Relaxation

“Standing up for yourself doesn’t make you argumentative. Sharing your feelings doesn’t make you overly sensitive. And saying no doesn’t make you uncaring or selfish. If someone won’t respect your feelings, needs, and boundaries, the problem isn’t you; it’s them.” ~Lori Deschene In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character Atticus Finch says,

“The fruit of meditation is not the absence of thoughts, but the fact that thoughts cease to harm us.” ~Bokar Rinpoche My inspiration to start meditating came from one of the most unlikely sources—a Star Wars movie. When I saw the wise Jedi Master Yoda meditating, I thought that there had to be something more

“Forgiving someone doesn’t mean that their behavior was ‘OK.’ What it does mean is that we’re ready to move on. To release the heavy weight. To shape our own life, on our terms, without any unnecessary burdens. Forgiveness is pure freedom—and forgiveness is a choice.” ~Dr. Suzanne Gelb It happened, again. I was sitting opposite

Another surreal holiday in the books, for those of us in the US that is. I hope you all had a love-filled day yesterday, even if that love was sent from afar. I was 3,000 miles away from my family, though fortunate to be with my boyfriend’s parents. After I ate way too much tofurkey

I’m willing to bet that most of us spend far more time focusing on what we aren’t than appreciating who we are. We home in everything we think we lack and then feel bad about ourselves, when there’s actually a lot to celebrate if we take the time recognize it. It’s partly a byproduct of

The root cause of suffering for many of us is believing that there’s something’s wrong with us. Psychiatrists’ and therapists’ offices are filled with people who are carrying this false belief, most often stemming from traumatic or painful childhood experiences, or even people telling us this directly. Sometimes we inferred this idea because we were

**This post contains a giveaway. If you’re reading this in your inbox, click here to enter on the site!** There’s no denying it’s a strange holiday season this year. Annual traditions are on hold for many. Loved ones are far away. And I imagine most of us are getting antsy for a return to some

“If you think there’s something missing from your life, it’s probably you.” ~Robert Holden Most people would agree that thinking too much can cost you your peace, your happiness perhaps—but your life? Surely that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I’ll explain with a story. I remember taking my daughter to the park one day when

How often do you feel energized, grounded, and excited for the day when you finish your morning routine? And what is your morning routine? Are you one of those people who sleep as late as possible, pound some coffee and a processed breakfast, and then rush to get into work on time? (No judgment—I’ve been

My brother, Marc-Emile, sparkled brilliantly. At sixteen years old, he could expound on physics or Plato, calculus, or car mechanics, Stravinsky or Steppenwolf. At seventeen, he began reading the Great Books series, starting with Homer and Aeschylus and moving forward through the Greeks. I don’t know how many of those Great Books he read. He didn’t have that long.