“The finest thing in the world is knowing how to belong to oneself.” -Michel de Montaigne
I am convinced that the most significant and meaningful change we can make within all of our relationships begins with our foundational ability to relate to our selves. This teaching is ancient and lies at the heart of every spiritual discipline. The Buddha summed it up saying: “You yourself, as much as...
“It’s also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that’s sitting right here, right now… with its aches and its pleasure is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, and fully alive.” -Pema Chodron
One of my favorite movie scenes comes from the old Wim Wenders’ film “Wings of Desire” when Peter Falk is speaking to the air, to an angel he senses next to him. He bubbles...
“I do not ask to know, I do not ask to see, I ask only to be used.” -Sufi Prayer
Today is my last day of my last year of the forties. Tomorrow is the first day of a new decade for me and so it seems only right that I start with the beginner’s mind. These last weeks of my 49thyear have been a jumble of success and pain. I have been recognized outwardly as a success by large groups of...
I don’t know why I get so turned on by the things I do, which are so weird I am not even going to say what they are. I have this same fantasies over and over again. In fact, I can’ t even get turned on at all when I block my mind from thinking of this fantasy. Then I just feel nothing. I am so embarrassed I would never tell my partner about it. What should I do?
Thanks for asking this...
“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.” ~Chinese Proverb
For the first time in weeks I am not experiencing searing pain in my back. My left shoulder injury was corrected today by a the skillful manipulation of a great chiropractor and as I walked out the door, I wept with relief. Over the last few weeks, I have come to value feeling well above all else. My compassion...
I have written more than 120 articles about touch but have just recently learned its powerful healing effect firsthand. The last several days, I have been wracked with a painful pinched nerve in my upper back that has exhausted me. My best healing practices haven’t been working and the amount of energy that managing the pain has taken up has left me bereft. Last night, even sleep evaded me. The...
by Anastasia Strgar
At the dawn of my 23rd year I find myself on a whole new life track. This does not have anything to do with going on a crazy cross country adventure or skydiving over the Grand Canyon or anything like that (although that’d be awesome); it rather, has more to do with finally freeing myself from old negative thinking patterns about life and even more so, myself.
The last half...
Relationship Bootcamp Week Four“There is no other physical act at our disposal that carries the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of making love, especially with someone you love.” -Unknown
No one really understands sex, but if you are lucky, you get to spend years coming to grips with your erotic self and learning how to share and enhance the pleasure it brings. A good way...
by Kristin Neff
The golden rule tells us that we should treat others as we would want them to treat us. Maybe so, but hopefully we won’t treat them even half as badly as we treat ourselves.
“You’re so lame!”
“What a screw-up!”
“How can you ever show your face in public again!”
Would you talk this way to a friend — or even to a stranger, for that matter? Of course not. (Or at least I hope not!)...
I’ve been keeping a journal for the last few months in which I write a short reflection about my day and what I’ve learned and then list things I’m grateful for. It’s a way to keep me authentic and thinking about my daily experience. At times when I’m in a dark place I merely look through the journal and read about how far I’ve come in my personal growth quest. Last night, however, I tried...
by Elizabeth Spannuth
I have a new age-type friend that loves to tell me what to do. It is always under the guise of love and “divine guidance,” but it still feels like it did when my older sister would boss me around as a kid. She speaks with such absolute authority that her opinion is the only valid one that sometimes I get swept up in it, just as I used to do with my older sister. Yes! Eating...
by Anastasia Strgar
If today were the last day that you ever had on this earth, who would you want to be with? What would you tell them? And would anything that may happen really matter?
As human beings with advanced technologies and complex brains that are both blessings and curses, it’s easy for us to take this life for granted. It starts with little things… We take our daily cleansing rituals...
