Healing Trauma
A reader recently mentioned the work of Irene Lyon, a specialist in somatic (body) healing. When we’re unable to fully process a traumatic experience, that stress may be stored in the physiology. Even if it’s …
Category: Psychology
The Biology of Not Enough
In a recent article, Kavitha Chinnaiyan made some interesting observations around early childhood development. She noted that our mental narrative-making has biological roots. That every childhood has trauma simply because our caregivers couldn’t be there …
The 5 Apology Languages
I’ve written before about the 5 Love Languages. I found this quite insightful. People are prone to recognize and express love in certain ways. If two people are out of sync, they can become frustrated. …
The 4 Characters
Most of you will be familiar with some basics of our brain physiology. Our brain is hemispheric: it has 2 distinct halves that are biologically similar but behave somewhat differently. We sometimes describe them as …
The Cause of Suffering
The field of action is one of cause and effect, of action and reaction. Nature maintains balance in the system to sustain it. If we act in a way that pushes the balance off, nature …
Three Kinds of Shadow
I talk about shadow in various ways. Shadow is essentially unresolved experiences that sit in our physiology (physical, emotional, mental, etc.) and distort our current experiences. It has a hiding quality, making it hard to …
The Steps of Progress
Often, we have the idea we should be constantly moving forward towards our goals. However, life is cyclic and seasonal. Sometimes, its the season for progress, and sometimes the season for rest. We see these …
Matchmaking
There’s a curious conflict that can arise for people seeking coupledom. That is, between attraction and a subtler connection that can be sustained. Sure, it’s nice to be attracted to someone, hoping it’s mutual. But …
Aristotle’s Virtues
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who lived during the Classical period of Greece, about 300 years before Jesus. In his work Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle listed 12 Virtues. They were the ideals, living the mean between …
The Impact of Emotions
Recently, I joined a research project designed to maximize quality of life during treatment. One component is biofeedback. The device maker framed various emotions by whether they depleted or renewed us and if this effect …
Moving to Acceptance
The nature of the world is change. Circumstances will change, people will leave or die, and things we value will fall apart or be lost. Even someone enjoying lots of good karma is going to …
The Dark Side
We all have a spectrum of clarity. There are those areas in the light (conscious), those in the shadows (sub-conscious), and those in the dark (unconscious). There is also a spectrum within each. For example, …