I began practicing yoga and meditation in 1970 when I was seventeen years old.
I practiced in my small bedroom at one end our family’s long New York City apartment. My room was next to the kitchen. My parents, brother, …
“Good enough is the new perfect.” ~Becky Beaupre Gillispie
Taking another look through the treasure trove that is Tiny Buddha’s quote archive, I realized that there’s actually no category for quotes on “balance.” Because I’m interested in (read: slightly …
“The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.” ~Pema Chodron
Forgiveness is good, right? I don’t mean in a heal the planet kind of way—I mean in a selfish, me me me kind of way.
We want to …
“To be alive is to totally and openly participate in the simplicity and elegance of here and now.” ~Donald Altman
Embodied presence probably sounds superfluous. How else would we be present but in the body? If we leave our bodies, …
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
When we hear someone speak about faith, we usually expect to hear about some kind of subjective encounter with supernatural forces. In …
“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
I recently treated myself to a retreat in the mountains, with the intention of pulling out of the busyness of every day life so that I could spend time
“Serenity comes when you trade expectations for acceptance.” ~Unknown
Damn lizard brain, I hate you sometimes. Why do you always have this thirst for more? Why must you have such impossibly high expectations for everything?
It’s good to have standards, …
“If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” ~Mary Engelbreit
My best friend called me on the phone last night. Of course, it’s not unusual to get a call …
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~Dalai Lama
When things don’t go as planned, is your go-to explanation that it’s because you did something wrong, or because there’s something …
“Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.” ~Henry David Thoreau
Authenticity is a buzzword these days. We hear all kinds of advice on how to live it, breathe it, and get more of it. Maybe this is …
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and realize that prisoner was you.” ~Lewis B. Smedes
For a long time, I had a stressful relationship with my dad. We had a falling out after I was diagnosed with Anorexia …
“Life is a process of becoming. A combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.” ~Anais Nin
I bought …
“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” ~Ambrose Bierce
I once had a much-cherished friend who meant the world to me. The problem was that we were both short-tempered individuals and …
“What other people think of me is none of my business.” ~Wayne Dyer
“You’re too quiet.”
This comment and others like it have plagued me almost all my life. I don’t know how many times I’ve been told …
“Happiness is really a deep harmonious inner satisfaction and approval.” ~Francis Wilshire
It is only in the last few years of my life that I have felt genuinely happy and comfortable in my own skin.
Until my early thirties …
“Instead of complaining that the rose bush is full of thorns, be happy the thorn bush has roses.” ~Proverb
As a child, I was obsessed with other worlds—reading about alien planets, writing fantasy stories, or just playing video games. As …
“The whole life of a man is but a point in time; let us enjoy it.” ~ Plutarch
Take a moment to think about the last time you stared up into a clear night sky, one that was gorged with …
“Lean too much on other people’s approval and it becomes a bed of thorns.” ~Tehyi Hsieh
In the face of a conflict with another, the wisdom that most often brings me peace is the reminder that the only thing I …
“If you learn from a loss you have not lost.” ~Austin O’Malley
Every experience, including every loss, has something to teach us even when we are not up for a lesson.
Losing one of my pets has been a chance …
“We meet but briefly in life, if we touch each other with stardust, that is everything.” ~Unknown
We had baked chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy that evening. It was the kind of hearty meal that warms you up on …
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