The Difference Between Being and Feeling Disrespected
Abuse is Like an Iceberg: The Cruelty and Pain You Never See
“What we see is only a fractional part of what really is.” ~Unknown
On the surface, in the public eye, it can seem trivial. It might look like the seemingly harmless teasing of a child or romantic partner, joking about words they have mispronounced or silly mistakes they have made. Inane mistakes like putting on a shirt backward, burning something in the oven, or losing their keys. Mistakes that everyone makes.
Abuse might sound like judgmental comments that appear to come from a place of compassion. Comments like:
My daughter doesn’t apply herself; she’s lazy, and I wish she …
Why I Broke Down Mentally While Striving for Work/Life Balance
“Maybe it’s time for the fighter to be fought for, the holder to be held, and the lover to be loved.” ~Unknown
I was breastfeeding my infant son when he bit me. That bite set the stage for a deeper unraveling then I could have ever imagined.
I unlatched him, handed him to my husband, and got in my car. As I was driving I began to lose the feeling in my hands and feet. My vision started to blur, and my breathing was fast and shallow. I was terrified I was not going to make it back home. …
3 Ways to Help Someone Who’s Recovering from Trauma
“Feeling safe in someone’s energy is a different kind of intimacy. That feeling of peace and protection is really underrated.” ~Vanessa Klas
I’m now fourteen months into my recovery from complex post-traumatic stress syndrome (c-PTSD aka complex trauma). I’d been in therapy for a number of years before I was diagnosed. I’d been struggling with interpersonal relationships and suffered from severe anxiety and depression, although you wouldn’t have guessed it from looking at me.
There are so many misconceptions about trauma, and before my diagnosis in 2020 I wasn’t very trauma aware.
I was your typical millennial thirty-something woman, …
How to Reclaim Your Joy After the Pandemic: 3 Things That Helped Me
DISCLAIMER: Though vaccines have allowed many of us to return to more normal activities, the pandemic isn’t over, and it’s still crucial that we all follow the evolving CDC guidelines to keep both ourselves and others safe.
“Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It’s the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events. Joy comes in sips, not gulps.” ~Sharon Draper
It was a rainy, late Sunday afternoon. The sun was already going down, and it was getting dark outside.
“How are you?”
“Oh, good. Nothing special. It’s quiet,” my …
The Lies We Tell Ourselves About Our Worth and How I’ve Let Them Go
“You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside and hustle for your worthiness.” Brene Brown
I was shaking and sweating with fear as I stood in front of my graduate professor for the final test of the semester. I was twenty-two years old at the time and felt like a fish out of water in my graduate program. I dreamed of being a professor, studying, and writing, but deep down I thought, “I’m not smart enough. I don’t fit in here. No one likes me.”
When my religion professor announced that the final wasn’t a …
How the Deathbed Meditation Can Bring You Clarity, Purpose, and Joy
“Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.” ~Socrates
There’s a lot of beauty and value in positive, light-and-love approaches to mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
But I challenge you to go a little deeper and to face something we’re all going to experience eventually:
I know this may sound macabre, bizarre, or downright unappealing. But hear me out!
There is a certain power and beauty in consciously visualizing and meditating on one’s death.
What could be more awakening and more revealing than putting your current self into the perspective of your dying self—into your last few …
Free Thich Nhat Hanh Audio Series: Living Without Stress or Fear
When you think of the teachers who’ve had the greatest impact on your life, who comes to mind?
For me, it’s the calm, the humble, the patient—the people who not only imparted useful life lessons but also embodied their message with their grace and equanimity. People I was fortunate enough to know personally, like my grandmother, and others I never met that brought me clarity and peace from afar, like the inimitable Thich Nhat Hanh.
Thay, as his students called him, was a Vietnamese Zen monk, author, poet, peacemaker, and founder of the “engaged Buddhism” movement—the act of leveraging our …
How Befriending My Anxiety and Depression Helped Ease My Pain
“‘What should I do?’ I asked myself. ‘Spend another two miserable years like this? Or should I truly welcome my panic?’ I decided to really let go of wanting to block, get rid of, or fight it. I would finally learn how to live with it, and to use it as support for my meditation and awareness. I welcomed it for real. What began to happen was that the panic was suspended in awareness. On the surface level was panic, but beneath it was awareness, holding it. This is because the vital first step to breaking the cycle of the …
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