Taking responsibility for your emotional safety builds healthier and happier relationships. What does that mean? — We all want to feel emotionally safe, don’t we? But do you take active steps to create safety in your relationships? Or do you assume others will provide it for you? Emotional safety is the sense of trust you have with another person or group of people that allows you…

Use this simple mindfulness practice to make your life incredible — Often, we don’t see the world around us because we’re thinking too much, daydreaming, or zoning out. We’re in another world far, far away. Other times we’re overly concentrated on the task or project at hand. We only see what’s right in front of us—like we’re wearing blinders. We haven’t…

Can the two co-exist and help you on the awakening path? — You’ll find wildly different attitudes on self-help from those walking a spiritual path. My first spiritual teacher railed against psychotherapy. He felt disdain for self-help. He even looked down on newly emerging teachers of non-duality as being less than authentic. He pointed out that the great teachers of the past…

Can you trust non-duality teachers who create their own versions of spirituality? — Popular spiritual teacher and author of the bestselling The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle offers a simple definition of karma. He says: “…karma is the unconscious conditioning that runs your life.” But is that accurate? Has Tolle adapted his explanation of karma to make it more palatable to Westerners? And…

On establishing clear boundaries, letting go of excessive worry, and allowing yourself to rest — Whatever occurs in your life can be an opportunity for personal change if you’re committed to continuous growth. Take kittens, for example. In Hawaii, it’s smart to have an outdoor cat or two for reasons best left unexpressed. When I heard of two kittens headed for the pound, I was…

For people who endlessly give of themselves — In her time, Virginia Woolf struggled with stereotypical expectations of women and the expression of truth as a writer. These challenges congealed into a phantom Woolf called “The Angel in the House,” after the character in a well known poem of the day. “I will describe her as shortly as…

Is it time to redefine “abundance”? — A few months ago, I was flipping through my previous journals and found an Abundance List I created in 2018—a rather unusual thing for me to do. Why? Because I don’t believe in the “Law of Attraction,” the spiritual belief that positive or negative thoughts result in positive or negative…

Don’t fool yourself and regret that as well — There’s a popular notion that we can avoid feeling regret at death if we live fully now. It began with the best-selling memoir, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing, in which Bronnie Ware shares the five biggest regrets people express as they…

The secret is letting go and then letting go again — In our heart of hearts, we all wish for more inner peace, don’t we? It may seem impossible to find in these chaotic times. But I’ve learned inner peace is accessible if I adopt a few simple principles and apply them steadfastly in life. These inner peace principles are beautifully…