Hi friends, it's nice to be with you again this year, the beginning of 2022, and I thought I would share today and maybe in the coming weeks on this segment, ways that perhaps we can be a better version of ourselves this year.

And one of the ways that I believe I have become a better version of myself is through the practice of meditation, which I started maybe 10 years ago.

It took a while to be able to really get into it and to be still and just sit quietly and to clear my head of all the thoughts running through it.

But I stuck with it and I'm really, really glad that I did because now the days that I do practice it, which are best days, I am much more centered and do so much better during the day at just being present with what is.

And it was really important to me during my working years at Rainbow Village to be able to go into the day and a good frame of mind and being open to whatever the day held for me and to be able to be present with what is.

Because I was dealing with people that were just in devastating situations and their lives were truly hinging on the ability of Rainbow Village, which is a transitional housing community for homeless families with children, to really help them get back on track and to have stability and peace in their lives.

So meditation is an integral part of my being. And here's a meditation by Ram Das. What I would like to invite you to do is to sit as straight as you can, just breathe gently and sit with what you're experiencing at this moment.

If your mind takes you on a train of thought, when you notice that, just come back and experience the floor under your feet or the air on your cheek or the presence of the person next to you, letting your mind not hold on to things, but just be thoughts arising and passing away.

Noticing which sensations present themselves to you, the horn, the feeling in your leg, maybe an agitation, perhaps it's a memory or it's a judgment about yourself or something else.

Just notice it and be with it and let it stake or go as it chooses.

Fill the awareness as a vast ground like the sky and all of the thoughts and sensations and memories and plans and qualities of mind and judging.

It's clouds that come from who knows where and goes who knows where. Now just sit for a few more minutes, just being present to what is.

And I hope that you will try it. Don't give up. It takes time. Maybe it's not for you. But if it is, I think you will find that you are over time dramatically changed by the stillness and the presence of being.

Near your higher power and being authentically you. Think about it, wishing you a happy 2022 and looking forward to being with you. Love you forever.