“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.”– Rumi Do you find yourself “going through the motions” in your daily life, on auto-pilot? In this new year, new decade, this is a time to … [Read More...] about ‘Drishti’: A Yogic Approach to Strengthening Focus
‘Drishti’: A Yogic Approach to Strengthening Focus
“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.”– Rumi Do you find yourself “going through the motions” in your daily life, on auto-pilot? In this new year, new decade, this is a time to engage in a deeper and different way of being that supports your focus to live your big dreams. An approach […]
Rituals: Four Practices for an ‘Honorable Closure’ to the Year
By Valerie Brown “There comes a time in the spiritual journey when you start making choices from a very different place. And if a choice lines up so that it supports truth, health, happiness, wisdom and love, it’s the right choice.” Angeles Arrien Ritual is a way of honoring life transitions, and are especially useful […]
Pilgrimage of El Camino de Santiago, Spain: Leading from the Heart
By Valerie Brown “…even before you sat down with them, broke bread and drank wine, wiped the wind-tears form your eyes: pilgrim they called you again. Pilgrim.” —David Whyte, from Camino The Pilgrimage of El Camino de Santiago is filled with symbolism, metaphor, and meaning. The physical effort of walking to reach the pilgrim’s goal is interpreted […]
Pilgrimage: The Art of Building Community
By Valerie Brown “….Trust that meaningful conversations can change your world. Rely on human goodness. Stay together.” —Margaret Wheatley, from Turning to One Another As I return next month with a group of pilgrims to Walk in Beauty: Pilgrimage of El Camino de Santiago, Spain, The Way of Saint James, to walk this 1000 year old […]
‘Thin Places’: Encountering the Power of Pilgrimage
By Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC Have you heard the term a ‘thin place’? A thin place describes the distance between heaven and earth, a place where the space between the sacred and the secular is ‘thin’. The term comes from Celtic spirituality and the Celtic people, who feel deeply connected to the natural world and […]
Pilgrimage: Awakening the ‘Inner Life’ of Leadership
“When a great moment knocks on the door of your life, it is often no louder than the beating of your heart, and it is very easy to miss it.” Boris Pasternak By Valerie Brown Leadership is a journey, much like the soulful and forgotten art of pilgrimage. Over and over, research shows that technical skills, […]
Leadership & Ritual
By Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC Recently, I was part of a webinar in a year-long online learning course on transformational leadership. We opened the session with a ritual practice For a moment, I was stunned. In my rushed and productive life, moving breathlessly from thing to thing of a never-ending list, I had forgotten, lost track of […]
Look up!
Cultivating a kinder world by reorienting your vision.
Ghost Ranch: A “Thin Place”
Ghost Ranch is a place that gives voice to ‘your whole self’, to ponder the big questions of life purpose, meaning, and direction.
Coming to Light: Cultivating Clarity for Leaders through the Quaker Clearness Committee
The clearness committee, developed by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), is an individual and communal process of spiritual discernment, an instrument to understand the movement of God (in Quaker terms) in a person’s life, and a way for a community to offer support and guidance at critical times. The Light Within is one […]
Pilgrimage: A Path of Practice for the New Activism
It was a long day on El Camino, The Way of Saint James, the famed thousand-year old pilgrimage route across the north of Spain. I set out at daybreak and now the sun was setting low on the dusty hills. As I rounded the final bend of the day, my back- pack and boots heavy, […]
Fly Fishing & Leadership Lessons
Fly-fishing looks effortless but that’s deceiving. It’s an intensely complex process. The angler needs to know exactly the right ‘fly’ to cast to lure fish. She needs to know how to cast, when to cast, and where to stand in the stream. She needs to understand the depth and speed of the water, and be mindfully aware of […]
Welcoming the Strong Black Woman among Us
Tamika, an assistant principal in a large urban school, is strong; she’s been told this for as long as she can remember. For Tamika, being strong is a heavy load, a burden that she has carried selflessly and silently nearly all her life, a burden she can’t put down. She is the consummate workaholic who […]
8 Ways School Leaders Can Practice Empathy in Listening
“…when we learn how to listen more deeply to others, we can listen more deeply to ourselves.” ~ Parker J. Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness Research on listening indicates that the we spend about 80% of our waking hours communicating: Writing 9% Reading 16% Speaking 30% Listening, to people, music, TV, radio, etc. 40-50% About 75% of […]
Courageous Authenticity: Post-Election Reflections from the Academy for Leaders at Pendle Hill
By Valerie Brown and Gayle Williams “Is it possible to become more intentional about creating spaces – in relationship, community – where our fearful shadows can emerge into the light to be seen for what they are, when the truth and love within us can appear and make a claim on our lives?” – Parker […]
What Empathetic School Leaders Do
“…every trouble wants to draw the very best of you into the world.” —Mark Nepo, from Seven Thousand Ways to Listen When trouble happens sometimes we want to avoid conflict, look the other way, or pretend that there aren’t any problems until things go back to normal. This approach hurts more than it helps. The […]
Leaders: 8 Steps to Be a Mindful Listener
Listening is the oldest and perhaps the most powerful tool of healing. It is often through the quality of our listening and not the wisdom of our words that we are able to effect the most profound changes in the people around us. When we listen we offer sanctuary for the homeless parts within the other person. […]