Embodied Spirituality
Regular readers know that I often recommend an effortless meditation. It takes us beyond the mind and into our deeper nature. This is Yoga. It helps the body heal and softens our attachments. We become …
Hidden Structures
Fundamentally, consciousness structures who we are and everything we experience. The physical world has been built up in layers. There are 7 primary layers (koshas) in this process. And there are 7 primary chakras (energy …
Our Psychological Birth
Margaret S. Mahler was a psychiatrist who developed the “separation–individuation theory of child development.” This came to be viewed as the psychological birth of the infant, which takes place over time as a child differentiates …
The Paradox of Change
“Part of the paradox of change is that the more we try to change, the more we stay the same. What you resist persists! What you reject, you become! This is a fundamental tenet of …
Parenting from a Trauma-informed Lens
Two of my teachers I’m studying with at The Centre For Healing did a class on trauma-informed parenting. (They talk for about an hour.) The 5 key steps: 1) Understanding trauma, emotional imprints, and the …
Understanding Addiction
We all seek to connect with who we really are, and stay connected. That is a place of pure being, of calm, and of balance. This experience is profoundly regulating for our body, mind, and …
The Levels of Thinking
Back in the 1950s, Bloom developed a taxonomy of thinking ability for educators and exam writers. They revised it in 2001. It has 6 levels, with a style of thinking (of using the mind and …
Qualities of the Self
Recently, I listened to a workshop discussing Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Polyvagal Theory. IFS is a psychological model. “Internal Family” is a reference to our system of sub-personalities, what I call the roles we …
The Fall of Self-Esteem
During the 1980s, popular psychology promoted the importance of self-esteem. This was both widely promoted and widely mocked as self-absorption. The issue with self-esteem is when it’s measured by our achievements, expectations, and social norms. …
The Soul
A recent discussion on the soul led to some points I may not have shared here. At a very deep level, qualities of the Divine interact to become self-aware and global consciousness emerges as a …
On Anxiety, Again
Anxiety is considered normal in modern western culture. And yet, it’s your body telling you that something is wrong. What is anxiety? Anxiety is an activated state of the nervous system created by a feeling …
The Golden Shadow
I’ve talked here before about shadow work, unconscious trauma, stress, and related topics. This is our unfinished business that casts a shadow over our life. When this trauma and the resulting shadow are sustained in …