Relaxation

“Disneyland is the star, everything else is the supporting role.” ~Walt Disney “Just having a quick shower, I’ll text you before I leave x” I’d received that text only ten minutes ago, so what the hell was wrong with me? There I was standing in my kitchen like a mad woman, having a panic attack.

“Wherever you are, be there. Lifestyle is not something we do; it is something we experience. And until we learn to be there, we will never master the art of living well.” ~Jim Rohn  I have been told again and again that our time is our most precious asset. But I disagree. The blogosphere is filled

One of the paradoxes of learning to cope with anxiety is that it often means you’re prepared for chaos and crisis. When everyone else is thrown by the uncertainty, you’re strangely at home because it is not as far from your day-to-day lived reality as it is to their’s. I often joke that at a

“Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.” ~Brené Brown Saying no is difficult for me. Whether it be to a loved one or a stranger, work tasks or a new hobby, something I enjoy or despise, saying no just plain sucks. So instead I

“The dark night of the soul is a journey into light, a journey from your darkness into the strength and hidden resources of your soul.” ~Caroline Myss Growing up in a household with both parents, my grandmothers, and pets, people often assumed we were the picture-perfect family. I participated in dance classes, sports, and we

“You never know what someone is going through. Be kind, always.” ~Unknown A few months back I was at the park and passed a family taking what looked like holiday photos. The mom’s hair was perfectly coifed, dad was nicely shaven and looking quite dapper, and four kids stood smiling between them—all wearing matching khaki

“Emotional pain cannot kill you but running from it can. Allow. Embrace. Let yourself feel. Let your yourself heal.” ~Vironika Tugaleva I was nine years old, sitting on the couch with my dad, watching a Very Brady Christmas (on my sister’s birthday, December 20th) when he first molested me. Terror, confusion, disbelief, and shame comingled

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” ~Henry David Thoreau We all make trades in life. We trade our time. We trade our energy. We trade our hard-earned money. We trade our attention. Many of us move through life in constant motion, never stopping to reflect on where that

“This is a moment of suffering. Suffering is part of life. May I be kind to myself in this moment. May I give myself the compassion I need.” ~Kristen Neff Your best friend just lost her husband and her mother within five days of one another. Her husband was terminally ill. Her mother was eighty-six.

“Fear, uncertainty, and discomfort are your compasses toward growth.” ~Celestine Chua Uncertainty can be the glue for anxiety if you allow it. One thing can snowball into another and soon you are looking at the road ahead, absolutely dumbfounded about which way to go. It shakes us to our core; it disrupts our security, our

“To change your life, you need to change your priorities.” ~Mark Twain Every year, come December, I used to obsess about air pollution. This was the time when my husband and I would take our young daughter to Poland, the country of my birth, to spend Christmas with the extended family. There my anxieties would

There’s no denying we’re living in stressful times, marked by uncertainty and suffering for many. We’ve all been through a lot this year. We were physically disconnected for months, and now many of us feel more divided than ever—politically, economically, and ideologically. Many of us are grappling with grief, stress, and anxiety, while others are

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ~Mahatma Gandhi I’d like to bring it one step further and say, “Happiness is when what you feel, what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Some people may argue that there is no

As the Black Lives Matter movement gains traction across the nation and the world, many of us are being called to use the skills we’ve learned to improve ourselves⁠—such as speaking our truth, setting boundaries, and breaking the people-pleasing pattern⁠—to improve our communities, our countries, and our world. Those of us who are allies are

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~Martin Luther King Jr. A few months back, before the pandemic upended life for all of us, I went through one of those times when I could do nothing but sit at home and rest for my health’s sake. I’d recently

“You are very powerful provided you know how powerful you are.” ~Yogi Bhajan For most of my life, I felt that life was happening to everyone else and I just got to watch. Someone else’s parents came to see their high school graduation and celebrated with them. I walked home alone. Other people went to

“You can’t be fearful and grateful simultaneously.” ~Tony Robbins It may be challenging to step into a state of gratitude during a time of tumult and fear. But now, more than ever, we need to practice grace. The practice of gratitude can lift us out from under the heavy weight of our unsavory thoughts and

I’ve often wished I found meditation much earlier in life. Like in high school, where I once burst a stress ball from excessive squeezing, shooting little beans or beads or whatever filled the ball in every direction around my overloaded desk. Or in college when the triad of my depression, anxiety, and bulimia began to

“The positive cannot exist without the negative.” ~Alan Watts My heart was empty. It had never felt that empty before. Sometimes I felt a gap gnawing at my chest making everything around me feel like half of a whole. I felt like a piece of me had died. I painted my childhood bedroom grey that

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” ~Marcel Proust I was asleep for the first thirty-two years of my life. I was jolted awake when my daughter was born unable to sustain her own breath. I sat beside her in the NICU helplessly every day for

“Everything you ever wanted is one step outside your comfort zone.” ~Unknown We’ve all seen this quote or similar ones. All the magic, growth, and transformation seem to happen there. Not everything that happens outside the comfort zone is magical though. So, when we go wandering, leaving the safe shores, we also need to be

“The master has failed more time than the apprentice has even attempted.” ~Proverb There’s no prize for coming last. But that doesn’t mean it holds no value at all. We’re so obsessed with not measuring up to expectations that we can deny ourselves the permission to take chances. So many of us are risk averse.

“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.” ~Brené Brown When I was fourteen years old, I vividly remember the first time I put my fingers down my throat and made myself puke. I remember feeling fat, ugly, unworthy, and like I

“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” ~Lucius Annaeus Seneca When I was twenty-four my best friend died suddenly in a car accident. She was like a sister to me, so this plunged me into a deep depression. I had struggled with depression since I was about fourteen, but it became much worse

“Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon.” ~Ikkyu I was the kid who didn’t like to sleep. In nursery school, I would pretend to be asleep at nap time, while the other kids were sleeping. I’ve always thought life was full

“It’s not a bad idea to occasionally spend a little time thinking about things you take for granted. Plain everyday things.” ~Evan Davis Let me go back in time. Not too long, but only six months ago when the virus outbreak hadn’t occurred yet. I was cursing the traffic, complaining the beer in a bar

“Sometimes it takes an overwhelming breakdown to have an unbelievable breakthrough.” ~Unknown I had hit rock bottom. Now that means different things to different people, so let me explain what my rock bottom meant. I’ll start with my physical health. I was underweight, about twenty-five pounds. My face looked gaunt and scrawny. I was hypertensive,

“We all have everything we need within us to create our fullest potential.” ~Abraham Maslow Did you grow up with a critical, distant, or ignorant mother? She probably made sure that your physical needs were covered, but she never noticed or understood your emotional needs. If she was anything like my mum, she may even

This writing is in memory of my father, who—without knowing it—helped make me the man I am today. When I was a young boy, my father seemed bigger than life, like most fathers seem to young sons. I looked at him in the same way that I imagine my son Jeremiah looked at me at

This post contains a giveaway. If you’re reading this in your inbox, click here to enter on the site! Though life has become a lot less busy for many these days, I suspect a lot of us have incredibly busy minds given all the uncertainty we’re facing. It’s easy to get caught up in worst-case