapters in Foolsgold, when normally I would have devoured one or two whole books.

So when I was asked whether I wanted to join the evening festivities of a road trip and dinner on my last evening of the trip, I heard myself utter “No thank you.” I felt a little ripple of a wave inside my stomach guide me to stay home with my books and journal and computer—and the silence. Oh, the silence. Except for those rhythmic ocean waves, of course. And the tropical birds cooing about. And the clicking of my computer keys. My body softened the moment I said no.

Susan Wooldridge is right: sometimes when you give the world an outward no, you are actually giving yourself a powerful inner yes. You are giving yourself permission to be yourself in this very moment with what you feel you need. She’s also insightful when she notices that no can hold possibilities. When I say no thank you to one thing, I say yes, please to a multitude of other things. And most importantly, I say yes to me.

Try this:
Listen to your gut when you are asked to do something. Perhaps you really must do this thing (after all, there are tasks that we must complete even if we don't want to), but if you do truly have a choice, consider asking yourself what you really want. Try on "no thank you" once in a while. See what possibilities open up for you when you say yes to yourself and your desires.

Aloha

Mixed media collage: "Super Girl Goes to Hawaii," 9" x 12"

I'm off to Hawaii for about a week with my family and created this piece above to send me on my way. I may be able to blog from where I am staying, so stay tuned for tales of adventure, wisdom, and healing from the Pacific Islands!

And here's a little bit about aloha:

"Summing up, one islander says aloha means 'Hello, goodbye, love, compassion, welcome, good wishes. It means belonging to others with a common humanity. It's defined better as a feeling in the heart than by words.'" (Answers.com)

I send you all some aloha spirit. I feel so thankful that you are part of my little community.

Peace and Mahalo,

Courtney

Ask and Your Body Will Speak

I created this art piece the other day and titled it "She Asks Her Hand Why it Hurts." In this scene, these whispering birds represent the kind of dialog we can have with ourselves regarding our own discomfort. Sometimes I imagine a little voice in my mind which asks a little voice in a part of my body (such as my hand), "Why do you hurt?" or "What do you need?" When I listen carefully, I can usually hear a response. The hand might say, "I worked too hard today" or "I gave too much to others this week" or "You forget all about me when you work on the computer." When I can quiet the clatter in my mind for a few long breaths, I usually receive some insight. What do you hear when you ask a part of your body how it feels?

Try this:
Find a quiet place where you can focus inward. Locate an area that you are curious about. Perhaps this area causes you pain or maybe this area is just confusing to you for some reason. Whatever the case may be, ask this place some questions as if it were a close friend or loved one. Ask your questions with curiosity and compassion and be open to hearing whatever it is your body has to tell you.

You can follow up this exercise by writing down the dialog as if you were writing a short story or play. Feel free to give this body part a personality, too! Is your elbow crabby? Is your stomach an excited teenager? Is your neck shy and reserved? Make this body part come to life and give its voice a chance to speak!

Writing from Your Body Workshop!

"What people don't realize is that writing is physical. It doesn't have to do with thought alone. It has to do with sight, smell, taste, feeling, and everything being alive and activated. The rule for writing practice of 'keeping your hand moving,' not stopping, actually is a way to physically break through your mental resistances and cut through the concept that writing is just about ideas and thinking."

Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

Do you feel and hear all that your body has to tell you? After all, as John Lee writes, your body is “home to all that has happened to [you], and it remembers.” In this hands-on workshop, we will explore the ways in which paying attention to our bodies can deepen our writing and our writing process. By engaging in some breath, movement, and writing exercises we will begin to feel how removing physical blockages in our bodies can in turn dissolve some of the creative blockages we feel when writing. We will also learn to listen to our body's messages and allow these insights to inform our writing.

This is a workshop comprised of doing. We will try not to analyze in this workshop; we’ll give our analytic minds a much-needed siesta. We will write from our guts, our hands, our spleens, our throats, and our blood vessels. We will begin to explore how telling the story of our bodies can help us to reclaim our creative, knowledgeable, and truth-telling physical selves. Come prepared to move, feel, and create with an open mind.

This workshop is for both beginning and seasoned writers.
No experience necessary!

When: Sunday, July 27, 2008; 1:00-5:00pm

Where: Rising Bird Healing Arts (Roosevelt District of Seattle)

Cost: $100 (or $80 if you sign up for the "A Year of Living in Your Body" series)

To Register: Email Courtney Putnam at cputnam@rising-bird.com

Some Thought for Thought

Right now I am dipping my toe into Shakti Gawain's Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Life. I've been thinking a lot lately about the power of my thoughts, and Gawain's book is taking me to a deeper level of understanding the subtle (and not-so subtle) ways I can impact my life by changing the way I think.

Here are two excerpts from the beginning of the book I particularly resonate with:

"One law of energy is this: Energy of a certain quality or vibration tends to attract energy of a similar quality and vibration. Thoughts and feelings have their own magnetic energy that attracts energy of a similar nature."

"When we are negative and fearful, insecure or anxious, we often attract the very experiences, situations, or people we are seeking to avoid. If we are basically positive in attitude, expecting and envisioning pleasure, satisfaction, and happiness, we tend to attract and create people, situations, and events that conform to our positive expectations. So, consciously imagining what we want can help us to manifest it in our lives."

This "like attracts like" idea makes sense to me. I have seen this phenomenon happen to many others -- as well as to myself -- in both positive and negative ways. I have felt myself grow and flourish in connection with my positive thoughts and I have seen myself attract troubling situations because of my worry or negative self-talk.

What might happen if we could hear each other's thoughts? Do you think we would hear loving, kind words or self-critical mantras? Imagine how the energy in a room might shift if people's thoughts shifted from negativity to positivity? What impact might this have on your relationships, your family, your workplace, or your neighborhood?


Try this:

Create a statement that encompasses a positive thought or vision for yourself. If you tend to have negative self-talk regarding your body image, think of a wonderful statement about your body. If you feel fearful speaking in public, create a statement that empowers you to feel calm, peace, and power when you are in front of a group.

Write this statement down and tape it to a place in your home which you pass by frequently. Perhaps it's your bathroom mirror or your bookshelf. Each time you pass this note to yourself, stop, take a deep breath and read it like you mean it. Now this might feel contrived and hokey at first, but after a while I bet that you will notice a difference. Many people notice a shift at some point, when they realize that they actually feel and believe in their statement.

They've Got the Right Idea

I took a cue from my cats today. After many days (or has it been weeks?) of gray and rain in Seattle, there was a spontaneous sun burst this afternoon. I let the cats out and they went to sunbathing immediately. I knew I had to get out in it, too, so I took a lovely walk, soaking in as much vitamin D as I could.

My question to you all is how are coping with the cooler, cloudier spring this year? What are you doing to stay positive, healthy, and vibrant even when it's stormy outside? I'd love to hear about your experiences and coping strategies!

peace and blue skies,
Courtney

A Little Bit of Lemon Balm...

...goes a long way.

I had never tried ingesting lemon balm before (that is, before Monday). I had grown it in gardens and enjoyed that lovely lemony scent, but I was not aware of its healing properties.

After a visit to my naturopath on Monday (yes, the amazing Greg Yasuda!), I started on my path of drinking lemon balm tea. Greg asked me to drink three cups of lemon balm tea a day to help with my anxiety. Apparently lemon balm has long been used to help calm the nervous system:

"Lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis ), a member of the mint family, is considered a 'calming' herb. It was used in the Middle Ages to reduce stress and anxiety, promote sleep, improve appetite, and ease pain and discomfort associated with digestion (including flatulence and bloating as well as colic). Even before the Middle Ages, lemon balm was steeped in wine to lift the spirits, help heal wounds, and treat venomous insect bites and stings" (umm.edu).

I purchased dried organic lemon balm at The Herbalist here in Seattle. Oh my, if you haven't toured this herbaceous place, you must! It is wall-to-wall with colorful bottles of tinctures and remedies, as well as bulk dried herbs. I steep one tablespoon of lemon balm, add 1-2 drops of stevia if I want it to be a little more sweet, and sip away.

The warmth of the the steeped goodness calms my nervous system right away and the lemony taste lifts my spirits. I think I shall now add lemon balm essential oil to my practice. Off I go to the Herbalist once again!

A Post of Links

It seems I am in a stage of accumulation. I am gathering ideas from many directions and processing different healing modalities, philosophies, and concepts. And I have some marvelous friends who keep sending me information and ideas that keep me inspired and engaged. My mind feels quite full right now, but it is filled with such fascinating things. I thought I'd share some of these things with you now.


The amazing Laila Atallah is offering yet another free workshop! Tomorrow (Monday, June 2) from 7:00-8:15pm at the Tully's in Wallingford, she presents "3 Steps to Interviewing Confidence." For more information about this workshop and her upcoming free events, visit Laila's website HERE.

Last week, my friend Dorothy lent me a most marvelous DVD called You Can Heal Your Life, which is produced by Louise Hay. If you are not yet familiar with Louise Hay, I highly recommend learning more about her and her perspective that if we can change our thoughts we can change our lives. Very powerful stuff. To view a snippet from the DVD, click HERE.

My bodywork colleague and friend Bethanie Sand is, among other things, an Ayurveda practitioner, and she has helped me to understand my dosha. A dosha is your mind and body type, often thought of as your constitution. I'm mostly Pitta. What are you? To take the Dosha Quiz, click HERE.

Years ago, when I wasn't in the healing arts profession, a friend of mine introduced me to Aura Soma, which is a system of learning more about yourself by the colors you resonate with. I was just recently reminded of my experiences with Aura Soma and found a great free reading online. To check it out, click HERE and choose "Free Reading."

Have fun clicking and linking!

Courtney

The Healing Nest Newsletter is Here!

Hello springtime friends,

The Spring 2008 Issue of The Healing Nest Newsletter is hot off my computer (my keyboard and hands are still burning!)








To view/download the newsletter, click here:

http://www.rising-bird.com/SPR08Newsletter.pdf
Included in this newsletter are two announcements regarding upcoming offerings and workshops. I've also posted links on the top of the sidebar of this blog. Enjoy!

peace and blue skies,

Courtney

My Reiki Master is on TV!

Polly Klein, owner of Tonglen Healing Arts, trained me in Reiki years ago, and she continues to inspire me with her amazing work with animals. In addition to being a Reiki Practitioner and Craniosacral Therapist for animals, she is also an Animal Communicator. She is intuitive, wise, sensitive, and talented at what she does.

Some day I'll write about my experiences with Polly in detail, but for now I'll just say that she was instrumental in guiding me on my path to healing work and she made a profound impact on my relationship with an important companion animal in my life.

To see the video clip of her Evening Magazine debut, click here!

Living the Creative Life

A new book (well, it's handsomely used) just arrived on my doorstep today. It's called Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists by Rice Freeman-Zachery. I have barely begun delving into this beautiful book, but I just had to share what I've experienced so far. First of all, this book is an art piece in and of itself. It's a colorful montage of fifteen working artists, who share their work and their insights regarding creativity and living an artful life.

I've been absorbing the first chapter called "The Creative Childhood [It's Never Too Late!]." I realize how clearly I can trace my creative impulses to my childhood. I happened to grow up in a household of writer/artist types, so my artistic explorations were accepted and encouraged. I know that some (many?) people did not experience this kind of familial acceptance of their creative endeavors. Even if your artist self emerged later in life, it might be interesting to think about what things (colors, aesthetics, shapes, images) drew you in as a kid. Perhaps you saved these artistic "goodies" for your adult life. Whether you would describe yourself as having been a creatively abundant kid or not, I recommend your trying the "Try This" below.

So, my Try This comes directly from Living the Creative Life:

"In your journal or a piece of paper, make a list of the things that fascinated you as a child. Snakes? Big trucks? Flying? Going to the moon? List everything, no matter how silly it seems. Maybe you were entranced with a particular shade of blue you found in the lining of your father's suit, or maybe you couldn't resist running your hands over velvet or smushing mud into clay. What captured every bit of your attention? When you're done with your list, circle or highlight the ones that cause a little shiver of interest. Those are the things that still call you."

Do these images come easily? Or is it hard to remember the things you were drawn to as a child? What themes/images remain potent to you even still?

Soul of Compassion

Last night I attended a powerful "Muse Studio" with facilitator Alia Calendar. The theme of the evening was "Nature as a Force of Healing." Using soul collage techniques, we created art that spoke to the ways in which we felt nature can be healing. The above piece is one of the three cards I created last night. The woman in the piece is Kuan Yin, goddess of compassion and mercy.

After we created our pieces, we wrote in the voice of an aspect of one of our cards. It was a powerful exercise to enter the images in the card to understand the meanings. I had no idea that what I had created would have so much to teach me. Here is the voice of Kuan Yin as expressed through my freewriting:

I am the gentle soul who cares for all beings--
open heart, welcoming eyes, eternal.

I bring you inner peace, letting you know that,
like the earth, you are resilient.

I ask that you let go of the need to force change. The sun rises
each morning, doesn't it?

Hold the birds close to your chest, listen to the patterned
footsteps of the rabbit, watch the moon wax and wane.

Know that the first act of compassion
is compassion toward yourself.

Before I Go To Sleep Tonight...

...I will set an intention for waking up.

I sometimes wake up a bit altered. Does this ever happen to you? I tend to have vivid dreams during sleep, and particularly in the morning hours before waking up. It can take me a good hour of being "awake" to actually be truly Awake-with-a-capital-A to my non-dream reality. The disorientation can make me feel unsettled and confused. Sometimes, I'll admit, it makes me kind of grumpy (or a "cranky pants," which is the term of endearment my brother uses to describe his one-year-old son during fussy moments).

So tonight, I have set an intention for a peaceful night sleep and for a graceful and appreciative morning of waking up to my day.

What inspired this intention setting? A poem by Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

Hanh writes:

Waking Up

Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours
are before me.
I vow to live fully
in each moment
and to look at all beings with
eyes of compassion.


Try this:
Set an intention before you fall asleep. This intention can be about the quality (or quantity) of your sleep, or what you wish to feel upon waking. It can be about the dreams you wish to have, or you can even ask for guidance or clarity about an issue.

In my experience, intention setting before bed can be quite effective. When you allow your positive thoughts about sleep to fill your mind as you are drifting off, your subconscious has a chance to take hold of these thoughts, just as it does for stressful thoughts (which we don't want). See if setting positive intentions gives you peace through the night and a morning filled with feelings of joy and possibility.

* * * * *

Hanh's poem comes from his 52-card deck called Present Moment Wonderful Moment. (BTW, the beautiful art on the back of each card is by Nicholas Kirsten-Honshin, who has a gallery in my neighborhood called the Kirsten Gallery. I have yet to check it out, but hope to do so soon.)