Roxanna Kopp Smith

Tag: loss and grief

  • Ode to a Dog

    Ode to a Dog

    Ohhh this one hurts. Meditation dog.  Never sat down to meditate without my sidekick showing up.  Had her own sheepskin but she would usually crawl in to my lap midway through the set. A little too full-figured for a lap dog.  She didn’t care. Silly dog – people would smile at the sight of her. …

  • 12 Do’s (and Don’ts!) Supporting a Friend Through Surgery

    or… What I Learned Last Week Through Trial and Error I spent a chunk of last week caring for my dear friend Barbara after she had surgery.  I have never had surgery and really had no idea what to expect.  I just knew that this is one of my best friends and I wanted to…

  • Go With The Flow…

    Udaipur, November 2015. Traveling in Udaipur. Early morning breakfast. Nice looking man nods good morning and asks waiter for coffee “now”. Soon he is talking to the two men eating breakfast with their baby. A conversation starts up and the coffee drinking man says he lives in Santa Cruz. The couple say they are from…

  • Lonely Hearts Club Band

    Last year I wrote a post about how I always go within at this time of year – actually I wrote that 2 weeks ago too – hah.  Well, I guess it’s a theme for me.  But something is starting to shift and lest you think that I only write about tough things, I wanted…

  • Kindness Matters

    On Sunday, as I was going through security at DIA,  I saw a TSA agent help an elderly man who was struggling with his backpack.  It was a busy morning and people were rushing to empty their bins and put their shoes back on, and the man was trying to quickly exit the security area but his backpack…

  • Grief Spiral

    Grief isn’t linear.  It’s not a straight shot.  You don’t pass through locks in a canal, never to go back, chugging along to what…?  Before?  No.  A land where there is no pain?  No. I love the metaphor that grief is a spiral, where I circle around, sometimes close to the epicenter (deep pain) and…

  • True Confessions – Part 1

    Every day I make a ‘to do’ list and I write: “blog post about India.” I usually get everything done on my list, except the blog post.  Why?  Well…I have a secret to share.  I am sharing this with the hope that it will help others and set me free at the same time. When I…

  • Escape to Reality

    “Be melting snow. Wash yourself of yourself.” — Rumi Sometimes when a dream dies, it can feel like a death. A death of the self – an idea, a belief, or an identity…or all of the above. Our family has had a series of big hits lately. To protect everyone’s privacy I won’t go into…

  • Change, Loss and Radical Forgiveness

    First day of Spring today and even though I am looking out on a brown landscape and the air is chill, I can feel the pulse within.  My pale dry skin that covers me isn’t matching my steamy, pressure-cooker insides.  I want something (anything) to happen – NOW!  I see my teenagers’ (yes, plural) restless…

  • Journey to India – a view behind the veil

    I am so excited to announce that Nancy West McGuire and I have planned a women’s retreat to India.  There are many incredible events planned as we visit New Delhi, Varanasi and Rishikesh as well as daily yoga and meditation classes.  We’ve organized this event in collaboration with a known and trusted, professional Indian guide who…