Mindful to a New Experience

This morning back home at our house when the alarm rang I got lost in my own bedroom trying to find the door to the bathroom - totally turned around! For the past five nights I had myself oriented to our hotel in La Jolla so reorienting to home. I love to attend conferences, however it goes with some added orientation on the new surroundings. Finding the registration table, the place to sign in for CEU's, a good seat for the conference so we could settle in and enjoy. It was wonderful to have Steve help me get oriented the first day as Cricket and I were getting acquainted with our surroundings.

Day One included two presenters: Dr. John Briere and Dr. Sylvia Boorstein .

Some thoughts of this day from Dr. John Briere that led to pondering and sharing and much laughter in his sessions:

Cracks in our life are how the light gets in.

We might misinterpret thoughts as perceptions.

We have created a culture that thinks its bad to feel bad.
instead we think the optimal state is -- numbed out.

Think back to a time when you were the happiest.
You were connecting with someone.

What if fighting against panic gives you more panic?
What if fighting against anything gives us more of that anything?

Its okay to feel the way you feel.

Nonjudgmental acceptance of pain = decreased suffering and increases awareness.

We don't 'set people straight' ... we discover things ourselves.

The word: Neuroplasticity is fascinating me and was used frequently in this conference.