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About Midlife
Journeys
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For many people, midlife is a time of
transformation, a time of seeking greater purpose, joy and meaning in the
second half of life. Midlife Journeys is a monthly newsletter
designed to support you in reconnecting with your authentic self and
energizing your life through deep self-nurturing, creative expression and
heart-centered living. Each issue contains inspiration and resources to
help guide you on your journey to greater aliveness, joy and fulfillment.
IMPORTANT SUMMER WORKSHOP UPDATE!
DATE CHANGE!
Summer Solstice: Purifying the Light Within Saturday,
June 23, 2007, 6:30-9:00pm at Santa Monica Yoga.
Facilitated by Mary Donovan.
Join us for a yogini adventure designed to purify heart and soul and to
celebrate our entry into summertime.
Sacred alignment with the earth and its circle of seasonal diversity is a
potent, conscious opportunity to pause, unify and deepen. Utilizing a
creative blend of yoga, meditation, chanting, sacred movement and
solstice ceremony, join us as we gather to honor the summer fires of
transformation and their particular significance for you in your circle
of life. Bring an instrument or drum to play, if you like. All levels
welcome. Register under Upcoming Events or call Santa Monica Yoga
at 310-396-4040.
NEW WORKSHOP!!
Conscious Aging, Sunday, July 22, 2007, 1-3:30pm at Santa
Monica Yoga. Facilitated by Carol Sutherland and Mary Donovan.
What would it be like to experience midlife not as a crisis but as a time
of awakening to who we really are, a time to live more consciously,
authentically and creatively? Explore the possibilities in this
experiential workshop.
Through meditation, movement, music, and writing exercises we'll share
our stories, our challenges and our wisdom and dare to go where few women
have gone before! Create the second half of your life as the best yet to
come! Dress comfortably, bring writing materials, and if you'd like, a
percussion instrument. Register under Upcoming Events or call
Santa Monica Yoga at 310-396- 4040.
To ensure that you receive your editions of Midlife Journeys newsletter,
please put the following email address in your email address book: newsletter@midlifejourneys.com
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who would enjoy
receiving it!
Learn more
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Conscious
Aging
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"Maturity includes the recognition
that no one is going to see anything in us that we don't see in
ourselves. Stop waiting for a producer. Produce yourself." -
Marianne Williamson
As with other developmental stages in our lives (infancy, toddler hood,
adolescence, young adulthood), midlife is a time of continuing
development and growth. In fact, it holds the possibility of perhaps our
greatest transformation since adolescence.
In midlife, we have a choice as to how we want to co- create the second
half of our lives. Will this be a time of decline, despair and disease or
a time of celebration, creative engagement, giving back, and continued
learning? As Marianne Williamson puts it, "We can either make the
second half of our lives a dance with death or a dance with life. I
choose a life dance."
Paula P. Hardin, EdD, MPH, an adult development researcher, offers us a
picture of what positive aging looks like*. She conducted a national
survey of 567 people ages 40 to 75 and drew findings from other studies
to identify the traits that generally describe those people who are aging
consciously and well. She found that such people usually:
· Have evolved a generous view of others and of the world. This includes
maintaining a forgiving stance toward human faults and inadequacies in
themselves and others.
· Have a giving attitude toward themselves and others. They give more
financially than most people.
· Have formed a caring and positive relationship to nature.
· Are still in the process of personal integration and
self-understanding.
· Have undergone a pivotal event such as a divorce or death of a spouse,
job loss, health problem, move to a new place, etc, that led to a
transition or a re-birth experience. They used that event as an
opportunity to grow and expand rather than as an excuse to withdraw and
blame.
· Have simplified their lives, and have taken time to reflect and to gain
the insights needed to clear away clutter and confusion. They have
learned to set limits.
· Have the courage to change both themselves and conditions around them.
· Describe themselves as spiritual. They trust God or some higher power
and/or they trust the life process itself.
· Are sought out by others for counsel, wisdom, perspective, and creative
insight.
· Are committed to continued learning and spend considerable time
learning on their own or go to a variety of workshops and classes.
· Are clearly engaged in caring behaviors towards themselves and others.
· Are people of hope. They take their dreams seriously, and their lives
demonstrate that some dreams do come true.
Do you see yourself in these traits? If so, congratulate yourself for
aging gracefully and well! If not, how can you choose differently to live
your Wisdom Years in a more conscious, creative, meaningful and fulfilling
way?
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we had planned, so as
to have the life that is waiting." - Joseph Campbell
Happy Summer and Many Blessings!
Carol
*Paula Hardin, Choosing to Age Well, New Realities, Jan/Feb, 1991.
Learn more...
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Upcoming
Events
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Womens Sacred Journeys Workshops
Summer Solstice Celebration
Sat., June 23, 2007 6:30-9:00pm
Register
NEW WORKSHOP!
Conscious Aging
Sunday, July 22, 2007
1-3:30pm
Register
Group Coaching
COMING FALL 2007
Empty Nesters Group
Conscious Aging Group
CONTACT CAROL for more information
Register
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Complimentary Session
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