There is a counselor I know who pays great attention to how the body holds experiences.  In conversation with her, I gained an entry-level understanding into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.  The sympathetic nervous system is basically the fight…

If we want someone’s soul to show up, if we want genuine, mature relationships, we need to provide safe space.  Oxford Languages defines safe space as “a place or environment in which a person or category of people can feel…

Too often we slap a label on an individual that may capture a moment in time but fails to consider the bigger picture. 

You might witness a woman in a given situation and see a stress response activated in her…

Several years ago someone I cared about deeply betrayed my trust in a major way. When I tried to address the matter directly with this person, I was initially met with a version of “you made me do it.”  Instead…

During my grade school years I realized I was a songwriter.  Melodies and lyrics came to me with ease and enjoyment.  I scribbled them down on any paper available and tucked them away for a future time when my confidence…

I’m one of those people who keeps a running list of tasks to get done. Usually this is a good practice for me. The upside is that it allows me to dump my thoughts in one place for easy reference…

By talking to a few friends this week about challenges in all kinds of relationships, I was reminded that love is a verb, always in motion.  Life is messy, people are complex, and there are no cures to solve the…

Often I am challenged by my desire to do more in a day or week than what I can reasonably accomplish.  This has led me to wonder why the mind tends to want more than the schedule can hold or…

Periodically I am confronted with the need for more balance in my life.  The signal might be a body ache, a lack of patience, or a struggle to be present to that which matters most.  However my attention is fetched…

Do you have a situation in life that brings you down?  Perhaps a circumstance that isn’t as you would like it to be… or a shortcoming that you just haven’t risen above yet… or a difficult relationship that shows no…

I generally have the opinion that it’s better to be judicious with your words, to think before you speak. It is a skill I admire and some do it very well. Yet, at times, an immediate and instinctive response is…

School started this past week where I live. There was a lot of excitement in the air about returning in an almost-normal fashion. The biggest, visible difference that we’re still in a pandemic was the wearing of masks. And while…