This week, I’m sharing a tool that I work with more than any other when it comes to supporting clients in building skillfulness in mindful awareness and self-compassion. Mindful self-compassion is a practice that lands at the intersection of Eastern and Western psychology, blending the wisdom of the former with the scientific rigour of the latter. The…

The desire for connection is woven into our existence as human beings. On one hand, the need for love at the foundation of human existence can be understood from our evolution as a species- our reliance on each other has quite simply kept us alive. As such, it’s made good sense for love to lead…

This week, I’m sharing a window into my world of reading, which is my place of joy and also refuge. Time and time again, words, phrases, and books have delighted me, saved me. Anything I’ve ever created or written has and always will be the collection and connection of ideas that came before my own….

We seem to share in the human experience of suffering, most in particular, in our avoidance of pain. We tend to be afraid of the energy moving through our own bodies. Notions and beliefs, self-protective coping responses, or conditioning within a culture driven by speed and unquestioned definitions of success have taught us to disconnect from the sensory feedback inside of…

When we are stillwe feelwe hearwe see,sensinganewwith clarity. Sensinganewwith clarity,we meetour knowingof the mysteryof knowingnothing. When we are stillwe meet ourselvesas no self at all,no centre at all-anew,anew,anew. Seeking some sense of now,and all we hopedfor that to be,we find insteadthat we are free. Freebeyondsomething we thoughtwe ourselvescould understandin so tiny a wordas now.

No matter how different our circumstances may be, we are connected in the human experience of suffering. Once upon a time, in the midst of that ocean of suffering, I discovered an island of surrender. On that island of surrender I let myself be with the groundlessness of not knowing answers, which opened me to…

Do you sense the way that evening in Septemberbefore dark,first,gives itself to you? Be with the fullness of the ache in your heart-stay to discovera reciprocityfor September’s gift.  Let your heart break openas your grief gives wayto a gratitudeunbounded-your sincerestthank youin song with September. There, finally,thereis enough space to receive a gift meant to be too large to hold in the grasp of your hands.

We tend to be quite committed to categorizing our lives, others, and ourselves into tidy illusory boxes. Seasons rotate in the mind as winter, spring, summer, and fall. We live within our dichotomizations of approval or disapproval. We claim right or wrong, good or bad, and left or right. Certainly, our categorical shortcuts give us a necessary vantage point to…

In the midst of hurting,isn’t there alsoan embrace?An enduring friendlinessthat holds you? The birds are singingin concert with the wind.Playfully and timelessly,the world twists and twirls-your hurt amidst it all.Not as a mockery,but as an honouringof the truth of your hurting heart. All the while you,you are at home. Home in a world still dancing,reminding you to remembera boundless…

June brought a close to my twenties, and so in the spirit of marking time- as much as an illusion as it may be- thirty lessons for thirty years, in shapes of paradox and juxtaposition: (1) We have lots of time; we have little time. (2) Change happens slowly; change happens quickly.(3) Let people in; some people…