Caring for Caregivers
Three week course on Thursday nights beginning November 30.
Classes are at Flamingo Yoga in Enfield, Connecticut.
This is the perfect time of year for caregivers to relax for a few hours and learn ways to bring relaxation into the holidays.
Contact flamingoyoga.com for more information.

Creating Peace in a Time of War
Mindfulness Meditation for Beginning and Continuing Meditators
Free Talk Tuesday November 7 at 7:30 p.m. Heartsong Yoga Center, East Longmeadow, MA
Six week class begins November 14 - December 19 same time, same place.

Creating Peace in a Time of War
Heartsong Yoga Center, East Longmeadow, MA
Free talk Tuesday November 7, 7:30 p.m.
Can we BE peace?
Through the practice of mindfulness meditation we can learn the foundations of peace: clear insight, intelligence, and awareness of our inter-connections; the connection between our individual self-awareness and the health and well-being of our communities.

Six week class begins November 14.

Take-home Stress Relief for Caregivers
November 30, December 7, December 14, 2006
7 p.m. - 8:15 p.m.
Flamingo Yoga Center, Enfield, CT.

Over 13 million U.S. baby-boomers care for an ailing parent.This three-part meditation class is for you.Contact Flamingo Yoga Center or goshenzen@aol.com.

Alice

War and Awareness

If I can say anything to you, it is to invite you to look deeply and recognize the real enemy. That enemy is not a person. That enemy is a way of thinking that has brought a lot of suffering for everyone.
If you want to help someone with tuberculosis, you kill the bacteria, not the person. All of us are victims of the bacteria called violence and wrong perception.
When you still have a lot of anger, fear, and despair, you are not lucid or calm, and you are not able to to undertake the right action that can bring real peace.

-Thich Nhat Hanh
Peace Begins Here: Palestinians and Israelis Listening to Each Other

Look Long Enough

If one looks long enough at almost anything,
looks with absolute attention at a flower,
a stone,
the bark of a tree,
grass, snow, a cloud,
something like revelation takes place.
Something is 'given'....
...May Sarton


It is good and praiseworthy
to look at some real created thing
and to feel and appreciate its reality.
Just let the reality of what is real sink into you.

....Thomas Merton

Suggestion: After opening your car door to get in: Stop. Take two breaths. Look around. Get in.

How can I tell if caregiving is putting too much stress on me?

Common signs of caregiver stress include the following:
• Feeling sad or moody
• Crying more often than you used to
• Having low energy level
• Feeling like you don't have any time to yourself
• Having trouble sleeping, or not wanting to get out of bed in the morning
• Having trouble eating, or eating too much
• Seeing friends or relatives less often than you used to
• Losing interest in your hobbies or the things you used to do with friends or family
• Feeling angry at the person you are caring for or at other people or situations
In addition, you may not get any thanks from the person you are caring for. This may add to your feelings of stress and frustration.

-American Family Physician, 2000

Look for an open, enjoyable mindfulness meditation group to teach relaxation and awareness techniques.

Seeing the Person We Hate

When we see that another person also cries and is in a state of despair, we see him or her as a human being, and suddenly the level of hate, fear, and suspicion in us decreases. We feel better. Now we can look at the other person with more understanding and compassion. There are brothers and sisters in the practice...who know how to help.

Peace Begins Here
Palestinians & Israelis Listening to Each Other
Thich Nhat Hanh