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New Look, Deeper Focus: A Rebirth
By: Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC This winter, after an extended period of personal and profound loss and grief, I decided to do something I had never done before: I bought a one-way ticket to the southwest for a three-month silent retreat in a Zen monastery. That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and there were times I thought, ‘I can’t go on. I can’t do this!’ But I stayed, and week after week, day after day, hour after hour, I sat in meditation with no place to go but inside. I emerged in the Spring with…
Radical Rest
The Big Reset: What Can Two Months in Silence Teach You? by Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC Like many people and perhaps like you, the last two years with the global pandemic, the immediacy of climate crisis, the murder of George Floyd and countless others, and now the war in Ukraine has made me realize that the tension and chaos in the world isn’t ‘out there’. It’s right here in my edginess, sleeplessness, and sense of overwhelm. I arrived at the Zen center in Santa Fe on a sunny, snowy winter day in early January at the edge of burnout…
Women Empowerment through Pilgrimage
By Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC Many of us, especially women, are in a state of ambiguity and depletion from COVID. We have spent years caretaking others, supporting family, friends, co-workers, and raising kids, all of which has brought tremendous joy into our lives, and we’re wondering: ‘When will there be time for me?’ Some of us have been so conditioned to put ourselves last that even considering our own needs feels selfish and disloyal to the people and the causes we love and care about. The well being of others is important to us and yet, our well being…
From Exhaustion to Self-Empathy & Self-Compassion: What You Need to Know About ‘Black Fatigue’
Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC The emotional, physical, and psychological toll of racism, whether in the form of implicit bias, microaggressions, racialized trauma, structural and systemic racism, is the unrelenting lived experience of many Black people. Racism, whether experienced directly or vicariously through the traumatic video footage of the murder of George Floyd and other killings, the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on Black people, or unlawful police violence perpetrated against Black people, contribute to overwhelm, exhaustion, and heightened vigilance. This results in mental, physical, and emotional deterioration within the Black community and is passed down from generation to generation. Studies have…
‘The Journey Itself is My Home.’
Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC ‘The journey itself is my home.’ Basho Mural of the lighthouse in Finisterre, Spain About this time of year for the last several years, I lace up my walking shoes, pack my bags, and head off to Spain, taking with me a small and select group of pilgrim seekers on one of the most transformational life journeys: Walk in Beauty: Pilgrimage of El Camino de Santiago, the famed thousand year old trail across the north of Spain. This year is different, of course. Instead, this is a time of remembering the beauty of old wild…
ARTICLES
A Day in the Dharma with Valerie Brown, dharma teacher, leadership coach, and former lawyer
Ask the Teachers: How can I frame my practice in more positive terms?
