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Posts by Lori Deschene

Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha. She started the site after struggling with depression, bulimia, c-PTSD, and toxic shame so she could recycle her former pain into something useful and inspire others do the same. She recently created the Breaking Barriers to Self-Care eCourse to help people overcome internal blocks to meeting their needs—so they can feel their best, be their best, and live their best possible life. If you’re ready to start thriving instead of merely surviving, you can learn more and get instant access here.

Lori Deschene's Website

Upcoming Retreat for Highly Sensitive People and Introverts

Have you ever taken a trip to recharge but then returned feeling drained? If you’re a highly sensitive person (HSP) or introvert—or both, like me—you might yearn for the adventure and relaxation that travel can provide but struggle to find experiences that honor your energetic needs.

Perhaps also like me, you’ve been intrigued by the idea of a retreat but worried that it could be overwhelming, with packed schedules and pressure to constantly engage. Even many wellness retreats miss the mark, leaving little room for personal time and different ways of participating.

Imagine a retreat that allows you to connect

Free Offer: One year of the Happier Meditation App

Since you follow Tiny Buddha, I’m guessing you might be familiar with the benefits of meditation and perhaps have already experienced many of them yourself.

I first found meditation through yoga, which I initially started at a gym solely because I was curious.

I didn’t know then that meditation can help with depression, anxiety, stress, and insomnia (all of which I’ve experienced); that it can literally rewire the brain to help with healing from trauma (also a battle I know very well); or that it can help prevent and heal numerous physical conditions.

Now here I am, over two decades …

Tiny Buddha’s 2025 Day-to-Day Calendar Is Now Available for Purchase

Hi friends! I’m excited to share that the 2025 Tiny Buddha Day-to-Day Calendar is now available for purchase!

Uplifting and healing, this calendar offers daily reflections from me, Tiny Buddha contributors, and other authors whose quotes have inspired and encouraged me.

Featuring colorful, patterned tear-off pages, the calendar is printed on FSC certified paper with soy-based ink. Topics include happiness, love, relationships, change, meaning, mindfulness, self-care, letting go, and more.

Here’s what Amazon reviewers had to say about the 2024 calendar:

“I love how the quotes are diverse and relevant, offering something for everyone regardless of where they

Free Download, Living Without Hurry: It’s Time to End the Rush

Do you ever feel like you’re living your life racing toward someday when everything feels better or easier? Like you’re constantly chasing something—maybe a dream, money, the perfect body, or love and, at the core of it all, happiness?

I chased all these things for years, filling most of my time with activities to attain them, all the while neglecting my deepest needs and ultimately feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

It’s one of life’s greatest ironies—we  push ourselves so hard to find peace and fulfillment in the future without realizing both are available right now if we could only create space …

Creating Massive Change: How to Get Out of Our Own Way

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe your life isn’t changing because you’re holding yourself back but don’t know it?

Like maybe there’s something in your conditioning or a subconscious belief that’s preventing you from doing something that could bring you the change you seek?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot since I took Nadia Colburn’s five-day mindful writing challenge because one of the prompts elicited a profound insight about why I’ve struggled to create the change I want most in life.

Part of the prompt was “Don’t go off somewhere else,” and after a brief meditation at

Free 5-Day Meditation and Writing Challenge

Hi friends! Today, I’m thrilled to share with you an empowering five-day meditation and writing challenge from Tiny Buddha contributor (and this month’s site sponsor) Nadia Colburn.

Founder of the online creative writing school Align Your Story, Nadia is a poet, memoirist, and yogi who has a talent for helping people access their creative voice on a deeper level. And that’s exactly what she’s done with this challenge.

Each day’s fifteen-minute recording will guide you through a short meditation, share an evocative poem, and lead you through a quick writing exercise inspired by that day’s piece.

When she first told …

Join the Writers Rising Retreat – 10% Off for Tiny Buddha Readers!

I believe that most, if not all, of us want the same things in life.

We want to feel seen. Want to be heard. We want to own our truth and express ourselves. And we want to believe we’re making a positive impact—to feel like we matter and that we’re leaving an indelible mark on the people around us in our short time here on this earth.

That’s what writing has done for me, and I’m guessing for many of you too.

But whether you’re creatively blocked or just full of self-doubt, it’s not easy to write consistently.

Instead of …

A Tool to Help You Love Yourself Unconditionally

Hi friends! Today, I’m thrilled to share with you a beautiful, healing, and inspiring card deck that I’ve been obsessed with as of late.

Created by Tiny Buddha contributor Rita Loyd, the Unconditional Self-Love Message Card Deck contains fifty colorful art images, each with an accompanying message on how to cultivate unconditional self-love on the back.

At 2.5”x 3.5“, the deck is small enough to carry within a purse or pocket if you’d like to keep these messages close, should you need a little boost of self-love throughout your day. You can …

Submit Your Quote for Tiny Buddha’s 2026 Calendar

Hi friend! As you may know, I’ve offered a day-to-day desk calendar with quotes for the past few years and will soon offer my fourth.

I’m currently working on the 2026 calendar, and, as I did last year, I’d love to include some quotes from the community.

If you’d like to submit a quote (or more than one!) for consideration, you can do that here.

Some guidelines to keep in mind:

1. Quotes can be up to 75 words.

2. They need to be entirely original.

3. They can be on any topic related to personal growth, including but …

Join the Writers Rising Retreat – with Anne Lamott, Cheryl Strayed & others!

If you’re a fellow or aspiring writer, today’s post is for you!

The people behind the Writer’s Room have organized a pretty amazing retreat that you won’t want to miss.

Writers Rising 2024 , running from October 25th through 27th, is sure to be an unforgettable experience that will ignite your creativity, nourish your spirit, and deepen your connection to yourself and others.

I do what I do for all these reasons, and because I believe that writing heals. It helps us process our emotions, identify lessons from our experiences, and feel a greater sense of clarity and control in …

20 Self-Care Quotes to Keep You Mentally and Emotionally Strong

It’s a new week, and that can bring with it a sense of excitement and possibility or a sense of dread about your overwhelming responsibilities. Sometimes for me it’s both.

And not just because I have a lot to do, but also because, like most of us, I have a lot going in my head and my heart at any given time. And it’s not always easy to be a feeling human in a busy world that won’t slow down when it all seems like too much. Which means sometimes we need to stop instead.

Stop pushing ourselves. Stop ignoring …

Tiny Buddha’s Self-Care Course: Buy One, Give One Sale!

As we get older, we tend to get clearer on what matters most to us in life. For me, it’s self-care and relationships. If you share my top values, you’re in luck, because today’s special offer honors both of those things!

In my experience, self-care and relationships have been deeply intertwined—because I’ve found that deep-level self-care reinforces my worth, which enables me to attract and hold onto healthy relationships. Which then inspires me to continue taking good care of myself so I can give the best of myself to the people I love (without losing myself in the process).

This …

8 Ways Life Improves When You Value and Prioritize Yourself

“Every day, the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, ‘This is important! And this is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And this! And this!’ And each day, it’s up to you to yank your hand back, put it on your heart, and say, ‘No. This is what’s important.’” ~Iain Thomas

As someone who believes in the healing power of self-care, I absolutely love this quote. But I didn’t always believe it was true. And it didn’t feel good to do it.

My heart was too tender to be touched for long. And …

5 Hidden Fears That May Be Secretly Sabotaging Your Life

“Sometimes what you’re most afraid of doing is the very thing that will set you free.” ~Robert Tew

I like to say I don’t regret much in life, because I know I’ve always done the best I could and have learned from every experience. But I’d be lying if I said I haven’t considered what my life might be like now if I’d overcome certain fears sooner.

For years I shut people out because I feared I might ruin relationships if I opened myself up to them. And there was a good reason for that—I’d damaged many relationships in the …

6 Reasons We Ignore Our Needs and How to Stop

“If you feel that you are missing out on fulfillment and happiness, but cannot put your finger on why, perhaps there is something deeper going on. Believe it or not, anyone can develop an unconscious habit of self-deprivation. Usually, this habit begins in childhood.” ~Mike Bundrant

For all my adolescence and over a decade of my adult life, I was what men (and I’m guessing some female friends as well) would refer to as “emotionally needy.” And some did. To my face. With a sense of condescension and judgment.

They were right. I was clingy, insecure, and fragile. I needed …

Retreats for Highly Sensitive People and Introverts

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go on a retreat to some magical location where you could deeply connect with yourself and forge lifelong relationships with likeminded people? Then did you immediately wonder if it might feel a little overwhelming to you as an introvert or highly sensitive person?

As an HSP introvert who loves travel and new experiences, I have long had my eye on Melissa Renzi’s retreats, which are specifically designed for people like me—and I’m guessing a lot of you.

In addition to being a Tiny Buddha contributor and this month’s site sponsor, …

20 Inspiring Messages to Take into New Year

It’s the beginning of a new year, full of promise and possibility. Maybe you have a good feeling about the year ahead and big plans to bring to life. Or maybe you’re coming out of one of the toughest years you’ve ever had, and you’re just hoping this year will hurt less than last.

I’ve been in both situations before, as I imagine we all have. But no matter our unique situations, a new year often brings a sense of rebirth and hope. Hope that things can change, or that we can change, or maybe that we can just change …

Take the 30-Day Self-Care Challenge!

Hi friend! As we approach the New Year, I imagine many of you, like me, are thinking about what you’d like to do differently in 2024—or who and how you want to be in the year ahead.

Though we likely all have varied goals, I can say with total confidence it all starts with the same thing: self-care.

Whether you want more adventure, meaning, peace, love, joy, or anything else, it’s all more attainable if you feel your best, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

With this in mind, I recently created a 30-Day Self-Care Challenge that can help us all take …

Giveaway: Win a 2024 Day-to-Day Calendar, Gratitude Journal, and More!

UPDATE: The winners for this giveaway have been chosen. The winners, chosen at random, are:

Please send your mailing address to me at email@tinybuddha.com so I can mail you your books and calendars!

Hi friends! To celebrate the holiday season, I’m running a special giveaway today. Two people (US only) will win a bundle including Tiny Buddha’s 2024 Day-to-Cay Calendar, Tiny Buddha’s Gratitude Journal, and Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself.

Uplifting and healing, this calendar offers daily reflections from me, Tiny Buddha contributors, and other authors whose quotes have inspired and encouraged …

30 Ways to Be Kind: Simple Ways to Spread a Little Love

Can you remember the last time someone was unexpectedly kind to you?

I’m guessing at least some of the people in your life are kind to you on a regular basis. Or at least I hope they are! But maybe their kindness feels commonplace because it’s made up of lots of little things that they do often… like asking if you want a cup of coffee when they’re getting their own, or saying, “I love you” in that rote way we do before hanging up the phone.

Small gestures like this are always valuable and worth appreciating and acknowledging. But …