Keeping Company with Yourself
Compassion means to suffer with. When a small child breaks an arm, you don't decide to feel for them. You hold their hand, you say something steadying, and it takes a little off the edge of…
Writing
My Favorite Books: A Collection of Spiritual Classics and Modern Wisdom
The Alchemist was everywhere when I started what I think of as my real search. My brother Scott had died in 1991, not long before. The death of someone close knocks the wind out of anyone.…
Why is Emotional Intelligence Worth Developing?
The old 1950s paradigm that a leader must ignore or suppress her/his emotional urges has been thoroughly discredited over the last 20 years of research. Instead, research shows, time and…
The Practice of Self-Acceptance
Below, is an email exchange I had with a 40-something Ashtangi who read a blog I wrote a few years ago , reached out to me this morning to share what a struggle it it has been to accept…
Fasting from the News
Over the last year, I've made it a point not to turn on the news. I started noticing that I became sleepless with anxiety from the content coming in about ISIS. I realize that for many,…
The Space Between Stimulus & Response
The psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, was someone who endured the most appalling of atrocities and, at the same time, didn’t end up a victim because of them. He famously…
To Everything There is a Season
Five Elements Series: Creating Transformational Breakthroughs
There is a pattern for the process of transformation. There's actually a movement to transformation, and it has one of two directions. One direction is downward. Another goes up. The up…
Living in the Here & Now
Like most mind/body therapies, mindfulness isn't exactly new. Its roots are old, but for decades, mainstream culture viewed it as alternative or plain weird. Then came a perfect storm.…
A Passionate Life
There are three yogis in a cave. They’ve been there, practicing meditation for the last 10 years. Around the tenth year, something moves by the mouth of the cave. One yogi murmurs, “I think…
An Approach to Ashtanga that Supports Aging & Fatigue
Below, is an email exchange I had with a friend in the Ashtanga community, someone who is struggling to find a way into her practice such that it supports her fatigue and depression. I…
Five Element Series Part 6: Fire Element
Fire brings heat to the body, mind, and spirit. The range runs from warmth to desire to rage. In its milder forms it shows up as the warmth and generosity we bring to the people we love. In…