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The Gains in Our Losses: Growing Through the Pain

By in Blog, change & challenges, letting go, mindfulness & peace

“In this world of change, nothing which comes stays, and nothing which goes is lost.”  ~ Anne Sophie Swetchine

I’ve always been a “cat guy.” This was long before my Buddhist friends told me stories of how cats are true earthly masters, here on earth to show us the way. Or, to demonstrate the meditative perfection of the feline purr. Or, how the life of a cat is seen in some traditions as reward for good karma.

When I lived in rural Nova Scotia, the house was blessed with two cats named Midge and Mooch—tabby mixes, who would come …

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself Interview: Emma Brooke

By in Blog, happiness & fun, love & relationships

This month we’re celebrating the upcoming launch of Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, a book about taming your inner critic that features 40 stories from Tiny Buddha contributors. 

Throughout September, you’ll have a chance to meet some of them through daily interviews here on the blog.

Today’s featured contributor is life coach Emma Brooke, a yogini with a passion for figuring out how people tick and using that to help them find space and clarity in their lives.

Her contribution for the book focuses on letting go of insecurities.

A little more about Emma…

1. Tell us

…

7 Ways to Cultivate a Deep Sense of Love for Yourself

By in Blog, love & relationships

“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” ~Buddha

I have struggled with a lack of self-love for most of my life. I’ve experienced feelings of guilt and shame on a regular basis and have constantly sought the approval of others. My father committed suicide when I was fourteen years old, and that shaped my feelings about myself.

It completely rocked my world and everything that I thought I knew. It happened at such a vulnerable age. I was on the verge of beginning high school, just going into the teenage years, and …

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself Interview: Joanna Z. Weston

By in Blog, happiness & fun, love & relationships

This month we’re celebrating the upcoming launch of Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, a book about taming your inner critic that features 40 stories from Tiny Buddha contributors. 

Throughout September, you’ll have a chance to meet some of them through daily interviews here on the blog.

Today’s featured contributor is life coach Joanna Z. Weston, who formerly struggled with depression and now helps others find a way out.

Her contribution for the book urges us to celebrate how far we’ve come in life instead of focusing on everything we think we lack or should have done by …

5 Effective Guidelines for Fair Fighting in a Conflicted World

By in Blog, love & relationships

“The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.” ~Pema Chodron

It happened today. Two minutes after announcing I was on lunch my coworker failed to pick up a call, letting it roll to my line. I angrily picked up the receiver and hustled through the call as fast as I could.

As soon as the call ended, my coworker apologized, and in a voice that almost fooled me as well, I answered, “That’s okay!”

It wasn’t okay. It upset me. I would really appreciate it if it didn’t happen again in the future.

These are all clear indications …

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself Interview: Elizabeth Garbee

By in Blog, love & relationships

This month we’re celebrating the upcoming launch of Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, a book about taming your inner critic that features 40 stories from Tiny Buddha contributors. 

Throughout September, you’ll have a chance to meet some of them through daily interviews here on the blog.

Today’s featured contributor is Elizabeth Garbee, a college student and regular Tiny Buddha reader who plays the violin.

Her contribution for the book urges us to stop clinging to people as a means of feeling we are loved.

A little more about Elizabeth…

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your

…

Create Your Life: Having Nothing Can Mean Having Everything

By in Blog, happiness & fun, meaning & passion

“Breakdowns can create breakthroughs. Things fall apart so things can fall together.” ~Unknown

A decade ago, as a nomadic adventure-seeker, I traveled and lived in Belize. I’ve always been a dream chaser, which means if I dream it, I start living it.

My twenty-year-old self was convinced living the island life in the soulful country of Belize was my dream and gateway to happiness.

After about a year of a major reality check—living on an island is very different than vacationing on an island! I felt totally empty. I felt like I had nothing.

Seriously, I had no job …

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself Interview: Jennifer Chrisman

By in Blog, happiness & fun, healthy habits, love & relationships

This month we’re celebrating the upcoming launch of Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, a book about taming your inner critic that features 40 stories from Tiny Buddha contributors. 

Throughout September, you’ll have a chance to meet some of them through daily interviews here on the blog.

Today’s featured contributor is Jennifer Chrisman, a psychologist, wife, and mother of two, who believes wholeheartedly in the healing power of compassion, tolerance, and human connection.

Her contribution for the book explores how we can stay connected to the belief that we deserve a life of love, instead of feeding our …

Be More Childlike: Life Can Be Beautiful If You Let It

By in Blog, happiness & fun

“Children see magic because they look for it.” ~Christopher Moore

Take a moment to close your eyes and imagine a beautiful, warm, sunny Sunday afternoon. Where could you possibly be—at home, on a beach, or waiting at a bus stop?

Which of these three scenarios is the most appealing? Most of us would probably choose the beach. However, true enlightenment can be found in all three.

Recently I was waiting for a bus. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny Sunday afternoon. At the bus stop were three ladies. One was and elderly lady in her twilight years, the other was …

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself Interview: Jeanine Nicole Cerundolo

By in Blog

This is second week of a month-long promotion for Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, a book about taming your inner critic that features 40 stories from Tiny Buddha contributors. 

Over the next month, you’ll have a chance to meet some of them contributors through daily interviews here on the blog.

Today’s featured contributor is Jeanine Nicole Cerundolo, a yoga instructor and bliss coach who’s on a mission to nurture a world in which we are each more self-affirming through an abundance of self-love, more confident in the power of our dreams, and more fulfilled in the process …

Try This If You’re Struggling to Find Your Passion

By in Blog, meaning & passion

“Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman

For the past three years, I’ve been in the throes of a quarter-life crisis.

Just a few months into my first cubicle-bound job, I had the life-altering realization that most everyone comes to eventually: I’m going to work a job every day for the next forty-plus of my life. If I want to make that enjoyable, I need to be living my purpose and engaging my passions.

Knowing that life is …

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself Interview: Erin Lanahan

By in Blog, happiness & fun, healthy habits, love & relationships

This is second week of a month-long promotion for Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, a book about taming your inner critic that features 40 stories from Tiny Buddha contributors. 

Over the next month, you’ll have a chance to meet some of them contributors through daily interviews here on the blog.

Today’s featured contributor is Erin Lanahan, a holistic health coach who formerly struggled with her relationship with herself and her body, and finding purpose and meaning in her life.

Her contribution for the book urges us to change our perception of rejection so we can learn, grow, …

4 Ways to Fulfill Your Needs While Helping Others

By in Blog, healthy habits, love & relationships

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” ~Dalai Lama

“Take care of the self.” This was the last line of an email I received from a professor many years ago. It was in response to my message explaining that I would not attend class that week because my brother-in-law had been killed by a drunk driver.

I had expected a standard offer of sympathy and a summary of the assignments I would be missing. Indeed, my professor offered condolences for my loss, but then he told me not to worry about …

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself Interview: Charlie Tranchemontagne

By in Blog, happiness & fun, love & relationships, mindfulness & peace

This is second week of a month-long promotion for Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, a book about taming your inner critic that features 40 stories from Tiny Buddha contributors. 

Over the next month, you’ll have a chance to meet some of them through daily interviews here on the blog.

Today’s featured contributor is education technician Charlie Tranchemontagne.

His contribution for the book focuses on taking off our masks so we can be more authentic in our relationships.

A little more about Charlie…

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your self-love journey.

My self-love journey didn’t really …

The Secret to Happiness: 5 Tips to Feel More Grateful and Blissful

By in Blog, happiness & fun

“The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.” ~William Penn 

Did you know that gratitude has been scientifically proven to strengthen your immune system and make you happier and more optimistic, as well as less lonely and isolated? It’s true, and although science has just recently caught up to this fact, the Buddhists have known it for years.

On a recent trip to Bhutan, my husband and I climbed to the Bumdra monastery and camped at 11,500 feet. The air was pure and clean, and the views were spectacular. And yet when …

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself Interview: Amyra Mah

By in Blog, happiness & fun, love & relationships, mindfulness & peace

It’s day four in the pre-order promotion for Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, a book about taming your inner critic that features 40 stories from Tiny Buddha contributors. 

Over the next month, you’ll have a chance to meet some of them through daily interviews here on the blog.

Today’s featured contributor is Amyra Mah of unusualwisdom.com. Having formerly struggled with depression, addiction, and body image issues, she now works as a spiritual coach, addiction therapist, intuitive counselor, writer, and blogger.

Her contribution for the book focuses on feeling our feelings instead of running away from them (and …

3 Obstacles to Living in the Now (and How to Get Blissfully Present Again)

By in Blog, mindfulness & peace

“Never underestimate the desire to bolt.” ~ Pema Chodron

I have been trying this present moment awareness thing for a while now, about two years, and I have to say, it’s not going quite like I expected.

Somehow I got it in to my silly little head that after a while I would stop bolting from reality and I would just be present all the time, with complete effortlessness. Wrong.

And if there was any lingering doubt as to the flaw in my plan, I then read a number of accounts by people who have been practitioners of present moment …

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself Interview: An Bourmanne

By in Blog, happiness & fun, love & relationships

It’s day three in the pre-order promotion for Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, a book about taming your inner critic that features 40 stories from Tiny Buddha contributors. 

Over the next month, you’ll have a chance to meet some of them through daily interviews here on the blog.

Today’s featured contributor is An Bourmanne of ownyourlifecoaching.com. Born in Belgium, she now lives in Brussels where she works as a consultant-coach in a financial services company and mentors people pleasing perfectionists so they can do their thing, unapologetically.

Her contribution for the book explores how we often get …

What Would Happen If You Did? (And Other Questions That Can Change Your Life)

By in Blog, change & challenges, happiness & fun, healthy habits, meaning & passion

“If it’s still in your mind, it is worth taking the risk.” ~ Paulo Coelho

I felt stuck. Why could I never achieve anything? Why could I never do anything tangible?

Everyone else seemed to have no problem. You see, my friends could both work hard and grow themselves at the same time.

Not me.

I felt stuck.

Every day when I came home after work I was just exhausted. I had no energy whatsoever to study my Chinese Mandarin (a long-term project of mine) or to go for a jog in the nearby forest. All my energy had been …

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself Interview: Alison Hummel

By in Blog, love & relationships

Today marks day two of the pre-order promotion for Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself, a book about taming your inner critic that features 40 stories from Tiny Buddha contributors. 

Over the next month, you’ll have a chance to meet some of the book’s contributors through daily interviews here on the blog.

Today’s featured contributor is Alison Hummel of the thedreamadventure.com. Formerly an alcoholic who felt like an outsider looking in, Alison now works offers “Dream Catchers Sessions” to help people live their own “Dream Adventures.”

Her contribution for the book focuses on accepting ourselves and finding gifts …