Lightwaves #003: Sitting in Liminal Space
Lightwaves is a bi-weekly newsletter by Steve Schlafman offering musings on conscious and compassionate change. Thanks for being here. If you were forwarded this email and it resonates, get the next issue delivered to your inbox: Subscribe Greetings from New York City! My family and I have spent the last
Navigating Our Lostness
A few weeks ago I was on a meditation retreat in upstate New York. On the first night, preparing to observe silence the next day, I stood in a dark hallway talking with Jonathan, a prominent psychoanalyst. Behind us, a soft red glow from the EXIT sign above the door,
Lightwaves #002: Beyond the Struggle
Lightwaves is a bi-weekly newsletter by Steve Schlafman offering musings on conscious and compassionate change. Thanks for being here. Greetings from Stone Ridge, New York. I’m spending the next week upstate surrounded by nature before heading back to the city to prepare for our second child’s arrival on
Lightwaves #001: Introducing Lightwaves💡🌊
For the last seven years, I’ve been focused on my own development, immersed in learning about change, transformation, consciousness, mindfulness, coaching, psychology, human development, philosophy, spirituality, and writing. Though I’m regularly writing longer essays about many of these themes, much of what I learn, think about, and write
How I Found My Heart In Five Days
Last week I participated in a five day meditation retreat, Becoming Bodhisattvas, at the Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY, just 50 miles from New York City. Their mission is to apply the transformative power of contemplation to today’s pressing social and environmental concerns, helping build a more compassionate, resilient
When Our Fire Stops Burning
I could hear the hum of traffic outside our Flatiron office—sirens, horns, and idle engines—and I might as well have been outside instead of the four hour “partner meeting” I was in. Packed like the Holland Tunnel at rush hour with twelve of my colleagues in a white
Sleepwalking Through Life in a Digital Haze
Before I headed for the door, my attention zeroed in on my iPhone like a heat seeking missile. It called out to me. Pick me up. Don’t leave me behind. Take me with you. A few weeks earlier, I’d made a commitment to reduce my screen time, and
The Stranger and the Rolex
> Don't you look at me so smug And say I'm going bad Who are you to judge me And the life that I live? I know that I'm not perfect And that I don't claim to be So, before you point your fingers Be sure your hands are clean —Bob
That Mountain You’ve Been Climbing Doesn’t Exist
On July 4, 2005, as the sun was rising above the horizon and peaking through the clouds, I was climbing the south face of Mt. Adams in Washington. At 12,281 feet, it’s one of the most popular training destinations for climbers gunning for larger peaks like Rainer. After
We Are Multiple: Discovering The Many Parts of Yourself
> Get to know that beast within Give him love and bring him in No, not an enemy, but a friend -Nick Mulvey, A Prayer of My Own [https://open.spotify.com/track/4T9huHkcSekxse5hkJA8UD?si=e98ca2c6cb9e4700] As I dipped into a deep meditative state and the visualization began, I was suddenly
