“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.” ~Steve Jobs I was a sensitive child growing up, and I felt everything deeply. Unfortunately, my childhood home was dominated by chronic tension, fear, and anger—not an ideal environment for anyone, let alone a perceptive and empathic child. My father was rather authoritative and controlling, and he disciplined us harshly. I was raised to obey without questioning and punished for...

“Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” ~George S. Patton Much of the difficulty and struggle that we go through in life comes from our resistance to change. At some point, we get stuck in painful circumstances, yet we fear facing our reality and doing the work required to ignite a positive change. After all, the enemy we know is better than the enemy we don’t know. “It’s not that bad”, we tell ourselves. So we settle, give up on our desires, try to make the best of what we...

When I look back, I am amazed at how differently I dealt with adversity during the first few decades of my life. Growing up in a stressful home primed me to experience life with caution. Whether it was being afraid of physical harm, loneliness, or failure, I’ve lived my life with an exaggerated fight-flight response to everything. Adversity seemed around every corner, and no one was ever there to save me. I developed maladaptive mechanisms to minimize, avoid, or go around the things I was...

Whether you celebrate or not, the holiday season can be stressful for many reasons. From experiencing difficult emotions like grief, anger, or resentment that seem to resurface out of nowhere, to the pressures of making everything perfect for everyone, there’s a lot of opportunity for emotional burnout. I’m no stranger to painful emotions re-emerging around this time of the year. Christmas used to trigger in me the feelings of loneliness and guilt for years, following my move across the...

If you’re feeling extra anxiety these days, you are not alone. We’re all in a state of uncertainty as we’re facing the ongoing pandemic amidst multiple global crises. None of us are going through this unchanged. Living through times like these can be extremely disorienting and unsettling—and fuel anxiety, especially for those of us already susceptible to it. Anxiety feeds on uncertainty. When under chronic stress, we can get overwhelmed and regress easily, often without even realizing it.

Stillness is like a balm that calms our frazzled soul. Mindfulness allows us to slow down and better respond to anxiety-inducing challenges we so often face. Gratitude gives us perspective, and self-awareness helps us recognize and understand our emotions, and that builds strength and resilience.

“Our practice rather than being about killing the ego is about simply discovering our true nature.” ~Sharon Salzberg One of the symptoms of living in today’s fast-paced world is the underlying feeling of loneliness, overwhelm, and disconnection . Chronically stressed and under financial and familial pressures, we often feel alone in the world, out of touch with others, overwhelmed by our emotions, and disconnected from our own bodies and ourselves. Our world is ego-driven. We constantly...

In order to process our emotional distress and move it though and out of our body, we need to learn to recognize and express our emotions in a healthy way, in the body and mind.

5 Rhythmic Movement Practices That Can Calm Our Anxious Mind

I've struggled with anxiety throughout my life. A difficult childhood and my highly sensitive personality meant I grew into an anxious kid—there was just too much pain and emotional overwhelm for my young brain to handle. My anxiety most often manifested as perfectionism and people pleasing, so from the outside everything seemed great. I excelled in school and I was a good kid who did as she was told. But there was a war inside me. I felt broken, unable to navigate these huge feelings of...

[This is an edited version of an article that first appeared on Tiny Buddha] I’ve always lived with a low hum of anxiety in the background, and lately, it’s been harder to keep a lid on it. There are a lot of things to be anxious about these days. We live in a complex and stressful world and anxiety is very common, affecting upwards of 20 percent of the population. Some experience manageable levels; for others, anxiety and chronic stress can be debilitating and self-destructing. Truth is, we...

I don't remember the exact moment--or day for that matter--when I realized I might be living with unhealthy levels of anxiety . It wasn't an aha moment, but a slow realization that this was no way to live. Life seemed like an ever ending battle and I deserved better. My family deserved better. Everyone is anxious from time to time. Speaking in front of a group, taking an important test, or meeting your in-laws for the first time are all anxiety inducing. There is nothing wrong with getting...