Sometimes in order to see the light we must become willing to sit with the darkness. Turning away from what we judge as too painful only creates more suffering. That from which we turn away longs for our tender embrace, acceptance, and compassion. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present […]
Nurturing a healthy mind can promote peace, happiness, and wellbeing. We can encourage a healthy mind by cultivating positive mental and emotional states, practicing meditation, and practicing loving-kindness and compassion toward ourselves and others. To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong […]
Longing can become one of our most painful unconscious habits. In longing, we want something to be other than it is, we want someone to be other than they are, we want to be close to someone who doesn’t want to be close to us, we want a material object, a particular food, or a […]
Developing embodied presence means that we are living in the present moment and maintaining awareness of what is happening in the body, heart, and mind. We are aware of sensations, feelings, and thoughts that arise moment to moment. The great challenge in our busy world is to stay connected with ourselves— with our bodily felt […]
Listening to your life can help you to live more intentionally and with a greater sense of peace and happiness. “What is the feedback your life gives you?” – Gregg Levoy In certain situations, such as school or a close relationship, we learn to alter our behavior based on feedback that we receive. But how […]
Being in the moment is a practice that can help us to feel more at peace and more connected to ourselves and others. It can help us to be more resilient in difficult times. Much of our suffering comes not from the challenging experiences that life presents but from our attempts to avoid them. When […]
The next time you reach for food as a compulsion – to numb to feelings, to avoid being present to whatever is here in the moment, try pausing. Breathe. Check in with the state of your body, heart, and mind. Ask yourself, “What am I really hungry for?” “…compulsive eating is basically a refusal to […]
Commitment to our intentions can bring peace and freedom. Ambivalence, uncertainty and indecision are designed to keep us playing it safe—from our fears that we will make a mistake, get hurt, appear foolish, etc. Meanwhile, as we swirl in our indecision, life passes us by. “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy… the moment one […]
We can increase feelings of happiness by recognizing and nurturing our strengths, abilities and virtues and cultivating self-efficacy. We can prevent depression by nurturing skills of optimism and hope. In developing optimism, we cultivate a greater sense of resilience that can support us in dealing with uncertainty and difficult times. “The belief that we can […]
Opportunity knocks sometimes in the quiet moments of our lives—poetic lines that appear during a walk, a vision of a painting that we fear we cannot execute, a glance between strangers, an exquisitely tender kiss that leaves our mouth hungering for more, an invitation to love that opens our heart, a call to live our […]