In recent years the concept of forgiveness has been all the rage. Sometimes it seems like a buzzword that equates to arriving at a holy place. When friends advise about difficult relations with others, the first question often is, can you forgive them? Say yes, and you’ll hear heavenly trumpets. Is something wrong with you…
I’m a big advocate of taking time off from life, stepping away from daily routines, responsibilities and chores, and giving yourself the space for an out-breath. I’m not talking about a long vacation with all its planning and expense. I’m referring to taking a day or two and jumping off of the merry-go-round that constitutes…
The following is a contemplation on love. Its purpose is to inquire about the subject, identify internal beliefs, and spark deeper thoughts about a familiar and complex topic. Love. The word is bandied about as if there’s an accepted definition that reigns glory over the landscape. Singers croon about it, preachers preach about it, advertisers…
I’m not into positive psychology or sugar-coating uncomfortable emotions with pretty words. Recognizing and getting to the root of feelings, facing discomfort, and integrating those difficult places are more interesting. Facing yourself is healing not just emotionally but mentally and physically as well. Getting curious about how you operate, what you believe, why you believe…
I don’t know if it’s ADD or ADHD or what set of initials it would be called, but sometimes I want to do ten things simultaneously. When this happens, I start one thing, jump to another, stop doing any of it, have a drink of water and consider what I would like to watch on…
I call it Daily Yoga because it’s a practice. It doesn’t involve twisting your body into shapes on a mat, sitting in an incense-filled room saying namaste or going anywhere special to partake. You do it whenever, wherever, and all it requires is paying attention to your body or internal dialogue. Ah, but it’s called…
Gabor Maté attributes Buddha when he offers the teaching, “Your mind creates the world.” It’s a deep contemplation. Words and actions mean one thing to one person; and different things to others — the recipient’s responses or reactions can run the gamut. Why? Your mind creates the world says that interpretations of happenings outside of…
This past couple of weeks, I’ve recognized how easy it is not to take responsibility for feelings or actions that need to be taken and how that can lead to blame and passive-aggressive behavior. Perhaps this story will help you recognize within yourself ways in which some of your own behavior leads you away from…
The distinction made between a good feeling and a bad feeling is a curiosity to me. I’m not talking about physical pain. I’m talking about feelings. The ever-so stealth inner landscape that discreetly directs external behaviors. What determines a feeling being one or the other? At first, you might say, well, that’s easy to answer.…
These days more and more of us feel the call for demonstrating authenticity in our lives, myself included. What does that mean, and how did we lose it in the first place? Is it possible for us to be anything but who we are? It seems so. Human beings have feelings, the desire to fit…