One of my favorite songs at the moment is “I Am Resilient” by Rising Appalachia. I love the appeal to open our hearts and minds to the present and be willing to show up for ourselves in the middle of chaos. Even when we feel like we are too small to make a difference, if
I was not raised in an environment where conflict was encouraged. When conflict did arise, particularly in the power dynamic of father and child, it did not go well. I did not have the skills to engage in meaningful conversation during conflict and I resorted to anger and rebellion. My father did not have the
Your body can tell you a lot if you listen to it. It tells you when it’s hungry and when it’s full. It tells you what food tastes delicious and what food doesn’t taste so good. It tells you what food helps you feel energized and what food depletes you. It tells you when you’re
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,
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
Last week I wrote about the ethical precept of nonviolence, or Ahimsa from the teachings of yoga. This week I have been practicing with the second precept of “truthfulness,” or Satya. You really can’t practice truthfulness well without nonviolence, so it’s convenient that they come right after the other. But even when you speak with
This week in the yoga classes I teach, I have been talking about the ethical practice of non-violence, or Ahimsa as it’s called in Sanskrit. Non-violence is at the heart of the teachings in yoga and provides the foundation for the other guidelines. Regardless of its historical or religious underpinnings, I think most people would
The past week held many lessons in letting go and required the willingness and courage to be vulnerable. Every day I was given the opportunity to come face-to-face with people and circumstances that, if I were to approach them with mindfulness and Non-Violent Communication (NVC), would ask me to give up my agenda and be
As we move into November and the holiday season, we begin to think about Thanksgiving and the practice of giving thanks. Of course, giving thanks doesn’t have to be a one holiday practice. Giving thanks can be a daily practice that can reap a wide variety of social, psychological, and physical health benefits. Since you’ll
I have been reading and practicing with some teachings on mindful speech recently and it seems to be an area of great difficulty for most people. I know it is for me and it is something that I am sure I will work on for the rest of my life. What is mindful communication? Mindful
