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How Expressing Myself Helped Me Release Chronic Pain

By in Blog, change & challenges, meaning & passion

“Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.” ~ Rumi

It can be frightening to experience physical or mental pain. It’s not something anyone wants to deal with; nobody wants to race against the clock hoping that some future experience will take away their pain. Nobody wants to question the purpose of anything, like seeing a friend or even traveling, just because they feel their pain will ruin it.

During my freshman year at college, I woke up one day with horrific nerve pain in my legs and in my pelvic area. What was this? My instinct told …

In These Rooms, a Poem by Taylor Lane

By in Community Creations

I wrote this poem after one of my 12-step meetings, because it was important that I manifest the miraculous connection that we all shared in these rooms:

Coffee stains blend into the Berber carpet, adding more brown blotches with each passing year. Yellow paint chips break away from the walls that once held them, leaving behind blank shapes that morph into imaginary things.

The lucky ones who enter these rooms don’t notice the cosmetic imperfections, because what happens here is more powerful than any of us can describe.

Ego defenses melt away, remaining outside of these walls.

Anger has a …

Soul Art by Stephanie Reigle

By in Community Creations

This painting is titled “Self Healing.” I painted it with the intention and healing reiki energy to look within yourself for self-love, strength, and courage to heal.

Everything we ever need in our lives is already within us. Using this painting in your daily meditation practice will help remind you to look within and trust that you are whole and everything you need is already within you. You just have to allow yourself to tap into the healing energy!

For the Men Who Are Going Through A Lot

By in Fun & Inspiring

How I Overcame Childhood Emotional Neglect and Learned to Meet My Needs

By in Blog, love & relationships

“In order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did and why you no longer need to feel it.” ~Mitch Albom

“Your feelings are valid,” said my life coach during one of our sessions, as we were working on an issue I had with my parents.

I had to do a double take. My feelings are valid? She actually accepts them as they are?

Eventually it started to dawn on me: My parents never validated my feelings. This sudden revelation earlier this year threw me into a dark period of my life.

When I was …

When You Notice Your Mental Health Declining…

By in Fun & Inspiring

Other People Liking You Is a Bonus

By in Fun & Inspiring

Let’s Get Real: Why I’m Done Pretending to Have It All Together

By in Blog, letting go

“If you’re not really happy, don’t fake a smile on my behalf. I’d rather you spill your guts with tears every day until your smile is real. Because I don’t care about the show, the disguise, the politically correctness. If you’re in my life, I want you to be in your own skin.” ~Stephanie Bennet-Henry

This is the story of my inner child, the insecure part of myself that I am ready to respect and recognize.

My thoughts and views are as follows: I’m not a superior mom, probably just an average psychologist, and am way too sensitive about …

Instead of Getting Defensive…

By in Fun & Inspiring

I Wish You All Peace and So Much Love

By in Fun & Inspiring

5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Trying to Lose Weight

By in Blog, healthy habits

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

I struggled to maintain a healthy weight for a large part of my life.

Had I known these five things before my weight-loss journey, I would have had a much easier time shedding the pounds and would have realized that weight loss isn’t a magic fix-all solution to my issues.

If you’re trying to lose weight, perhaps some of my lessons will be helpful to you.

Here we go…

1. This has to be for you, not someone else.

Growing up as a closeted …

People Who Say “Go Big or Go Home…”

By in Fun & Inspiring

Why I’ve Decided to Accept Myself Instead of Trying to ‘Fix’ Myself

By in Blog, change & challenges

“No amount of self-improvement can make up for any lack of self-acceptance.” ~Robert Holden

In our culture, we are constantly bombarded with the newest and best things to improve ourselves and/or our quality of life. Unfortunately, this leads to the belief that we need to obtain some sort of thing before we could accept ourselves as we are.

When I was a child, I constantly battled with my weight. By the age of fourteen, I was 225 pounds (mind you, I am 5’2,” on a good day).

Fortunately for me, a doctor pointed out the concern of childhood obesity. …

The Anchoring: Audio Visual Meditation by Anna Shelley

By in Community Creations

The Anchoring is an interpretation of what seems to be a growing global pattern: We are collectively increasing our awareness of our impact on our land and gravitating toward ancient practices from the many indigenous cultures of the Earth. By returning to these practices that help sustain our environment, we’re once again becoming honorable custodians of the Earth. You can hear this concept reflected in the high ambient cosmic melody, which gradually merges with a lower more earthy melody.

As with all my music, I improvised this in one take. All I did was set the intention of anchoring the

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Before You Argue with Someone…

By in Fun & Inspiring

I Like People Who Get Excited About…

By in Fun & Inspiring

How Going Offline for 10 Days Healed My Anxiety

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

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a while, including you.” ~Anne Lamott

I wake up anxious a little past 4am. My heart is beating faster than usual, and I’m aware of an unsettled feeling, like life-crushing doom is imminent. For a moment, I wonder if I just felt the first waves of a massive earthquake. Or perhaps those were gunshots I just heard in the distance.

But no, it’s just another night in my bedroom in the Bay Area, and everything is utterly fine. But somehow, my central nervous system isn’t so sure.

The problem is …

Peacock Feather by Sneha

By in Community Creations

I am very close to religion and nature. I feel that both of them are really interconnected. Both give me a sense of hope in days of distress. Whenever I feel upset or anxious, I pray or go out for a walk in the park to observe the trees, birds and lake. These things really help me feel lighter, thus my upset/anxious mood gets a lot better.

I recently spotted a Peacock in the park and managed to save one of its feathers. It was the most beautiful feather I had seen, and it immediately lifted my creative spirits. I …

Karmic Eye by Claire Jones

By in Community Creations

“Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Understanding the workings of cause and effect allows one to make sense of life. If you understand and believe all your actions have consequences, then the common sense thing to do is to pay attention to those actions.

This vibrant piece is my interpretation of how the invisible threads of cause and effect reverberate through the ether.

A practicing Buddhist of twenty-five years, I adhere to the law of cause and effect or karma. I live my life grounded in awareness, clarity …

Take It One Day at a Time

By in Fun & Inspiring