Welcome to ElizabethJAllen.com,  my home on the web! Thank you for taking the time to visit. I hope this collection of words helps to bring peace and wisdom into your life.

mindfulness

Years of Zen practice have shown me to awesome power of mindfulness to heal the mind and heart. Shikantaza, or just sitting, is what I practice. This awareness of mind pervades all aspects of life and truly liberates us from our self-imposed mental slavery. How it does this, I cannot say. There are forms of therapy based on mindfulness (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for example) as well as entire schools of Buddhism. Mindfulness is well recognized as a practice that changes lives. May you discover and enrich your practice of mindfulness through this site.

motherhood

Being a mother was something I avoided for many years. As a victor over (as opposed to a victim of) childhood abuse, I was aware fairly early on that I lacked the skill set to be an effective mother. In my late thirties, I became pregnant and all of my theoretical concerns became suddenly real. I did not know how to be a mom but I had to learn. And I’m still learning. My child is my greatest, and harshest, teacher. Her presence in my life fills me with wonder and gratitude. She is my greatest motivation.

madness

When our mind goes astray and becomes mired in dysfunction, it creates the particular form of suffering we call madness, or mental illness. My particular diagnoses have varied over the years.Depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, panic disorder, and many more labels have been applied to me. Fundamentally, it breaks down to the fact that my mind works in a way that tends to create suffering. This really isn’t different from any other human on the planet, except in the degree of dysfunction that the suffering engenders. Fortunately, I discovered mindfulness, which has helped me to heal, become a better mother, and recover from mental illness.

Thus, we come full circle. Thank you for joining me on this journey.