Relaxation

“The first step towards change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.” ~Nathaniel Branden Do me a favor and don’t tell my wife what I’m about to share with you. I have an absurd number of weaknesses. Just kidding. My wife, of course, knows this. She is well aware of my many shortcomings. While she

“Before you put yourself down, please consider everything you’ve accomplished to get to this point, every life you’ve touched, and every moment you’ve pushed beyond your fears. You are a champion, a fighter. You are worthy of nothing less than the deepest love you have to share.” ~Scott Stabile It seems that we’re being bombarded

“When you lose someone you love, you don’t learn to live without them…you learn to live with the love they left behind.” ~Anonymous If I look like my best friend just died, that’s because he has. Not the one whom I played with every day growing up and haven’t seen in years, nor the one

“Don’t wait for joy to find you, because you might end up waiting forever.” ~Unknown Eight years ago, my husband and I made a pact to make joy our job. We were in the middle of chasing little kids and careers, had a whole lot of stress (on the edge of burnout), and realized that

“It’s okay that you don’t know how to move on. Start with something easier…. Like not going back.” ~Unknown I’m one of the 70% of people who have experienced trauma, and it can be hard to deal with. Actually, I’ve experienced more than one traumatic event, which is also common. In fact, sometimes it feels

“Be brave enough to take off the masks you wear out there and get to know who you are underneath. Be vulnerable enough to accept your flaws and know that they are what make you human; they are what make you real. Be confident enough to accept and cherish your strengths. Don’t minimize them or

“Our brains are wired for connection, but trauma rewires them for protection. That’s why healthy relationships are difficult for wounded people.” ~Unknown If popular culture is anything to go by, everyone has the perfect gang to hang with in coffee shops, engaging in witty banter. Or a BFF who knows them better than anyone else

“No matter how far we come, our parents are always in us.” ~Brad Meltzer Had you asked me five years ago, before my healing and personal growth journey began, if my upbringing and childhood wounds were shaping the choices I was making in relationships, I would have scoffed at you and said, “No way. Are

“A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden.” ~Buddha Family is often considered

“Until we transform ourselves, we are like mobs of angry people screaming for peace. In order to move the world, we must be able to stand still in it.” ~Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche It only happens about every ten years or so. The primal scream. It gets unleashed when things feel like too much. But it