Happy New Year. I wasn’t sad to say goodbye to 2025, but I’d say 2026 isn’t starting off with any fewer challenges.

Challenges or no challenges, though, we can set our personal tone. How about 2026 for a tone of kindness? What if we commit to talk, write, and post, one-on-one or to our ten million followers (or 460, in my case), without causing harm, or lying, or being unkind?

I don’t know what if – what happens if we do that. But let’s try it. It won’t be too hard because probably most of us are being kind already. For those who are, and also for those who aren’t, may you be safe in 2026. May 2026 be a year of kindness and safety and ease for all.

Hopefully there will be small moments of peace as we enter the winter solstice in the global north, at the end of a challenging year. It will be dark…but there’s darkness everywhere. And there’s also light.

Which is the invitation of mindfulness: to be that light. The question is, how? How to be the light, for others and for ourselves?

In the stillness of the solstice - in the silence of the heart - we have the answer. Trust yours. Take things gently as the skies darken, or lighten. Be kind, including (especially) to yourself, whenever possible. Remember, the Dalai Lama says that’s always possible.

I wish you ease and wellbeing as we close 2025 and step into 2026. I’ll be off until January 8th, so see you then. Stay safe out there. Love you all.

Here we are in the heart of the holidays, and there’s also so much else going on. For me it’s crucial not to rely on finding moments of calm, but instead to remember to create them.

We all probably do that when we can by settling into the couch with a good cup of whatever. Which is beautiful. But what about also cultivating a state of mind that’s not couch-dependent?

One way to do that is with a little concentration. Not the focused, bearing-down type that we use at work, but concentration as in relaxation: just breathing, gently, with ease and with love.

With that kind of concentration, stress evaporates, at least for the moment. There’s just presence, stillness, and rest. There’s nothing sweeter than a nice comfy couch but when one just isn’t available – like when we’re in a courtroom or Zoom room or train – the breath and gentleness and ease and love always are.

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