covid-19 | Nicole Havelka

Abundance Means Asking for Help

by Nicole Havelka | Aug 4, 2021 | Change Leadership, Creativity, Healing, Mindfulness, Self Care | 0 Comments

Late in July, I absentmindedly turned the wheel of my car, hit a curb and tore a hole in the tire. My car limped along while I struggled to find a parking place on the narrow streets in an older part of Columbus, Ohio. Now sweltering in my car, I used the AAA app to...

The Most Beautiful Om

by Nicole Havelka | Jun 9, 2021 | Change Leadership, Community, Healing, Mindfulness, Self Care | 0 Comments

I have chanted the sound Om before and after yoga classes thousands of times. When I felt and heard the sound of Om reverberating off the walls in the actual room of my home yoga studio in Columbus, Ohio, for the first time in more than a year, I was awestruck. The...

The Antidote for the Difficult Co-Worker

by Nicole Havelka | May 19, 2021 | Change Leadership, Community, Creativity, Mindfulness, Organizations | 0 Comments

You’ve probably walked down the hall at the office and inwardly braced yourself when that person walked by. You may have avoided a project not because you don’t want to do it, but because the team working on it is so dysfunctional. You may choose the same one or two...

Celebrating Failure at the Oscars

by Nicole Havelka | May 5, 2021 | Change Leadership, Community, Creativity, Mindfulness, Organizations | 0 Comments

I gathered my snacks, my Oscar ballot and my remote control then settled in to watch the telecast of the 93rd annual Academy Awards with more anticipation than usual. My effervescent reaction was not typical of this troubled time for movies — most people were not...

Peace in the Chaos

by Nicole Havelka | Dec 9, 2020 | Advent & Christmas, Change Leadership, Community, Faith Formation, Healing, Mindfulness, Yoga & Church | 0 Comments

“Peace can be difficult to feel because of the chaos that surrounds us.” I wrote that line more than a year ago for my 2019 Mindful Advent series, but is really true now. Everything in this year feels like chaos — the disruption of a pandemic, the helplessness created...

The Power of Pause

by Nicole Havelka | May 20, 2020 | Change Leadership, Community, Creativity, Mindfulness, Organizations, Ritual | 0 Comments

Pandemic time bears a striking resemblance to airport time. I have long theorized that time spent in airports and airplanes exists in some strange liminal space — not really here nor there. If I spent enough time in an airport waiting for delayed or cancelled flights...

The Upside Down-Ness of Beginnings

by Nicole Havelka | Apr 22, 2020 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Starting a new spiritual practice can feel upside down. These are practices that are supposed to ground you, focus you, center you. Ironically, the beginning of a new practice (or starting anything, really) does not feel that way. Starting meditation, yoga, or prayer...

Make Easter The New Normal

by Nicole Havelka | Apr 11, 2020 | Creativity, Faith Formation, Healing, Mindfulness, Organizations, Ritual, Social Justice | 0 Comments

You may only know that Lent is a Christian season during which practitioners, “give something up,” as a spiritual practice. You may even know it is a season for preparing for Easter, or a big change more generally. This Lent which began for Christians on Feb. 26 has...

Connecting in Place

by Nicole Havelka | Mar 26, 2020 | Change Leadership, Community, Mindfulness, Self Care | 0 Comments

Losing all the activities and communities I love in one fell swoop was too much. First, we moved the YoWo (Yoga + Worship) class I teach online. The same day my yoga studio closed for operation. A few days later, the YMCA closed. Churches closed for public...

5 Practices for Calming Anxiety

by Nicole Havelka | Mar 19, 2020 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Fear, anxiety and confusion may be taking an unhealthy grip on us. Already we were immersed in an anxious, divisive culture, and in walks the corona virus, threatening us, our loved ones and the most vulnerable among us. Yes, there’s lots to be anxious about. Here’s...