Children Who Were Never Understood at Home


Has it ever occurred to you that maybe your life isn’t changing because you’re holding yourself back but don’t know it?
Like maybe there’s something in your conditioning or a subconscious belief that’s preventing you from doing something that could bring you the change you seek?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot since I took Nadia Colburn’s five-day mindful writing challenge because one of the prompts elicited a profound insight about why I’ve struggled to create the change I want most in life.
Part of the prompt was “Don’t go off somewhere else,” and after a brief meditation at …

“Grief is not something that ever goes away. You just learn to accommodate it so you can move forward in your life and over time it gets less intense, at least most of the time.” ~David Baxter
Grief is a natural response to loss. Loss can mean the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, the loss of a job or home, or a response to trauma, abuse, or betrayal. Grief shows itself differently in different people. But the common denominator is that grief goes deep, and grieving is painful.
Around six years ago, my life …

“You are not your feelings. You just experience them. Anger, sadness, hate, depression, fear. This is the rain you walk in. But you don’t become the rain. You know the rain will pass. You walk on. And you remember the soft glow of the sun that will come again.” ~Matt Haig
Being a relationship-oriented person all my life, I’ve found it fascinating and frustrating how easy it is to feel annoyed with one’s spouse—the person we are supposed to feel most happy to be around.
I used to feel quite annoyed with my husband on a nearly daily basis. But …

“The only way out is through.” ~Robert Frost
When I reflect on the past fifteen years of my life, I sometimes joke about my struggles to lighten the weight of what I’ve endured. “What struggle don’t I have?” I’d say, laughing, but beneath that humor is a real story of pain, burnout, and learning to rebuild myself, piece by piece.
I faced chronic pain, anxiety, emotional abuse, two burnouts, long COVID, and emotional eating—all before I hit my thirties. It’s been a long journey, and while I still have days where I’m not as happy as I want to …

Find the answers and insights that are waiting for you in stillness and silence. Take the free 5-day meditation and writing challenge here.
Hi friends! Today, I’m thrilled to share with you an empowering five-day meditation and writing challenge from Tiny Buddha contributor (and this month’s site sponsor) Nadia Colburn.
Founder of the online creative writing school Align Your Story, Nadia is a poet, memoirist, and yogi who has a talent for helping people access their creative voice on a deeper level. And that’s exactly what she’s done with this challenge.
Each day’s fifteen-minute recording will guide you through a short meditation, share an evocative poem, and lead you through a quick writing exercise inspired by that day’s piece.
When she first told …

“If you don’t give your mind and body a break, you’ll break. Stop pushing yourself through pain and exhaustion and take care of your needs.” ~Lori Deschene
For forty-five minutes, I lay on my yoga mat in child’s pose, unable to move.
The exhaustion in my body felt like a thousand kilos, and the ache of failure pricked my eyes with tears.
Despite all my early morning runs, after-work bootcamps, and restricted meals, my body did not look like the bikini models I saw on Instagram.
Despite all my energy, efforts, and attention, my romantic relationship had

“Perfectionism doesn’t make you feel perfect. It makes you feel inadequate.” ~Maria Shriver
My name is Steffi, and I am a recovering perfectionist. This might come as a surprise to those who know me because I don´t fit the stereotype. The inside of my bag is as messy as my hair, and I always give off the impression that I left the house five minutes too late (which is usually true). My wardrobe is not color-coordinated, and I haven’t organized a flawless birthday party yet.
It also goes against how I have always seen myself. My greatest life skill is …

“When things change inside of you, things change around you.” ~Unknown
When I was twenty-three, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. It was not until two years later, when I stopped taking medication, that I discovered I had a mental health disorder linked to my menstrual cycles.
Meditating daily has been foundational for my well-being. It helps me manage the physical expressions of anxiety and bad moods. It allows me to be more accepting of myself and grateful for the many positives in my life.
But it is the awareness journey that mindfulness has paved over these last …

“Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there.” ~Deepak Chopra
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the chaos of daily life, longing for a sense of calm and clarity? That was me a year ago, trapped in a cycle of overwork and unhealthy habits. It wasn’t until I rediscovered meditation, particularly Vipassana, that I began to find true peace and transformation. Here’s my story and how Vipassana changed my life and how it could change yours too.
I’ve always been drawn …