Good grief a lot has changed. The day to day schedules, practices and people in our lives are different. For some of us, our careers or how we do them, pivoted with little notice or required a whole new set of skills to learn under challenging circumstances.

Over time our routines shape-shifted. We gained new habits, skills, relationships and interests. Some good. Some less so. We’ve come to understand so much about ourselves and what it means to be human. Together we are learning how to be in a life that demands we hold room for many extremes: fear and excitement, birth and death, love and loss, joy and sorrow, clarity and confusion, productivity and being.

It’s been a ride no matter what seat you were in.

I’ve found it hard to stay connected and was missing my people today so I thought I’d share some of what has been teaching me, uplifting me, reminding me, getting me up off the couch to dance or just getting me through. Hopefully it serves you today where ever you are. PS. these are not paid promotions just folks or things I love.

1. The Class by Taryn Toomey

• What? The online fitness class that has kept me in great shape at home.

• Why I love it? Few exercises choices light me up and therefore even less have stuck with me.

• I’ve done “The Class” now 5-6 days a week since I stared- with a few exceptions. If you know me, you know that’s a freaking miracle!

• Beyond the workouts effects on my physique, the part I’ve gained the most from, is the practice of noticing what my mind says when I bump into resistance when things get really challenging and then choosing to stay with it.

• Life learned through the body’s wisdom…keep going. They have a free 14 day trial!

2. This Bread Machine:

• What? The Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme 2-Pound-Loaf Breadmaker

• Why I love it? I got this bread machine 20 years ago (this is the updated model closest to mine) and I still use it almost every week. 20 years people. It still works just as good as it did then.

• True story. Last week, a few days after launching a loaf that had gone stale into the backyard for the animals, I went to make a fresh one. I noticed there was only one paddle in the bottom of the breadmaker, there are supposed to be two that knead the dough. I suddenly realized that the loaf I sent sailing still had one of the paddles stuck into it’s underside and was hopefully still in my yard. I scoured the yard to no avail looking for any sign of the bread or the tidy paddle…a true needle in a haystack kind of moment. I and am cursing myself that the demise of my breadmachine after so long is my own stupidity. I take it online to see if my any small chance I can replace a two decade old part…happy ending…amazon sells replacement paddles that still fit mine and a day later we were back in action. They also make a fancier version but I never needed to upgrade.

3. James Victore

• What? Or better yet, who? James Victore is a mentor of mine who shares about unleashing your creativity, getting your work out in the world and doing so through embracing play, joy, love and fun while taking the necessary actions to do the work.

• Why I love him? Because of what I said above ;) James is a powerful source of motivation, inspiration and the perfect dose of fun loving kick in the pants I need.

4. A Soft Murmur: asoftmurmur.com

• What? A website site that hosts various natural sounds like rain, wind, waves etc. It helps you relax and focus when you are working. It also has a corresponding app for both iOS and Android.

• Why I love it? Even if all I could do was choose to listen to their selection of sounds in the background while I work, I would’ve been happy but this is way cooler. You can create your own custom ambient mixes of sounds that you mix like a little bit of birdsongs with a ton of roaring campfire or a little wind with some rain and a boatload of thunder.

• It let’s you make the perfect audio backdrop to your day to stay focused and on task or to switch it up for a 15 min meditation on the beach with a gentle breeze, waves and some seabirds. You can thank me later.

5. Walking a Labyrinth

• What? The Labyrinth Society says “A labyrinth is a meandering path, often unicursal, with a singular path leading to a center. Labyrinths are an ancient archetype dating back 4,000 years or more, used symbolically, as a walking meditation, choreographed dance, or site of rituals and ceremony, among other things. Labyrinths are tools for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation, also thought to enhance right-brain activity”

• Why I love it? Walking a labyrinth always reconnects me to some deeper place in myself, some deeper peace. A symbol representing growth and transformation labyrinths are walked to bring about a sense of clarity, peace, and serenity.

• For many people, these walks can lead to personal revelations and either leaving something behind in the labyrinth or simply identifying the twists, turns, and center of the labyrinth with the twists, turns, and center of their own lives.

• Whether you are looking for some inner reflection, stress reduction, a sense of being present in the moment or the desire feeling of being on a spiritual journey the calm that come through the moving mediation of a labyrinth is worth trying.

• Local folks there’s one in West Greenwich

BONUS: My favorite evening or Sunday Spotify playlist: Jazz in the background

Enjoy!