Dear Cali Chica:

Of course it occurred in my brain as well. Here is the thing about Ups and Downs vs Moderation: when we go very much down, next the brain goes very much up, it goes from one extreme to the next. When healing, it almost feels like a shame, giving up those Ups. Life becomes dull for a while. Lots of people walk  off the healing path because they expected healing to feel like those Ups, but instead, they get no  Downs but no UPs either, leaving them bored and figuring they are not doing it right.

Moderation is the cutting of the extremes from one’s experience, no deep downs, no high ups. “Calm is everything”- calm is Moderation, no extremes. Mindfulness is the ongoing practice of calm in everything you do, starting in the morning with the relative thorough making of the bed, and every time you open your mouth to speak, before you say the words, you choose the words and the volume of your voice. It is this practice that will bring you to calm and moderation.

anita