Entries by Herin Shah

Sweet, simple things

Do you ever have moments when things get so busy and emotions surge to the point you’re not really sure why you’re doing what you’re doing anymore? If so, this quote is for you. Return to paying attention to the moment. To what is going on in your body and heart. To your breath. To […]

Providing Healthcare in Chiapas, Mexico

Chiapas has a strong history of indigenous peoples advocating for their rights and economic reforms to reduce its tremendous poverty.  One of the non-profit groups working in Chiapas, that I am pleased to support, is Partners in Health (PIH).  In 2011, PIH founded Compañeros en Salud, which provides high quality medical care even in remote […]

United Nations promoting Universal Basic Income to fight COVID-19

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has just called for a universal basic income in 132 developing countries that it believes could help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and help the poorest families in the world stave off the catastrophic economic impacts of COVID-19.  The report notes that female sectors of the workforce have been […]

GiveDirectly: a practical, demonstrable way to help the global poor

Coronavirus impacts are causing starvation and threatening to plunge a half billion people globally into extreme poverty.  30 million children might die for economic reasons – not from the virus itself, which rarely kills them.  The World Food Program estimates that acute hunger will more than DOUBLE by the end of 2020.  Providing a global […]

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Love and Sacrifice

When we give of ourselves, we sacrifice When that gift is not received, we feel the pain of sacrifice How do we continue to give? How do we remember our love, in the heat of sacrifice? We bring the other inside. We imagine them as they are. Each quality they have. Their origins.  

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True Bliss

I did not have an inkling of what bliss was until a little over a year ago.  Although I had  experienced joy and happiness with others in my life and internally in meditation, it all paled in comparison with bliss.  Bliss is a spontaneous arising of a happiness so powerful that it stops the mind […]

Spring Sunrise

Woodpeckers knock Birds call Winds blow Sun rises Rocks rest Trees bud Jain, where are you? “Not here” says the mind “Right here” says the body “Everywhere” says the heart

Motivation with a little “m”

Once you’ve decided you actually want to do a practice like meditation or guided imagery, you’ve got the “big M” motivation – you see the ultimate value of it in your life.  Then one of the biggest barriers to starting up meditation is inertia.  Overcoming inertia requires boosting that “little m” motivation – the day-to-day […]

Truly global universal basic income to save the planet?

The Act blog is meant to offer ideas and inspiration on ways to take action based on the environmental and humanistic values encoded within the Fern Hill Center practices.  How do we share our love as individuals receiving so much from the earth?  What have we received from others, and how do we pay that […]

Teaching mindfulness at Harvard Medical School

When I first arrived at Harvard Med as a student, I was quite intimidated… and even more so when I returned as a faculty member!  So many emotions – wanting to do a good job, remembering what it was like when I was a student, a certain level of “imposter syndrome” regarding my own capacities.  […]