Welcome to our new website - reflections on change...

Welcome to our new website! Many of you have been using our website for years. Most of you listen to our podcast and may have been surprised by the change when you came to listen. We hope you were happily surprised. I imagine reactions will range from happy excitement to disgruntlement. I know I get irritated when things are not in their usual place in the grocery store. It's so easy to go in and head straight for what I want when everything is in its usual place. Please let us know if you can't find what you are looking for. Almost everything from our old website is here, but simplified. Hopefully the new website will be easier to navigate.

Creating something new fills me with a happy, fresh energy. There's a joy in the process of something new emerging. But bringing in the new also means letting go of the old. It reminds me of when get got our latest car. We really needed a newer car and it was so much nicer than our old one. But there were some sentimental pangs - the old car had taken us on so many memorable journeys and served us well. The old website was, well, old. It didn't represent us well anymore. But it was built with love. And the hardest thing was that in the transition we lost thousands of comments left by our visitors. Each comment was meaningful and special to us. Chances are you won't notice that your comment is missing, but if you do, know that we loved hearing from you and hearing your thoughts. Do feel free to comment again!

Last but not least, we built our old website ourselves. You might even miss that "homemade" look, but it was high time we had a logo and a more "professional" face for the world. So here's a shout out to Yesh & Tash for our beautiful logo and new website.

Celebrating 5 years of our podcast

On November 7, 2006 we published our first Meditation Oasis podcast episode. We had no idea that 5 years later, there would be over 8 million downloads and that people all over the world, of all ages and backgrounds, would become listeners. Our podcast meditations have been used in ways and in places we would never have imagined. Everyday we hear from people through emails, Facebook, Twitter, website comments about how they are benefitting from the meditations. At times we are moved to tears -- both awed and humbled, knowing that these reports are a testimony to the power of meditation and the tremendous capacity we have as humans to grow. Our meditations have been used both by people wanting to enrich their experience of life and by people overcoming all sorts of challenges. Counselors and psychotherapists use them for their clients; women have used them in childbirth; they have been used in clinics and human resource departments, recovery programs, hospitals, and by troops in Afghanistan. We hear from people who are grieving or facing medical problems and surgery. Artists and musicians tell us how meditation has helped them create. And we also hear from people who simply say that life is easier, more rich and fulfilling and that they have more inner peace.

Our work has developed and expanded because of what we hear from listeners. Many of the podcast meditations came about because of listeners' requests. The podcast has been a launching pad for our online meditation course, anxiety relief program, as well as our smartphone applications. Much of Richard's music has been inspired by the podcast meditations.

This has been an incredibly fulfilling five years, and it's all because of of our listeners' openness. Richard and I feel grateful to all of you who have opened your minds and hearts to be on this journey with us.

My "soothing" "irritating" voice - thoughts on being oneself

If you are reading this post, chances are you are someone who likes my voice, the style of my guided meditations and Richard's music. I get lots of comments about how soothing and reassuring my voice is. That feels good, of course. But everyone's reaction to my voice isn't so favorable.

There have been reviews that said I sound like a Valley Girl, a Saturday Night Live skit, too sing-songy, aggravating, irritating, annoying, even drunk! Reactions to a person's voice and style of speaking, especially in a guided meditation, can be so different. Something in a voice can trigger a difficult or unpleasant association. What soothes one person annoys another.

Obviously, there's no "best" guided meditation style or "right" voice for everyone. People's tastes are so varied. Nevertheless, the first time we got a negative review on our first CD, it made me want to quit. I listened to myself and thought "oh my they're right, I sound ridiculous". It didn't matter that many people were already getting benefit from the meditations. My confidence in myself was so low. On top of that, I have a way of seeing things from all different sides. So I could easily feel that someone's criticism was the truth of the matter.

Thank goodness I didn't give up. It took a lot of reminding myself that a few people not liking what I do doesn't negate the value many others were receiving from my work. It took accepting that as soon as you express yourself fully, in your own unique way, some people are not going to like what you do. It also took understanding that the more you express your true self, the more you had to offer those who resonate with you.

For much of my life, I didn't fully express my creativity and talents because I preferred to hide and not give anyone the chance to criticize me. But that is no way to live. We all have gifts and we need to share them to be really fulfilled. If you express yourself and share your gifts, not everyone will enjoy them, but some people will absolutely love what you have to offer. And that's what matters - that you give what you can to those who can benefit from it. Perhaps what matters even more is that you give the gift of yourself to yourself!

Now when I hear a criticism, it doesn't phase me. My perspective is much more balanced, and my self-love and respect so much stronger. Day by day, I gather more courage to be more fully myself. The more I express myself, the less I care what others think, the more fulfilling life becomes. It's an on-going journey for me. Some fortunate people grow up with that kind of confidence, but others have to gain it later. How about you? What has your experience been?

Winter as Meditation

A friend just shared a beautiful poem she wrote about winter. Although the title of the poem is Winter's Resurgence, I titled this post "Winter as Meditation", because for me winter is a season of meditation. It brings an invitation to go within. In the dormancy of winter, all sorts of things are going on underground and these underground stirrings are the foundation of the blossoming of spring. In the same way, the deep rest of meditation is a foundation for creativity and productivity when meditation is finished.

Here is K's poem. It spoke to me on so many levels and in so many different ways, but I'll be quiet now, like winter, and let the poem reveal its special meaning for you. I'd love to hear what it means to you...

Winter's Resurgence

Winter has come upon us with her majestic stillness and fierce storms Blanketing us in her winter's lair Beckoning us to breath in rhythm

And it is here that I speak my prayer:

'Take a part of me deep into your forested womb Keep me there, giving me rest, away from worldly desires and despairs Cover me with your insight and love Hold me like there is no where else to go, nothing more to become Heal me of my tired and disenchanted ways Let me be still inside, my belly connected with yours like the dormant snake of winter lying securely in you'

And when your mists begins to lift, may your nurturing womb flow me out and birth me new

K. McCauley A.
Winter's Resurgence 12/20/08~1/13/10
dedicated to Sarah Dole, teacher and friend

In life, as in music, the pauses make all the difference

These words -- "in life, as in music, the pauses make all the difference" -- floated into my mind a few weeks back. I tweeted them on Twitter and started a post about them. The post has been saved as a draft since then, barely started and abandoned. Checking in with my drafts today, the words were quite welcome, as I am in a place where I need to pause. There have simply been too many things going on and my mind and body need a break. Reading these words was a good reminder, since everything in our culture demands that we constantly do, do, do, and then do some more. We think that when we pause -- whether for a brief break or a week-long retreat -- we are losing time that could be used productively. We think we're making progress when we're in motion -- moving forward, as it were, on our way to our goal. In reality, it's often when we pause that the most progress is made. It's common wisdom that discoveries are made and insights come when we stop working on something and let it go. Inspiration and insight spring from deep within. They can't be reached through mental focus, thinking and logic. They are accessed when the mind is relaxed and creativity can flow.

Pauses refresh and renew, hence they actually contribute to our productivity. But even more important, they bring balance and an enjoyable rhythm to life. We can't live at all without the long pause of sleep or even the tiny pause between the breaths. Pauses give life. Why not honor and allow ourselves to relax into them completely? Today, instead of lamenting the fact that I need to take some time off, I'm relishing the hours ahead. And when I've had enough r and r, I'll relish plunging back into work.

In music, it's the pauses that make the rhythms. It's in the pauses that the notes settle in and have time to reverberate in our hearts. It's in life's pauses that we find the silent background of our being. Today I shall delight in pauses!