My house as a kid was lively and filled with juicy personalities.  As much as I loved that I also felt overwhelmed by the big energy and longed for something I couldn’t quite name.   Years later when I discovered meditation I could name it – it literally felt like a coming home.  I was coming home to myself.  There was a solidity, a deep well of knowing and a stillness.  What relief and inspiration.  This quote from Tara Brach’s book True Refuge resonated with me today.  She is describing what new meditation students gain from the meditation practice.  “As one person put it recently, “Just having those moments to be quiet is a gift to my soul.”  It is a gift to the soul.  Stepping out of the busyness, stopping the needless pursuit of getting somewhere else, is perhaps the most beautiful offering we can make to our spirit.  And yet it is so simple.  We are learning, as Rumi says, to make regular visits to ourselves.”

How can we take regular visits to ourselves?  For me it is meditation, walks in nature and my workouts.  Also those moments where I am in full presence with my daughter, partner or a friend and it feels so tender – and alive.

How can we help our children to take regular visits to themselves too?  Encourage her to build a tree house and spend time in it everyday before dinner.  Or how about a cave in the basement that is just for him.  Or as we do at our house – we build a fort and Nicki brings in all her favorite stuffies and crawls inside for a snuggle.  But my daughter is an extrovert so she wants us to join her! : )