Dr. Janice Lundy
  • Home
  • About
    • Speaking
  • Spiritual Direction
    • Grief Companion Training
    • Supervision
    • Testimonials
  • Counseling Services
    • Grief Support
  • Pure Presence
  • Writings
  • Resources
    • Podcasts
    • Metta - Lovingkindness Practice
    • Vimeo
    • You Tube
  • This Sacred Moment
  • Gentle Reminders
  • Store
  • Contact
Picture

The Joy of Simple Things

4/17/2025

 
Picture
With a constant bombardment of noise and images characterizing our days, the simple things, the delicacy of a flower or the song of a bird, can go unnoticed. Step away from the cacophony of life and reconnect with the joy of simple things. It only takes awareness to do so.
 
Wherever you are, pause, and heighten your senses. Pay attention on purpose. What do you hear? Notice how different you feel when you experience life with heightened sensory awareness. You will likely feel more calm, happy, and appreciative of the world around you
 
Isn't it amazing how the simple things in life can provide such soul satisfaction?

​©2025, Janice L. Lundy

Slow Down

12/7/2024

0 Comments

 
How fast do you walk and talk? Are you rushing through your day to get things done? Are you living by the clock? 
 
Rushing creates stress and stress creates tension, which creates more problems than we can name. Rushing also makes us miss the magic of the moment, including the joy of intimate conversation between friends and family. 
 
Consciously slow the pace of your day. Walk more slowly. Speak more slowly, more intentionally. Remind yourself to "Breathe, go slowly, and smile," as Zen monk, Thich Nhat Hanh advocates. Take time to smell the roses.
Picture
0 Comments

Feeling Out of Control?

5/19/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
​When your thoughts race and you feel out of control, it is prudent to pause, breathe, and connect your body to the good earth. 
 
Bring your awareness to how your feet feel upon the ground. Root your attention in body awareness: arms, legs, and trunk. Feel how solid you are. 
 
Grounding yourself in this way can shift your experience of busy mind to settled mind. It simply takes remembering to do so.


​
©2024, Janice L. Lundy
0 Comments

Mindfulness is Presence

5/15/2023

 
Picture
I've been a student of mindfulness for nearly 30 years. I am no expert, yet I remain faithful to the process. It helps me to think of mindfulness like this:

To be mindful is to be present to yourself--as you are in this very moment, doing all that you are doing, feeling all that you are feeling. To be present to yourself is a loving act, an act of "presence."

As people on the path to awakening, we deeply value when someone else can be fully present to us, don't we? We revel in their attention, their willingness to be fully here, available on all levels to hear what we have to say, or to bear witness to what we are feeling. We love their presence.​

The truth of the matter is, you cannot be fully present to others (and offer them presence) if you cannot be fully present to yourself. Practicing mindfulness allows you to do this—a win-win situation where all parties involved benefit from your being present, including you!

©2023, Jan Lundy

Where Sacredness Can Be Found

5/5/2023

 
Picture
Our spiritual lives are not a series of great moments or grand awakenings, as much as we would like them to be. Sacredness is most often found in the daily, the ordinary routine of day-to-day life. It is found in the pause, the kiss, the sky, the garden, the oven, the well-laid table.
 
Gunilla Norris, author of Being Home, wrote, "In my own life I have found no better way than to value and savor the sacredness of daily living, to rely on repetition, that humdrum rhythm, which heals and steadies."
 
What simple activities can you take pleasure in today that will bring steadiness? An awareness and appreciation for the sacred?

​©2023, Jan Lundy

This Precious Present Moment

4/21/2023

 
​If you have ever suffered a dramatic loss or death, or dealt with a life-threatening illness, the importance of living in the present makes itself known. You learn very quickly that the past is over and done with; that there is no reason to dwell on the past except to learn and go on. You understand more fully that there are no guarantees of tomorrow; that you, or the people you love, may not even be here one hour from now. So you learn to stay present, to savor and appreciate the moment at hand.
 
Barbara DeAngelis, Ph.D. says in her book, Real Moments: “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why we call it the "present."
 
The present moment is truly a gift, one we can leave unopened or one that we can joyously unwrap to savor its beauty and meaning. The choice is ours.

Breathing Deep the Day

3/8/2023

 
I have a lovely friend who signs off her emails by saying, "Breathe deep the day." Each time I read this I really do take a deeper breath. It's delicious.

I notice "breathing deep the day" centers me and it also turns me toward gratitude—appreciation for this one-of-a-kind day. I am so very aware at this stage of my life how special each day is, as well as how fleeing time is. Each moment is precious and can easily slip away into obscurity without my loving attention. 

If you take a few moments right now and breathe deep the day in your own way, what do you notice? How do you feel and what shimmers for you?

I hope and pray that awareness of the precious present sings in your heart today just as it does mine.  
    Gentle and timely reminders for the spiritual journey, because sometimes we forget or need a kind nudge back to Center.
    Picture

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023

    Categories

    All
    Breath
    Compassion
    Generosity
    Gratitude
    Guided Meditation
    Healing
    Inner Peace
    Kindness
    Living Gently
    Loss
    Love
    Mindfulness
    Present Moment
    Relationships
    Self Compassion
    Self-Compassion
    Spiritual Practices
    Transformation
    Trust
    Wholeness

    RSS Feed

Dr. Janice Lynne Lundy (PsyD, DMin, MPC)
is The Gerald May Professor of Spiritual Direction & Counseling at the Graduate Theological Foundation. She is an  interspiritual director/mentor, educator and counselor who has been pointing people back toward the Sacred for nearly thirty years. 

Connect
  • Home
  • About
    • Speaking
  • Spiritual Direction
    • Grief Companion Training
    • Supervision
    • Testimonials
  • Counseling Services
    • Grief Support
  • Pure Presence
  • Writings
  • Resources
    • Podcasts
    • Metta - Lovingkindness Practice
    • Vimeo
    • You Tube
  • This Sacred Moment
  • Gentle Reminders
  • Store
  • Contact