“Who are you?” was the first question Hilary Nicholls asked me over a dozen a years ago as I lay on her treatment table for the first time. “Who are you independent of being a mother, wife, daughter, businesswoman, and all the other roles you identify with?”
Read MoreAnne Lamott once wrote, “Maturity is gaining a modicum of grace when you do not get your own way.” I like that Anne used the word “modicum,” the equivalent of a smidgeon—just a teeny, tiny bit. Disappointment is hard, no matter our age, and life is full of it.
Read MoreMy exposure to spirits from other realms started early in life. Growing up, my parents were spiritual seekers in search of effective ways to mend their emotional wounds and find meaning in their lives. In 1970, when I was six, they discovered a group called the “Pathwork” whose members were devoted to learning teachings transmitted by the “Guide.”
Read MoreToday I want to share some beautiful poems written by my friend Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts—a wise man and gifted poet whom I grew close to fourteen years ago, during the final months of his wife Tey’s life. I first met Tey when I became a Zen student at the Monterey Bay Zen Center in 1993. She warmly embraced me when I felt like an excluded outsider amidst the tightly knit group of seasoned students.
Read MoreThe first official day of summer began yesterday, which makes it a perfect time to get outside and renew our connection to Mother Earth. Being in nature brings peace, beauty and healing into our lives. It slows us down, calms us, and helps us feel connected to something greater than ourselves—all key ingredients in fostering optimal emotional and physical health.
Read MoreFor the past few weeks, I’ve been working with a piece of advice from Martha Beck: “What leaves you feeling bad, do less of. What leaves you feeling good, do more of.” This seemingly simple suggestion came from an article Martha wrote for Oprah Daily, “Five Pieces of Advice Everyone Ignores (but Shouldn’t!)” Martha says that this one suggestion is “all you really need to find your destiny, form loving relationships, achieve optimal health, and have the best life story in the bingo parlor during your golden years.”
Read MoreToday I’m sharing an article I wrote for Spirituality & Health magazine about the many benefits qigong offers, especially in relation to stress management. Because Qigong enhances my life in so many ways, I want to share its gifts with as many people as possible.
Read MoreIt takes courage to be a human alive on planet earth. Everything we grow to love and rely on is always changing, and we can’t hang on to any of it forever, no matter how desperately we try. One reason I’m drawn to Buddhist philosophy is that it addresses the issue of impermanence head-on, explaining how much of our suffering comes from clinging to our desires and rejecting the truth of life as it actually is.
Read MoreEveryone has been emotionally wounded. No one makes it to adulthood without experiencing fear and pain, and few of us consistently received the compassion and comfort we needed to feel safe and soothed during our most challenging times. Most of us have endured significant loss, grief, rejection, abandonment, humiliation, illness, injustice and more without knowing how to meet and treat those emotions. The good news is that we all have the capacity to heal our emotional wounds, and the first step is to bring them into the light of our awareness.
Read MoreI live on a farm on the central coast of California with two small groves of towering redwood trees that I visit each morning when I walk my dogs. I love to stand amid the trees, my head tilted up, enjoying the view of the sky through their branches. I often lean back against a tree, tuning into its strength before turning around to hug its thick bark. My arms would need to be much longer to fit all the way around the circumference of these giants. It makes me feel like a young child embracing a beloved grandparent many times my size—comforted and protected.
Read MoreFor today’s Pause to Ponder post, I want to share a short but powerful exercise I learned from Patrice Vecchione during our recent Quest “Write Your Mind Open” writing workshop. Before we started writing, Patrice asked participants to create a list of beliefs, attitudes or behavioral patterns that shut us down or hold us back—in relationships, writing, work, or any other arena of life.
Read MoreI’ve pondered the meaning of life since I was a young girl. I remember being outside in the countryside on a moonless night when I was eight. Looking up at the countless bright stars in the dark sky, I felt full to bursting with a fierce longing to comprehend the vastness of the universe and the meaning of life. I found my father and with great hope asked, “Daddy, why are we here?”
Read MoreWhat is wisdom? It definitely goes beyond the information our brain is constantly accumulating. Wisdom is somehow recognized by our entire body and soul as right, healthy and helpful—something that aligns us with a deeper, more timeless truth that helps us live with more peace and ease. I found the following description of wisdom by Yung Pueblo beautiful, so I wanted to share it with you.
Read MoreToday I’m happy to share a wisdom-packed article I wrote for the January/February print issue of Spirituality & Health magazine that features the beautiful teachings of my beloved cousin Trudy Goodman—a Harvard-trained psychotherapist and an internationally recognized Buddhist spiritual teacher.
Read MoreA huge part of my personal healing journey has been about developing the ability to fully embrace difficult emotions instead of trying to run away or suppress them, which is why I greatly appreciate the following wise words from Glennon Doyle on why we should stop resisting pain.
Read MoreJust before the New Year, in an article that shared my devotion to qigong, I mentioned how beneficial it would be if we all arrived on this planet with a “Homo Sapiens Owner’s Manual” that could help us live our best life physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Since then, I’ve been thinking a lot about what else needs to be included, and another list-topper would be guidance on how to work with emotions.
Read MoreAs human beings, we’re incredibly complex, so it’s challenging not to arrive on this planet with an owner’s manual explaining how to take care of ourselves emotionally, physically, and spiritually. What we learn from our families, formal education and society is incomplete, and much of it isn’t conducive to our long-term well-being.
Read MoreWith the first official day of winter less than one week away, I’ve been reminiscing about growing up in Brooklyn, where seasonal changes were dramatic compared to my current home in Northern California. As a young girl, I eagerly waited for temperatures to drop below freezing so my parents could take me and my sister ice-skating in Prospect Park.
Read MoreToday’s Pause to Ponder post was excerpted from a chapter titled “Rest” from “Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words,” by poet and philosopher, David Whyte. In this gem of a book, Whyte dives into the meaning of 52 different words as he explores and illuminates the complex experience of being human.
Read MoreWhether it’s demonstrating how to seed a pomegranate, showing a teenager how to drive, or modeling a sincere apology, teaching is something we all do in many forms throughout our lives. Learning is never limited to the classroom. In fact, we are all teachers.
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