How Anxiety Became My Guide, Not My Enemy
“You are not a mess. You are a feeling person in a messy world.” ~Glennon Doyle Melton
I have suffered with some type of anxiety for as long as I can remember.
The stomach aches at age five. Trips to the specialist, always coming back with no known cause.
The feelings in grade school of being different, of sticking out, or being mortally embarrassed to give a wrong answer.
As I got older, I strived for perfection in every way, so as to avoid criticism and feeling less-than. I was a people-pleaser to a fault, because to say NO would …
Connecting to the Sacred in the Chaos of Everyday Life
“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone—we find it with another.” ~Thomas Merton
Seth: When Aria and I decided to devote a year to encouraging one another in our mindfulness practice, we couldn’t have known what those twelve months had in store.
I had always enjoyed good health—“taken for granted good health” is more accurate—and suddenly I was faced with major health challenges of unknown origin. Countless trips to doctors and other professionals provided no explanation for my chronically low energy, nightly insomnia, digestive issues, vocal problems, and eventually a …
Radical Gratitude: How to Turn Your Pain into Peace
My journey to living in gratitude began in 2010. And let me say that up until that time, until I was age forty-five, I was a complainer, griper, and a whiner, with absolutely no reason to complain!
Luckily, I was saved from these very wasteful, counter-productive habits when I was given a blank journal one Thanksgiving season by a New Thought minister, who told us if we journaled five things we were grateful for forty days, our life would change exponentially for the better.
I dutifully wrote my gratitude lists, and oh my god, my life did change. It …
Why I Was a People-Pleaser and How I Stopped
“When you say “yes” to others, make sure you aren’t saying “no” to yourself.” ~Paulo Coehlo
For as long as I can remember I have been a people pleaser. I have prided myself on being well-liked, on saying yes and never saying no. I go out of my way for people even when it’s inconvenient for me. I have felt proud that a skill of mine is accommodating people so much so that I am needed. I avoid conflict; I make the jokes. I am happiest when I feel like people are happy with me.
For some time, this …
How to Reap the Benefits of Meditation Without Meditating
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own.” ~Bruce Lee
The benefits of meditation are far reaching and have been well known for centuries. However, the idea of formal meditation doesn’t sit well with some of us.
The idea of sitting cross-legged for extended periods and delving inward puts many of us off before we’ve even got started. Even the word “meditation” can be a very real barrier to entry for some. What a shame, as the many benefits of meditation can be good for us all.
Those benefits can include:
…The Skills You Need to Survive Stress When It Hits
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” ~William James
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt your world was ending? When the stress was overwhelming and you were so miserable, all you wanted to do was wallow in it and growl at the world from underneath the bed covers?
Or maybe you worry about things that might happen in the future. Do you see a minor accident on the road and have those flashes of imagining that your partner or your child died in a car crash?
Does your imagination …
How I Healed from Gaslighting and Found Self-Love After the Abuse
“I smile because I have survived everything the world has thrown at me. I smile because when I was knocked down, I got back up.” ~Unknown
Had you asked me only two years ago I wouldn’t have even been able to tell you what gaslighting was, nor that I had been a victim.
That’s the thing about gaslighting, it can sneak into your life unknowingly, and before you know it, it can lead you to breaking point where you are doubting your sanity and your life is spiralling out of control.
Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse, where an …
If You Want a Healthy Relationship, Value Yourself
“It’s all about falling in love with yourself and sharing that love with someone who appreciates you, rather than looking for love to compensate for a self-love deficit.” ~Eartha Kitt
I always found the concept of self-love embarrassing and horrifying. Just thinking about it would make me cringe. It felt completely wrong, and I didn’t understand what it was all about. Quite frankly, I felt disgusted by it and thought it was a new-age invention by self-centerd people who wanted to have more opportunities to be selfish.
Sure, I was young then, but I can now also see how that …