Kitchen Window Wisdom: We All Share Responsibility for Climate Change
Like many other Portlanders who don’t have air conditioning, I was on Wednesday morning this week trying to catch a bit of shut-eye during the few final cool hours before the arrival of another nasty heatwave. I did not, especially in just that moment, need any reminder about the reality of climate...
The Remains of Letting Go: What Never Gets Left Behind
I remember the waterbed fondly. I was 11 years old, living in Houston, and during the hot muggy summers, we spent far too many hours indoors, avoiding the heat and fighting with boredom. My best friend’s parents had a king-size waterbed, the cool skin of which enhanced the chilling effect...
“A Little Better Every Day”: The Power of Story
It was one more waiting room. One more procedure. This one, to examine a curious-looking growth on her pancreas, Marlene swore would be the last. “It’s nothing,” she said. “We’re done with this.” She felt certain. Me? Not so much. My hesitancy wasn’t based merely on the doctor’s reluctance to...
Suddenly, Last Summer: A Refresher on Resiliency
Shortly after I started a blog for this site last year, aspects of my personal and professional life were suddenly upturned in surprising ways, not unlike a till cutting into hard-packed soil. On the dance floor one night, after many years being single, I met a new love. We enjoyed...
Counseling Beyond the “Medical Model”
People occasionally ask about the name of my therapy practice: Five Bodies Counseling. Some want to know if there are five therapists in the room. (No, unless I’m co-facilitating a workshop, it’s just me.) Almost uniformly, unless they are well-schooled in yoga or familiar with Eastern philosophy, people have no...
New Workshop: Grief Renewal Practices
After a busy winter, minga lily and I have finally nailed down dates for a new Five Bodies workshop this spring. Five Bodies of Grief & Loss: Awakening and Renewal Practices will be the weekend of April 26-27, here in Portland. Integrating minga’s beautiful yoga and Thai medicine practices with...
Welcome to The Fourth Body Blog
Many years ago, when I was in graduate school, I maintained a blog. It was a wild, eclectic and rambling sort of affair in which everyone had pseudonyms, including me, because most of the stuff I wrote about needed that sort of Internet Witness Protection Program Anonymity feature. (No, I...