Living a cling-free life is not about giving up, being discouraged, or being apathetic. It does not mean that change doesn't hurt, sometimes deeply. Letting go of clinging to life staying the same when, in fact, it is always changing is the only sane solution. Be open to the life that is actually happening and live in a world of unlimited possibility. This is the path to freedom.
Before I taught mindful eating, I had been teaching mindfulness in both the tradition of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Theravadan Buddhism since 1999. I clearly understood the importance of mindfulness in relieving the suffering that all human beings experience just because they are alive in this world. However, teaching mindful eating since 2007 and being
Inspired by the trip I’m on, I woke up this morning wanting to explore how to get along with people of different backgrounds, beliefs, opinions, cultures, gender, etc. There are plenty of examples in our daily news feed and nightly news shows of how we don’t get along. While some of this information is important,
I’m in Edinburgh, Scotland this week and enjoying “the beautiful sunny weather”—as the gentlemen exclaimed at the airport as he greeted us. That is a joke, of course, as it has rained every day. But, it has also been extremely beautiful—lots of lush green, friendly people, and wonderful sites of ancient architecture, as well as
While everyone else was deeply relaxing into savasana (the corpse pose) at the end of the yoga class I taught, I was sitting on my cushion feeling angry. It had been a fully balanced and relaxing posture practice so my body felt pretty awesome. But, there was definitely a shit storm going on in my
Home has mostly positive connotations for people. It might not be the home that you grew up in but the home that you have created for yourself. Either way, we seek to create a home that gives us a sense of peace, comfort, and familiarity. We like to have something that we can count on.
In yoga class this week I discussed the concept of “nonexcess,” the yogic philosophy called Brachmacharya. Certainly, it is not difficult to see how much our modern lives are consumed with the opposite—excess! We live in a “more is better,” “all-you-can-eat,” “get more for your money,” “buy the new shiny thing” world. When times were
Last week I was leading a retreat in Brazil for Eat for Life Teachers-In-Training and members of the Centro Brasileiro de Mindful Eating. We carefully went through the orientation and ten-week program to talk about important concepts and review the challenges that can arise when people take the class. At the end when everyone was
I just arrived in Brazil to teach a five day professional training on my Eat for Life Program. To my surprise and delight, my hotel was right by an urban park. It was a Sunday and there were people engaging in soccer, gymnastics, strolling, running, strength training, dog training, kid chasing, and more. Everyone looked
About a month ago a good friend got in my car to go to the gym and immediately blurted out “Can I ask you a personal question?” I said “Sure,” being pretty open to people about most things in my life. It turns out that she wanted to know how much I weighed. To her
