Friday Reflections

Every Friday, I reflect on the week that has just passed by doing a little senses exercise. This practice is a gentle, easy way to tune into how we are doing, what we are experiencing, and what we are grateful for while more acutely tuning into our senses. It’s a whole heart exercise with plenty of bodily input, if you will. Because this practice has been so good for me, I want to encourage you to do it, too. Building some gentle reflection into our weeks is a nice way to stay grounded while maintaining some big picture perspective. So please join me in this week’s Friday Reflections (with each sense as your inspiration, consider how experiencing it impacted your week).

Here is my sensory round-up for this week:

tasting :: such a good food week. Macaroni and Cheese bites, crab cakes, spinach and artichoke rangoons, Dulce de Leche cake, San Antonio Taco Company tacos in Nashville (I went to this place when I was 19 and totally remembered it so it was the first place I hit when I was back in Nashville), Hattie B’s Hot Chicken (the chicken was delicious but so was the banana pudding and peach cobbler), black eyed pea salad, grown-up grilled cheese, herb crusted goat cheese salad, oatmeal and raspberry breakfast cakes.

hearing :: the amazing voices of our Circle de Luz Class of 2014 hijas as they shared their journeys to graduation at our celebration last week. Want to get a feel for why these young women are so inspiring? Check out this story that our local NPR station did on our celebration. Also, our keynote speaker, Nadia Ruiz Gonzalez, was so wonderful and generous and has posted her speech on her blog.

smelling :: flowers on the dining room table, a lit citrus candle waft through the house, chlorine from the pool

seeing :: chipmunks wrestle, baby ducks follow their parents, bunnies take over our backyard, gorgeous bouquets of flower prepared by Blumengarten for the Circle de Luz graduation (there was thistle!).

feeling :: so whole-hearted after an amazing weekend at Curve Camp in Nashville. What an experience– amazing women to share time and space and ideas and jokes with (oh, the laughter!), thoughtful workshops that had me scribbling and scribbling (I even had to crack open my notebook in the midst of yoga practice and jot some things down), a fun road trip for the friend (I foolishly brought a book on tape for us, just in case. Instead, we talked all 14 hours), and really wonderful yoga practices. My heart is full and open and happy and replenished and so many good things. Truth: Anna Guest-Jelly of Curvy Yoga hosts a great retreat. Fun fact: I got to meet my partner for The Healthy Happy Sane Teacher journey, Tami Hackbarth, in person for the first time (that is us hugging it out on a hot Nashville day).

wishing :: for summer to last forever. It already feels like it is slipping through my fingers to fast. Must savor every drop.

What about you? What were your sensational experiences this week? Please share!

This post was inspired by Teacher Goes Back to School who was inspired by Pink of Perfection’s Five Sense Friday.