The one thing that’s always underneath anger
It’s said that anger is a secondary emotion. It’s often the first afflictive emotion we see; it’s like the tip of an iceberg. And like icebergs, there’s vastness and complexity under the surface of anger. * Many different feelings can underlie this sneaky, challenging gift of an emotion. To me, the most critical thing to […]
Self-growth and genuine change start with mindfulness
Mindfulness is a foundational element of self-growth and positive change. I’d venture to say it’s the single most important skill we can build and continuously cultivate as we seek to improve the quality of our lives. Instead of focusing on any of the various things we want to change about ourselves — eating habits, how […]
We need to stay open to grow. Here’s how.
Life has a way of hardening us. Our hearts break, ideas set, and beliefs become more tightly held with age and life experience. As all this crystallizes, we close off more and more over time. We often don’t recognize this happening, but it’s common, and it takes a toll. Closing off isn’t an attribute of […]
Is your (sneaky) inner critic holding you back?
Our inner critics can be sneaky. Sometimes they’re super loud and in your face. “I’m so dumb,” “I look terrible,” “I’m not … enough.” But many other times, that negative narrator in our heads flies under the radar and brings us down without us even actually noticing. It stealthily steals our joy and potential. Either […]
How (and why) to connect with your body now
It’s a catchphrase that often comes up in yoga classes and meditation recordings. Perhaps you’ve heard some version of “come into your body.” If you’ve wondered what that means, fair question. At face value, it doesn’t make any sense. My husband has been baffled by this for years. So today, I’d like to share how […]
Sometimes it’s good to be out of your mind
The Dalai Lama says a disciplined mind leads to happiness. He also says the opposite is true: “An undisciplined mind leads to suffering.” We know this. We know how our minds wander and ruminate and hunker down on negativity. This comes naturally. It doesn’t take any effort to be critical and judgmental, to overlay the […]
How negative is the voice in your head?
We talk to ourselves all day long in our heads, and often, the tone and topics skew negative. I first noticed this because of the way conversations tend to go. When someone asks: “How are you?” and the response is “good,” the conversation dead-ends. If things are going reasonably well, they’re almost unremarkable. There’s not […]
How to address our biggest barrier to feeling great
The way we think is often our greatest barrier to living well and feeling great. I seemingly need to learn this lesson over and over again, so I’ll keep coming back to it here, too. It’s just so important and unbelievably easy to forget. When we get bogged down in negativity, we sabotage ourselves immeasurably […]