I Fell in Love with the Ocean

All over again, like I was seeing it for the very first time.

It's like the joy of going down that slide you used to love as a kid
and realizing it still makes your stomach flip in excitement.
Or hopping on a swing for the first time in years
and finding it still allows your heart to soar.

I found myself whispering thank you's
to the fish countless times as I swam alongside them. What an honor to be given permission to wander in their home and soak up the wonder of it all.
It felt like I was invited back into the home of the oldest of friends, only to find that after all this time apart, I'm more at home in it than I've ever been

There is a tranquil, medicinal bliss we get to experience when we enter into worlds beyond our own,
and getting to spend five days this past week in the sacred company of the ocean has reawakened something in me
that I had been feeling less connected to in the busy comfort of routine and life at home

We weren't made to live so separated from the rhythms of nature
And yet we do

And the wonder of it all is that as soon as we plug ourselves back into a world ruled by those rhythms, every cell in our body comes back in sync with that original rhythm

What a joyful gift it was to marvel at the rhythms of the ocean
Changing tides and colors and contents as the day went along
Fierce and even slightly terrifying at times, while gentle and soothing at others
Underwater inhabitants changing speed and direction, synchronizing and resynchronizing their rhythms to adjust and adapt to their surroundings

There's a powerful force that tends to the aliveness of every creature that's been given the gift of life

What often happens in the midst of busy distraction, stress, or pain - universal human experiences - is that we come out of sync with the rhythms that enable us to experience the fullness of that aliveness

Stripped away from narrative, labels and criteria, we discover that everything in the ocean is absolutely beautiful.
In all its textures and shapes and colors.
In its immaculate symmetry and gloriously delicious asymmetry.
All of it is wondrous and fascinating and utterly delightful. Because we haven't contaminated it with our stories and standards
A broken coral carries as much allure and charm as a seemingly untouched one

Every aspect of the underwater experience is an invaluable part of the larger ecosystem and contributes to it in a meaningful way,
through no active effort of its own other than to just be as it is and do its thing

I wonder what our lives, individually and collectively, would be like if we too welcomed every aspect of our experience as a contributing supporter to our larger ecosystem.
If we all showed up to life in this way what would shift in the space 'between' us that connects and holds us all?
Easier said than done, of course, but still I wonder

How curious is it that this same body of water can have completely different characteristics when experienced from different vantage points
The same body of water felt different on different sides of the same island
The same body of water that had a certain quality in the Indian ocean a couple of days ago feels completely different to me here as I sit in my little island typing away on my keyboard,
and yet it's in essence the same thing
Precious in all its varying and unique expressions

I whispered a thank you to the ocean the last time I stepped away from its fierce yet lovingly caressing waves. Its generous welcome allowed me to feel more deeply human

And now I look out my window every few minutes to notice the shifting rhythms of olive tree branches as they sway to the changing wind,
reminding myself to stay in touch with this essential rhythm of life as I settle back into this human-made world

What helps you anchor back into natural rhythms whenever you've disconnected?

Chasing Rainbows

When was the last time you reflected on the super power we each had at one point but most of us lost?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past two days.
I spent most of Monday snuggled up on my office couch rereading a novel I absolutely loved over 15 years ago.

It was interesting to experience it so differently a decade and a half later,
and what stood out to me the most was how the story actually transported me deeply back into my imagination.

Into worlds and realms and stories that make the seemingly impossible come alive with possibility.

There’s a sparkle of boundless potential that shines through the eyes of children who have yet to be told that many of their dreams aren’t a match for our so-called ‘reality.’

And so they continue to imagine.
And imagine and imagine.
And dance and twirl in that imagination.

A tinkering with possibility.
An unconstrained vitality of spirit.

And they end up, as a result, being way smarter and more talented than the rest of us ‘reasonable’ people.
Until we hold them back with our 'reality,' that is.

Here’s a really cool fact,
the experiential part of our brains couldn’t care less about whether something is actually happening
or if we’re imagining it.

That’s why we sometimes find that as we reflect back on memories or hear old songs,
it feels for an instant like we’re back in those moments
reliving those feelings and scenes and sensory experiences.

That’s why we get pre-angry at people for doing what we imagine and assume they’re about to do before they’ve even done it
(please tell me I’m not the only one who does this hahah!)

When we vividly visualize and tell ourselves stories in our minds, our brains send out nerve impulses that create the experience in our bodies as if we were living it in this very moment,
knowing very well on a conscious level that it isn’t actually happening right now,
and yet experiencing it nonetheless simply because we allow ourselves to go there in our minds.

The human capacity for imagination is one of the hallmarks of our resilience as a species.

It’s what enables us to endure the unimaginable
(people used their imagination to survive concentration camps – check out Man’s Search for Meaning if you want to read the actual story behind this)
and magnify joy in the seemingly most ordinary of moments.

Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve rarely given myself the space to run wild and free with my imagination lately.

I’ve been playing with it today and it’s been incredibly joyful.

So here’s my question for you (and I do hope some of you will actually gift me the joy of sharing your answers with me)

If you were to allow your own imagination to go unbridled and unchecked for a while
without any buts and without any ‘reality checks’
If for a moment even the impossible could come alive in you, where would your mind take you? What internal reality would you create?

Where would you go if you let yourself dream?

I’m over here chasing rainbows xx

Flower Lessons

I've had the most unexpected of teachers lately

A month ago I subscribed to this weekly service that delivers flowers

Just a small bottle with a few flowers in it
A different surprise of colors and shapes every week

A lot of my friends are the "flowers die so what's the point" type
And yet I always find myself thinking how beauty is a virtue,
how sprinkling some of the natural world's beauty into our homes and inner worlds has a power beyond the fact that it won't last forever

Today I was throwing away one of last week's wilted sunflowers
And as I tossed it in the bin I caught myself almost silently whispering, "thank you for bringing me joy"
(yes I talked to the flower )

And it got me reflecting on how therapeutic having and caring for these flowers has been for me over the past few weeks

As a therapist, I'm well aware of the powerful impact owning pets and gardening can have on our mental health
The power of the life they inject into our spaces
and even more so into ourselves
And yet it never occurred to me that a small bunch of flowers in a bottle could do the same

But it has

These flowers teach me about impermanence
The inevitability of death afterlife
And that the end (no matter how quickly it comes) doesn't discount the value of the legacy, purpose and beauty that the life before it served

We live in a time where people are freaking out about a virus and it's a powerful reflection of the conflicted relationship we have with death.
Our resistance of the natural and inevitable

And somehow spending time with flowers is showing me how their death takes nothing away from the amount of joy they brought me.
The beauty I still see even when they're gone

The whole world has looked more beautiful to me since

Spending time with flowers reminds me how impermanence doesn't have to take away from our ability to appreciate the beauty of the moment we're in

(To state the obvious, this in no way discounts the immense and painful grief that death often brings with it. It simply highlights the profound value of the life lived before the death, in spite of the fact that this life will eventually end)

It's also been beautiful to tend to and nurture life
The simple things like changing the water and trimming the stems and adding sugar to nourish the flowers

It's inspiring and uplifting for me to nurture vitality in my own life

How do you like to nurture life and attend to beauty in your own life?

Synesthesia

Synesthesia
“an anomalous blending of the senses in which the stimulation of one modality simultaneously produces sensation in a different modality. Synesthetes hear colors, feel sounds, and taste shapes.”

I’ve been delighting in the ever-changing color palettes of nature

They seem to almost have a taste in them
And the tastes go on a dance,
shifting from one taste to the other
as the colors morph into new expressions with every passing minute

Watching the sun setting over the sea today
and the sky softening from fiery orange to the softest pink in less than two minutes,
I was reminded of the ever-changing nature of things

Ancient Chinese wisdom is centered around nature being a master teacher,
carrying lessons and reminders about life and who we are

The theory is that we are a microcosm of a much larger macrocosm

That there is an entire universe within us
and that the external world around us with all its laws and dynamics is a potent mirror of our inner world

Its teaching is reflected in endless spiritual traditions (religious and secular), including our very own in this region:

"إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لَآيَاتٍ لِّأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ"
"Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding."

There are two big lessons I’ve been hearing from this changing melody of colors and tastes and the sensations they evoke:

1. Things are constantly changing

Nothing lasts forever.
Immutable darkness turns to the brightest cracks of light
and the sunniest of days morphs into the night.

Neither is better than the other,
if we step away from the personal meaning that we attach to it.

If we simply allow ourselves to enjoy its unfolding,
we actually find that this ebb and flow is essential for our wellbeing
(we need the dark to be able to properly rest and need the light to be mobilized and energized to move)

Things are no different with the personal seasons of our lives

2. Different scenes/landscapes of nature evoke different states within us

I was gazing out into the open sea on a chilly afternoon feeling quite irritable (thank you, PMS),
only to realize after less than a minute that my nerves had been soothed

The serene, quiet steadiness of the soft blue waves seemed to cool my out-of-nowhere hot temper
And I was reminded that we can tap into resource states within ourselves
by immersing ourselves in different aspects of nature
and their unique evocative qualities

No, it doesn’t magically fix our problems or make them go away, but it does resource us to be in a better state to navigate whatever situation we’re in until we get to a resolution eventually

Once we practice connecting deeply to our bodies frequently enough,
we can seamlessly surf between different states

and aspects of ourselves

And I think that’s pretty magical!

What lessons does nature’s uninterrupted dance share with you?

The Emotional Paradox

I find it interesting how opposing emotional states can coexist.

I also find it interesting that we've been taught that that's not possible.

That you're either happy or sad
Angry/anxious or calm
That it's one or the other

That we have to stay stuck in fixed labels and can't find the middle ground where opposites can coexist.

And because we've been so heavily conditioned that in a given moment
you're either this or that
that you can't be both
you need to pick,
many seem to be unable to enjoy these more pleasant parts of their lives
the special parts
and the gifts

Because you can't

Because you have to pick
(and the more dominant state wins,
which is usually the more challenging one because that's how we're wired to survive)

And it gets in the way of our ability to access resource states in the darkest of times

It gets in the way of our ability to truly embrace the beautiful complexity of our humanity

And the coexistence of dark and light
Beauty and pain

And again we lose out on appreciating the richness and depth of what it means to be human

So yes it's a lot easier to 'just be happy' all the time
(As if that were a realistic possibility)

But there's a loss of depth when you can't see that the two can coexist

There is an immense emotional freedom we can access when we learn to hold and feel and honor seemingly opposing emotional states while they co-exist

And there's actually something really beautiful and poetic about this coexistence

And so what I would like to share with you today,
which is also something I'm working on with several of my clients
(and always exploring within myself) is this:

next time you're in a challenging state, I invite you to look for the part(s) of you that's an opposing state

while still cradling the challenging aspects of what you're going through,
not denying them
or sugarcoating them
or shoving them aside

But also looking for that resource part

It's in there at the very same time

It might be your resilience part
or your inspiration part
or peace part
or anything else you find

But it is there and it can coexist with the other, more "caught-in-the-storm" parts
in the hardest of times

In fact it's usually our awareness of that other aspect of ourselves, beyond the tornado of the overwhelming dominant state, that empowers us to pull through

What opposing states are you holding space for within you today?
Can you find them?

[Mine today are fatigue and inspired motivation - I seriously need a nap. Or better yet a vacation :)]

Part Two of the Evolution

How do we use our experience of being in our bodies to flourish?

How can we make sure the container of movement not only comforts and organizes but also empowers and liberates?

There's no denying the insanely powerful shifts many people experience when they pick up the practice of connecting to their bodies.

Whether it's yoga, tai chi, another martial art, contemporary dance, or a gazillion other things, one thing we often hear is,
"It changed me. The way I approach my whole life is different."

The incredible thing about our minds is that they're not compartmentalized.

What that means is
if I develop confidence in my ability to move in my body,
that confidence directly translates into other areas of my life.

Isn't that mind-blowing?!

This means that whatever type of sprinkles we choose to add into our movement experience (awareness, a sense of humor and not taking things too seriously, going with the flow, pausing, etc)
becomes a quality we can connect to more readily outside of our physical practice.


In this second part of our conversation about how yoga can evolve, I'd like to share two of my favorite personal evolutions.
They're the two I've found the most powerful in both my personal practice and my teaching.

Again, this is not saying that any method is better than another or that there is a right or wrong,
but rather an inquiry into what we've accepted as consumers
and whether there are alternatives that can even further enhance our quality of life.


Shift #1: Alternating between synchronistic harmony and independent, untamed tuning-in

There's something beautiful about being in a room with other people and moving and breathing together.

It can be very healing and very organizing for the nervous system.

And yet there's also something immensely glorious and profound about
moving to a unique rhythm of our own within a set of other moving, breathing humans.

The beauty of nature's harmony is not in its uniformity.
It's in the different rhythms of wind rustling leaves,
birds flying at different speeds,
horses galloping at another
while snails and butterflies do their own thing in their own time.

And all of this coexists together in a stunning display of nature's grandeur.
Independent rhythms in complete harmony.

And so my invitation to the inquiry that I would like to extend to you is this:
Can you find your own dance within the collective dance?

Maybe you choose a slightly different arm position in warrior 2 or find a very gentle, subtle pulse in your lunge while everyone holds still.

Not for the sake of doing things differently, but rather from a place of
allowing your movement to unfold from within.

When we unquestioningly follow instructions, we all look the same.
It's not humanly possible that we all need the exact same container.

To be clear, I'm not saying do a handstand when the class is in cat-cow (that's disruptive and disrespectful),
I'm simply inviting you to find your own little personal exploration within a similar container to what the class is exploring.

(And teachers, we can encourage this by
giving students the opportunities to repeat things at their own individual paces,
or to give them a minute or two before final rest to do whatever they would like to end their practice with.
This reminds students that we acknowledge that they're the experts on themselves, not anyone else in a position of so-called 'authority').

This keeps our open-mind and sense of curiosity (remember that adorable kid from my kids yoga class?) intact,
and opens us up to so much more possibility.

Remember, we're not compartmentalized.
If I'm able to make my own movement choices, I'm automatically empowered to make my own life choices.
Our brains don't separate the two.


Shift #2: Natural movement is non-linear

Again, the linear shapes of yoga poses and alignment can have an organizing, calming effect on the mind.
I think that's great and I think it's very beneficial and necessary.

But if the way we move in class is strictly restricted to these traditional shapes and if this is the main way we move our bodies, then we're moving in a two-dimensional way.
We're overtraining specific movement patterns and ignoring the balancing aspects of organic movement.

Our bodies are designed to move with fluidity.
In circular, rhythmic and freeflowing ways.

It's a lot less rigid and controlled than how we move on our yoga mats.

So my invitation to you is to explore finding more of the way we move in our daily lives on your mat.

Step out of the repetitive motion of the usual poses
and explore introducing waves or circles or whatever you find yourself coming up with as an addition to the things you already know and love.

(PS, this is a much more effective way to prevent injuries than 'yoga alignment.'
Our bodies are designed to move freely.
Rigidly restricting them to containers is what makes them less resilient, not gradually and safely introducing them to different options)

So get experimental,
get playful,
stay curious and open.

Remember, you are the expert on yourself, not anybody else.
Explore how you can forge your own path within the harmony of being in relation to the people around you.

Is this something you already do?
Is it something you'd like to try?
Is it the antithesis of everything you know and love?

I'm curious to hear how you experience this!

The Yoga Evolution - Part 1

Last summer I was teaching a kids yoga class at a summer camp when one of them gave me the gift of a lesson I could always use being reminded of.

After nearly an hour of jumping around and playing (and a sore throat from all the yelling and excitement), we ended the class with a two minute meditation.

They blew my mind.

The room was actually quiet and they actually got in the zone.

It was one of the most beautiful things I've had the pleasure of experiencing as a teacher.

After the meditation, I guided them to lift their arms up towards the ceiling on the inhale, and then said, "exhale, bring your hands together in front of your heart."

As I did that I brought my hands together in front of the center of my chest, as we often do in yoga.

One of the kids looked at me, made a face, and said,
"that's not where our heart is, our heart is to the left!"

I burst out laughing and told him that he was so right and that we could move our hands towards the left if we wanted to be more accurate.

The story doesn't sound like much, but it made me realize that I was operating on autopilot.
Teaching something I never thought to question,
when this innocent child with his curiosity and open-mind intact immediately found a way to question and refine the teaching.

And this relates so much to yoga teaching methodology that I commonly experience as both a teacher and student.

I always took pride in being somewhat of a rebel.

Not from a place of wanting to defy rules and cause chaos,
but rather from a place of honoring our individuality and acknowledging that trying to fit humans into fixed boxes and rules undermines so much of the beauty of what it means to be human and restricts people's innate potential to thrive and flourish.

Besides, who the hell makes these rules anyway?

Let me start this by saying that I'm immensely grateful for yoga.

I have a deep love for the practice.
It changed my life in ways I can't even begin to describe in a blogpost.

And yet, just because we love something doesn't mean we can't ask questions or allow things to evolve.

The story I mentioned above is a reminder that, if we keep an open mind and are attentive and engaged enough, we can unlock so many more possibilities.

So this is in no way a critique of yoga,
but rather an inquiry into some of the teaching principles we may have unquestioningly (or even unknowingly) accepted as teachers and students,
and how we can transform that into a practice that is even better suited to address our wellbeing.

Today we'll look at two common myths in yoga culture that it's about time we grow past.

Myth #1: More flexibility is better
This one is one of my biggest pet peeves!

And it's so alarming how often I hear teachers actually saying this or praising students for going deeper as if that means they're doing better.

The more dangerous bit is when it’s indirectly implied through the teacher’s attitudes while practicing and teaching.

Flexibility is great to the point where we can perform day-to-day tasks.
It's great to be flexible enough to bend down and pick something up off the floor
(bending the knees as much as you need to, and having enough flexibility to be pain-free on the way down and up).
But going beyond that?
Pretty much useless, unless you're into contortion.

Going so deep into a 'stretch' to the point where we're no longer able to engage that muscle can feel temporarily relaxing, but can also have negative long-term implications on the body by encouraging too much laxity and not enough stability and neurological control around our joints.

The evolution:
Instead of being fixated on getting flexible through yoga, focus on enjoying the benefits of the awareness, strength, and overall ability to move better.

Ask your teacher to teach you how to engage your muscles in their deeper range so you can develop a range of motion you can actually use where you're not just sagging into gravity.

And teachers, let's remember to be very careful with our instruction. If we instruct going deeper in a way that makes it sound like a more advanced progression, then we're contributing to the problem.

Myth #2: Following alignment rules is 'better'
Telling students where to put their hands and feet and exactly what their body should look like on the outside is a way of teaching from the outside in.

(Many movement disciplines do this to some extent as a result of becoming systemized and wanting to spread their teachings to the masses. So they created rules and specific methodologies)

When we work from the outside in and over-instruct, we end up switching off feeling and disconnecting from our inner sensibility and awareness.
The distraction from feeling can feel temporarily good but gets in the way of the internal growth journey that mind-body practices are meant to take us on.

If there’s an external source of feedback that says there’s a right way and a wrong way, then we’ve disempowered ourselves from exploring so many alternative possibilities.

(It's also problematic because it creates a fear-mongering misconception that there's a right way to move and that people can get hurt if they do things otherwise. I talk more about this here)

The evolution:
We can use these poses as reference points (but not rules), and yet the real practice happens when we start exploring the terrain around the structure.

So, if your teacher says your fingers should point forward when you're on hands and knees, can you take a minute to explore how it feels in your body today (because every day is different) if you turn your hands in a little or out a little?

Just noticing how that changes the experience (because that lights up a light of internal awareness of possibility and sensation - and there's a lot of magic there),
and then going back to whichever option felt best in your body today.
This way, you're actually moving from the inside out.
(Note: it feels better for most people's shoulders to turn their fingers out slightly, and yet this option is rarely introduced in classes)

Reminder for students:
what your teacher is sharing is a way, not the way.
It's probably a great way, so explore it and try it out.
But remember that no one lives in your body other than you and you're the true expert
If the pose doesn't work for you, it's an issue with the pose and its lack of adaptability, not a problem with your body.

Also some reflection points for teachers:
1. saying "listen to your body" is not enough. If someone has shut down their connection to feeling their entire life, this instruction can feel vague and elusive. It's our responsibility to actively teach students how to listen to their bodies.
We can actually guide these explorative experiments in our classes. Get them to try different things and notice how each feels, and then let people choose for themselves
2. teach engagement cues over alignment rules. This way you're catering to everyone and not disregarding skeletal variation
3. use guiding, invitational language over authoritative tones. We can ask questions and stimulate curiosity instead of listing out instructions

In part 2 I'll share 2 of my personal favorite evolutionary possibilities for yoga :)

Until then, I'd love to hear your thoughts. What do you relate to? What do you disagree with? Is there anything else you would add?

The Circle of Life

Today I watched The Lion King.

There was something really beautiful about seeing the live-action version's depiction of nature, and how the elements within it interact in this complex circle we call life.

I was talking to a friend going through a really difficult situation yesterday, and it reminded me that a big source of our suffering comes from our linear thinking.

Society teaches us that, if A, then B happens.
Which is sometimes the case.

But there are always exceptions.

And what happens when we live life assuming that the way we see the world is a fact, is we look for evidence to confirm it.

And so all we see are the things that prove our beliefs to be true.
Which leaves us stuck in a self-feeding cycle that just makes our troubles feel bigger and bigger.

What I love about the circle of life metaphor is that it reminds us that life is hardly linear, never truly black and white.

That things operate on a much more complex plan than what we can even begin to grasp.
And that it works out better than we can ever plan.

And so instead of assuming,
and following our assumptions,
what happens if we stay open to possibility?
If we allow the circle of life to do its thing without having to understand all the details?

I find that reflecting on the unpredictable interconnectedness of nature primes our minds to be more receptive to a wider range of possibilities when it comes to the unfolding of our lives overall.

It reminds me of this part of the poem Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver:

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

"The world offers itself to your imagination"!

We are relational creatures, yet we've been conditioned to live inside the confines of our physical bodies and minds and forget our "place in the family of things."

And when we're reminded, our perception expands.
And life unfolds even more beautifully ahead of us.

So my reflection point for the day, and I invite you to join me if you wish, is:
Where do you find your place in the family of things today?

How to Meditate Without "Meditating"

Last Friday during a training, we were paired up and asked to do therapy on each other.

The main goal for that particular day was very simple: get comfortable sharing raw parts of yourself that you feel sensitive talking about, and get comfortable holding space for others to do the same.

I felt pretty comfortable talking about my stuff.
But then it was time for me to listen.

And I got nervous.

What if I don't have the right things to say?
What if I can't make this better?
What if this person trusts me with a part of themself and I can't fix their situation?

Because mindfulness is a part of the field I work in, one thing I've heard maaaany times over the years is:
when someone talks, be completely present and fully there with them.

I understood it, and liked the idea of it,
but it didn't fully click for me
until we learned in therapy training about the power of true listening.

If we care about someone and want them to feel better when they share things with us, there are two main ingredients involved:
listen and validate.

But it goes beyond just listening.

Here's how my teacher explained it; it lit up all kinds of lightbulbs for me:

Listen without judgment and without an answer.

I'll rewrite that second part because I believe it's extra important:

Listen without an answer in mind.

So often, in an attempt to make the people we care about feel better, we think we need to have answers.

Give advice or come up with magical solutions to seemingly impossible problems.

Isn't that why they reach out to us in the first place?
So we can help fix it?

No.

It turns out that's not always what really drives us to share and express.

A big part of it is driven by the soothing, comforting power of being seen.
Truly seen and heard.
With no judgments, no attempts to fix.

Just an: I see you and I recognize you're dealing with something challenging and I'm here for you.

And it works wonders.

It's SO powerful.

We ran out of time in class and I ended up listening attentively without having much time to actually say enough things to "help."

But what really inspired me was how my partner expressed feeling better after that.

Just by opening up and being heard with zero judgment.

Why do I call this a meditation?
Because it requires us to be completely present.

In every interaction we have, the common tendency is for our minds to create a story about what the other person is telling us
based on our perception of the world.

The "advice" and answers we give are driven by that.

And that's not necessarily a bad thing,
there's a time and place for sharing advice and giving perspective
but when we do that we're doing less seeing the other person and more reflecting on our own views and preferences.

There's sometimes an implicit judgment beneath the advice we give (although we do it with the best of intentions).

However, when we listen without looking for answers, we give the other person the gift of our full attention and presence.

No drifting to the past or jumping ahead to the future.
Just complete presence.

And that is meditation.

The crazy thing is, when we stop coming up with answers while we hear someone talk, we end up listening on a deeper level, and the answers that may eventually emerge come from a wiser, more intuitive place.

When we don't inject our own story into theirs, we give them the power to own their story and find the power within themselves to remember what truly matters to them.

We're not here to "fix" or change.

We're just here to hold their hands along the way *literally or figuratively*,
and that, I'm finding, is the most powerful support we can offer.

Have you ever tried this type of "interpersonal" meditation? If so, how did you find it?

Eyes

I stood in that unfamiliar room with my legs feeling shaky and my mind feeling fuzzy.

I was getting slightly lightheaded and instantly recognized what this was.

My good old friend, pre-teaching anxiety.

It had been a while, a really long while, since we hung out.
And I wasn't so happy about the reunion

I hate the feeling of those nervous jitters, where it feels like a lot is at stake.

I was trusted with something extremely important to me.
The room was full of people I had never met.
Turns out, way more people were showing up than I expected.

And I certainly didn't want to let anybody down.

I took a few deep breaths and told myself things would be okay.
That I could do this.
That years ago when I first started teaching I overcame even bigger nerves.

It helped but didn't take the jitters away completely.

Every cell in my body wanted to avoid this uncomfortable nervous feeling.

But I was there and there seemed to be no way out, and in my desperation to find some relief I had an epiphany:

Look deeply into these people's eyes.

Every single one in the room.

And so scan the room I did.

Peering carefully into one pair of eyes after the other.
(Not in a creepy way, just gentle, attentive eye contact, with a warm smile if they happened to be looking my way too).

And then something seemingly miraculous happened.

That veil of nerves lifted.

I felt like myself again.
Focused, motivated, excited, and ready to connect from a personal place.

Here's the crazy thing that happens sometimes,
and now that I'm aware of it, I notice people (myself included) doing it so often, we rarely look at others attentively.

Our gaze usually looks at their face on a surface level.
That gives us a few facial expressions and labels to start off with.

But it never takes us beyond the surface.

If we truly want to see people, the essence of who they are under the surface of an external appearance and social identity, the quickest way to do so is to look deeply into their eyes.

Not trying to take you to hippie-town here, but this stuff actually works.
Humor me and try it.
And let me know what you find.

The reason my nerves evaporated into thin air when I looked into the eyes of the people I was afraid of disappointing is that by looking past the external facade and straight into their eyes
I humanized them.

Suddenly the story in my head seemed less overwhelming.
And the situation less intimidating.

I'm sharing the nerves example because this is where I had this realization,
but ever since, I've been finding this applicable in many different life experiences.

When I'm annoyed at someone,
or tempted to argue,
or feeling impatient.
When I'm feeling disconnected from them.
When I feel like I could love them a bit more.

Humanizing them by looking past the mask into *cheese alert* a deeper place of who they truly are is a complete game-changer.

Now, this might seem like the most obvious thing in the world to you.

Or you might think I'm completely crazy.

Either way, I invite you to join me on an experiment for the next few days and test this out:

What changes when you look more carefully into people's eyes?

When you're feeling resistance or anger or sadness or fear around someone, check-in: are you focused on their exterior mask or are you looking at them more deeply?

When you feel and express love (this works not just with people but with animals too, I tested it hahaha), is your capacity to love amplified when you make intentional eye contact?

Everything you Need

I always find myself returning to the basics.

If you come to my classes, you've probably heard me mention many times that the simple, 'basic' seeming things are often the most challenging.

Simple is also more powerful.
Much more powerful.

Sometimes I wonder if students ever think I'm just saying that to make everyone feel better about whatever they're doing and wherever they're at.

But my honest, personal experience with it is that when things get tough, it's the basics we call upon for true, solid support.

It's kind of like the foundation of a house. Doesn't look very impressive, it's underground and doesn't seem to be of any substance.
But even the grandest, fanciest-looking house would crumble at the slightest disturbance if the foundation isn't there.

But I'm not referring to houses right now, nor am I talking about yoga poses.

I'm talking about emotional foundations.

And here's one big, a basic foundational concept that gives me a lot of strength:
Everything is part of a bigger plan (that you might not be able to see right now).

Today I found myself reflecting on this:
there are anxieties and insecurities and fears that I once wished never existed in me.

I was so resistant to them and judgmental towards myself for having them.

But here's the thing that I'm really sitting with:
I needed that.

I needed all of those things.

They sucked. They didn't feel good in any way.

But I sure as hell needed to experience them.

I'm realizing in retrospect that I honestly wouldn't have been half the daughter/friend/cousin/niece/teacher/therapist/human that I am had I not experienced the vulnerability of dealing with challenging emotions and circumstances.

There's an empathy that comes with hardship that undeniably transforms us into better versions of ourselves.

More mature, kinder, more humble, and above all more resilient.

I'm not saying let's pretend it's all rainbows and flowers when it's not.

What I am saying is do what you need to do to feel as supported as possible and hold on tight.
Because you'll make it through. And you'll be that much stronger and kinder and wiser on the other side.

And as annoyingly cliché as it may sound right now, when you look back you'll realize why this was a necessary part of your journey.

The basic teaching that I remembered today is one of the first ones I ever learned on my journey of growth and discovery:

There is nothing you need that you don't have within you.
And there is nothing you have within you that you don't need.

Read that second part again.
There's nothing you have within you that you don't need.

That experience (internal or external) you don't like and don't want..
It's there because it serves a purpose in the bigger picture of your life.

It doesn't define you and you certainly don't have to keep holding on to it if you can and want to change it,
but it might just be the nudge you needed to start making the decisions you want to make,
and living the life you're meant to live.
Or it might just be a necessary passing point in your own growth journey.

I'm working through my own hiccup right now and this reminder's feeling extra powerful to me.

Whether you're being challenged by inner experiences or by circumstances outside of you, I hope this reminder helps you find comfort too.

Always looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

The World on your Plate

How much of our lives do we spend living on autopilot?

Way too much if you ask me.

Now, this isn't a "let's shame ourselves about how bad and distracted modern-day society is and dwell on how much that sucks" kind of conversation.

Sure, we're more distracted and stimulated than we used to be, and yes we can lose out on a lot of joy and wonder if we continue to operate from that unaware place.

But instead of feeling like crap about it, we can use this awareness to make tiny changes that can have a not so tiny influence on how much beauty we can connect to in our lives.
(Remember the injections we talked about last time?)

One place where we can inject some of that profound, nourishing quality of awareness is eating.

I have to credit Thich Nhat Hanh for writing about this idea and blowing my mind:
"Looking deeply into the vegetables, we see sunshine is inside them, a cloud is inside, the earth is inside, and a lot of hard, loving work is also there in the food before us."


Now if that's a little too fluffy for you, allow me to simplify it in more concrete terms:

We look at food and give it a label to simplify the process ("I'm eating french fries").

We might take it a little further and acknowledge that we're eating a potato.

That's great. It's simple, it's efficient. You get your dose of happiness by eating something you enjoy and move on.


But there's an opportunity to experience a much deeper connection to the wondrous, miraculous ways in which the world operates.

The potato the fries are made of exists because of the water and sunshine that enabled it to grow.

It may have been watered by the rain that poured down on that particular spot because the wind blew a certain cloud exactly there so it could water that specific potato.

A human being made the effort to harvest that potato so it can be eaten.

The oil it was cooked in may have come from an olive tree that required it's own bunch of natural processes to grow.

And the salt sprinkled over the fries may have come from the sea.

And someone actually made the effort to cook all of that into something that can be eaten.

And it landed on your plate.
You.

All of these natural processes took place so that food can make it onto your plate specifically.

So, you see, if we pay attention, we get to marvel at the synergy of an entire universe operating harmoniously to support you in even the most seemingly mundane details.

Let that remind you that the Creator of this universe is supporting and taking care of you.

That everything is unfolding according to a greater plan and that you are taken care of.

Injections

Not the shitty ones you get at the doctor's that actually hurt.

The good kind.

The ones that inject a dose of joy or inspiration into your day.

In the exciting madness that juggling my different interests has created, I found myself lamenting one thing:
the weather has been getting beaaaautiful and I haven't had a chance to spend enough time outdoors to enjoy it.

I'm not trying to be a drama queen, there are obviously bigger problems to have (but stick with me, there's a lesson I relearned here).

Being in nature is a rich sensory experience.

It's absolutely delightful, and as I always remind students during my rooftop classes, it often feels like you've been plugged into a charger.

I got to walk back home after running an errand today and realized during the three-minute walk that that was really all I needed.

I felt the breeze brushing up against my skin.
I saw the sunshine as the sky shifted colours.
I could hear the birds chirping as they flew over my head.

And I felt instantly revitalized.

That three-minute injection of nourishment was enough for me to remember that I'm not deprived of nature.

I just need to tune in during the brief moments I get to spend surrounded by it.

Because the reality is,

It doesn't have to be big and profound.

It doesn't need to be loud and in your face and very noticeable to count.

Or make a difference.

It's often the accumulation of the little things that creates powerful changes.

One of the thinking traps we've learned about in our psychotherapy training is "all or nothing" thinking.

"If I don't get to spend at least [insert random amount of time here that works for you, I'll say 30 minutes because that feels like my minimum] in nature, then I haven't had a chance to connect with it at all."

Well, that's not how it actually works.

So here's a reminder to myself, and maybe to you: it's not all black and white.
Remember the many shades in between.

They count.

Whatever it is you're looking for more of, can you inject a tiny dose of it into your day?

Instead of being overwhelmed by how big or far away something seems, can you pinpoint what it is that you want out of it?
Can you find 1% of that and inject it into your day?

How does your experience of the exact same situation shift when you move away from "all or nothing" thinking?

90 Seconds

Quick little backstory for this:

About a year ago, I switched lanes while driving and the car behind me had to slow down a bit (barely).

The car was far away, but the driver got really angry.

He drove past me, lowered his window, and screamed an obscene insult at me at the top of his lungs as he drove away.

My initial reaction was this: heat flushing through my head and chest and anger at the disproportionately rude reaction he had (a quiet honk of "hey I had to slow down for one second because of you and I didn't like that" would have been totally fair, I admit. But his insult was way out of place).

Then, I remembered the idea I'm about to share below. I let the emotion live through its lifespan.

And then it was gone. Completely out of my system.

90 seconds.
1 minute and a half.
That's how long an emotion lives before it passes through you and fades away.
At least theoretically.

But they don't usually go away that fast do they?

So what happens?

Before we get into this there's something obvious but really important to emphasize: Emotions are not a bad thing.

They’re actually a great thing, and a powerful ally once we learn to work with them.

But sometimes, we give them a little more power over us than we need to, and this is where this concept comes in handy.

A neuroscientist called Jill Bolte Taylor discovered that when an emotion is triggered within us, the resulting physiological changes and sensations last for a maximum of 90 seconds.

The reason we usually continue to feel the emotion is that we choose to think thoughts that continue to feed the emotion and keep it alive.

It often doesn't feel like a choice because we rarely realize we're doing it (meditation is a really powerful way to become more aware of the thoughts that feed into our emotions and behavior).

It happens subconscoiusly and reactively, until we learn to become aware of it and eventually respond to that automatic conditioned reaction.

So if we feed the emotion with thoughts, it stays.

If we don't, *poof* (insert sound effect here) it disappears.

Which gives us some degree of control over how we want to feel. We obviously aren't in control of every single thing about our circumstances. But we do have the power to choose how we're shaped by those circumstances.

We choose how to react.

Now going back to the "emotions aren't bad idea," I'm by no means suggesting that we muscle our way out of feeling things.

Or that we need to always let just the sunshine and rainbows in and then push away any looming gray cloud or unknown visitor.

Feeling ALL of our feelings is very important and very healthy.

But when our emotional reactions aren't worth the weight we've given them (like what I initially felt with the guy who swore at me), or when we're feeling overwhelmed and need some empowerment over our own situation, it can be very helpful to come back to the 90-second rule.

The emotion is only there for 90 seconds.
Then, you decide.
If you consider it necessary, continue to feed the emotion.
If you decide it's not what you want, you can choose to let it go.

More often than not, it’s the fact that we don’t feel entirely comfortable feeling our feelings (because we don’t trust that we’re equipped to feel them fully and emerge completely okay on the other side) that keeps us stuck in thought and behavior loops that feed even more into the feeling. More on that some other time.

I'm going to leave you with a quote from this neuroscientist:
"We have the power to choose, moment by moment, who and how we want to be in the world. Right here, right now"

It's a big biiig conversation that I'll leave unfinished for today. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
If you're familiar with the 90-second rule, can you think of specific situations where it was helpful?
If you've just learned about it, in what ways do you think it can change things for you?

Building an Anxiety Toolbox

There's an immense beauty we get to see in people when they embrace and share the rawness of being human.

Here's my takeaway from the replies I got to the previous blog “Understanding Anxiety”:

• everyone who experiences anxiety is relieved to be reminded that they're not alone

• we need more awareness around these topics (most replies mentioned people around them who were distant or judgemental or unaware of how to be supportive to loved ones going through a difficult experience)

• as much as they suck, challenging experiences like anxiety ultimately become a great reminder of our strength, resilience and ability to survive the storm even when it seems 'impossible'.

In this blog post I'm sharing a few of the tools I’ve found effective to deal with anxiety (remember, different things work for different people so try them out and see how they land for you)

Here are some practices I love:

• Slow down the exhales: with anxiety it often feels like the nervous system has forgotten how to go back to relaxation mode. Simply lengthening the exhales a bit more than the inhales (without pushing or straining) can start to trigger your built-in relaxation response

• Alternate nostril breathing: i love this one! A simple breathing exercise to help you tap into the relaxation response. I would suggest sticking with it for at least 3-5 minutes

• Legs up the wall: on days when stillness feels like a good idea, this is is a great go to and a super soothing pose for the nervous system. I recommend staying for a minimum of 5 minutes (I usually go up to 15 or even 20)

• Dance it out: if you're having a day where being still makes it worse, one way to shake off the jitters is to play some fun, uplifting tracks and jump around. A great way to shake some of that anxious energy out of the system

• What if vs. What is: a big thing that triggers anxiety is a mental pattern of skipping ahead to the future instead of being in the present moment. Our minds are very talented at coming up with many potential ways in which things can go wrong.

While I'm a big advocate of allowing ourselves to feel what we need to feel, there comes a point when it becomes helpful to compassionately negotiate with and reassure our worries. Every time the mind goes to a place of "what if," we can remind it that there is no factual evidence that that will actually happen. That the only thing that is real is "what is" in this moment.

Retraining that thought pattern can radically shift our experience of anxiety (remember that retraining mental patterns can take some time, be kind to yourself).

We can also use the “what if” scenarios and fear to learn more about our needs. What do we need in this moment to support us to feel safer within the storm? If worst case scenario were to happen, what would it take for us to be okay within that (or the least “not okay” possible for us to be)?

What would help right now? Even if it would help us feel just 1% better?

Getting clear on the underlying unmet needs fueling or aggravated by the feelings of anxiety can be a very empowering and with time liberating experience

L also shared (and gave me permission to share on here) some tips that I really loved and thought you guys might find helpful:

"I find watching TV shows on Netflix helps, eating bananas, waking up early morning and doing yoga"
"scribbling my thoughts onto paper early morning without thinking and also having a gratitude journal"

Are any of these things you already use?
If they're not and you try them, let me know how they go for you.

Understanding Anxiety

I don't think anxiety gets talked about enough.

In fact, I find that a lot of people get uncomfortable just by hearing the word anxiety.

And yet, it's so incredibly prevalent.

So we might as well get comfortable discussing it.

Last week I was talking to a friend and the conversation somehow took us to the time I began teaching yoga.

I mentioned how during my first 2-3 weeks of teaching, I used to get so intensely anxious before my classes that I would literally feel nauseous and be unable to eat for several hours before class.

Her reply was, "I didn't know you experienced that. I thought you were always very calm and collected about it and that you weren't someone who feels anxious."

Or something along those lines, I'm probably paraphrasing.

But this really got the wheels in my head turning.

To be very clear, I recognize that this sounds like a very mild experience of anxiety. I'm not trying to belittle what it is because I know how crippling it can feel and that there are people who deal with constant, intense anxiety every day.

I've definitely had life situations that triggered more intense experiences of anxiety than this one, and others that brought up smaller ones (think, those familiar butterflies you get in your stomach or being unable to sleep before a big event, etc.).

But what I really want to discuss are universal themes around anxiety that apply to anyone who experiences it and that we need to talk about and understand.

If you believe you've never experienced anxiety, this is extra important for you to read:

Dear person who experiences anxiety,

1. You are not alone (anxiety is a universal human experience. People just experience and perceive it in different ways)

2. It doesn't define you

3. Even if it's impossible to wrap your head around this, nothing is permanent. And that includes your anxiety

Let’s dig a little deeper into this:

1. You are not alone
A really fascinating part of my job is getting to work with the human psyche on a deeper level.

One thing I've learned by working with so many people is that we experience stress (anxiety is basically amplified stress) in different ways.

Some people get angry and snap at others, some have a hard time falling asleep, others might notice disruptions in their digestion when they're anxious.

Some people feel weak and feverish. Others feel shaky.

You get the picture. It might not fit the stereotype of what you imagine "anxiety" to be, but everyone gets it in their own way.

If you're someone who feels ashamed of feelings of anxiety, knowing you're not alone can take a lot of that shame out of the equation (more on that in a second).

(Quick note that anxiety only becomes considered a "disorder" when it interferes with your ability to live your life. It's not the severity of it that makes it a disorder but rather the point at which it stops you from going about your day. Remember that whether you fit into a disorder category or not, there are many different professionals and modalities you can reach out to for help and support should you choose to do so. If one isn’t the right fit for you, another one will be).

2. It doesn't define you

Notice that I keep using the term "you experience anxiety" and not "you're anxious."

Anxiety is not who you are and everything about you. It's an aspect that you're possibly dealing with at the moment but there is so much more to you than that.

If you're supporting a loved one with anxiety, it helps to remember this too. They will likely be comforted by you acknowledging what they're dealing with but also not treating them like that's all they are and forgetting that there's more to them than the anxiety they're feeling (this applies more to situations where the anxiety is chronic than when there's a temporary trigger).

A big point I want to bring up here is that the shame a lot of people feel around anxiety can really aggravate the situation.

Even with something as seemingly trivial as my early day pre-teaching anxiety (which certainly didn't feel like a small deal at the time), I remember feeling so ashamed of the fact that I got so nervous before teaching.

I thought it made me weak.

And meant I was fragile.

And the shame often makes the anxiety worse. It used to give me anxiety about the anxiety. Not a fun cycle I'll tell you that :)

So in addition to realizing that you're not alone (even if anyone around you tells you you're being unreasonably nervous or if you feel like what's causing your feelings of anxiety isn't worth it), understanding that you are not your anxiety is a great starting point to ditch any possible shame you have around your human emotions.

3. Nothing is permanent

When you're in an anxiety storm, it can sometimes feel like it's impossible for it to end.

And anyone who tells you otherwise might even sound like they don't know what they're talking about.

But it really truly can go away.

And what's even crazier, what is now an anxiety trigger for you might even become a comfort zone someday.

Teaching yoga classes is now my default. The easy safe mode to switch to.

If you told me that would be the case as I was about to walk into those first few classes, I don't know if I would have believed you.

Again, I know this is a simpler example, but anxiety is anxiety regardless of the intensity (and it feels shitty either way). And if other people got over it, then it's possible for you too (remember that it's a process and can be different for everyone, let yourself take the time you need).

Find the right support system, whether people in your life or professionals (ideally both) so you don’t have to walk this journey alone, and try things on until you find what works for you, in your own time.

Food Coloring

When I was about 6 or 7 Miss Penny used to come over to my house to read stories and bake together.

My favorite memory from the short time I had with her (she passed away not long after our time together) was making butterfly cupcakes.

We'd get plain cupcakes, cut out a tiny circle off the top of the cupcake, which we would then cut in half to make wings. To get the wings to stick we mixed some food coloring with (icing? sugar? can't remember anymore but it was delicious) and poured that paste into the hole we cut in the cupcake. We'd then put the wings on top and voila! It was a butterfly.

I remember having such a blast making them!
And how much I loved mixing in the food coloring.

As I was sitting in the garden today watching a soft-colored sunset I found myself reflecting on shades that blend into and influence one another.

Beyond shades of colors, I've found the same to be helpful with felt qualities in experiences that we can then, like food coloring, infuse into other experiences.

(Disclaimer: this is obviously not a cure-all, and yet it's a lot more powerful than most of us would expect given how simple it seems. I've seen time and time again both personally and as a clinician how powerful something this simple can be).

When I'm feeling down, or scared, or constricted, or frustrated I often feel like the loudness of that emotional experience takes over and makes it feel like this is all there is in that given moment.

But when we drop a drop or two of food coloring into the water of that experience (ex: a felt experience of space or laughter or excitement), it starts to color it a little differently.

And when it's something thicker than water, then it might take a few extra drops and a little more blending.

So that instead of the challenge being all we're feeling, it becomes what we're feeling but accompanied with a reminder that we're capable of feeling other things too.

Not to bypass the experience or invalidate it, but as a supporting resource that keeps us going in the face of difficulty.

All feelings are transient if we drop our resistance to them.

Obviously much easier said than done, but like all muscles we train, gets a lot more doable with a bit of practice.)

I often find the sensation of the breeze, the sound of waves, the sight of expansive water, or the shades of color in the sky infuse some of their qualities into me the minute I step out into them.

So, my invitation for reflection today is:
What shades of feelings would be helpful for you to reconnect to right now? How can you create a drop or two of them to infuse into whatever challenge you're experiencing?

Ever Felt Stuck?

Like there's something you're unable to change? A situation that seems difficult to overcome?

A problem that feels unlikely to ever resolve?

I think it's part of the human experience to occasionally be in that place.

Sometimes, we need that feeling in order to feel motivated enough to make an actual change towards what we truly want out of life.

But change can be so hard.
And scary.

And sometimes we feel like the things we can do aren't powerful enough to actually change our situation.

But..

Sometimes we're so zoomed into our lives, that we lose sight of the bigger picture.

I finally got around to watching Pocahontas yesterday, for the first time ever.

I'm over two decades late, but for some reason, I was never drawn to the movie as a kid.

But watching it now, there are some beautiful metaphors sprinkled throughout the story that can be very helpful for us to explore within our lives.

The one that really stood out to me was when Pocahontas and John Smith felt like it was impossible to get their people to agree not to fight.

The old, wise tree reminded them of ripples in the water (it's a 30-second clip you can watch here).

That they're "so small at first, then look how they grow. But someone has to start them."

Whether it's a project you're working on, a relationship you're trying to inject more care into, or the world you're trying to save, all it takes is one small step.

Just something to get the water moving.

To start to create that ripple.

I'm typing this as a part of me does a small internal eye roll. Because this sounds so cheesy.

Like one of those overused inspirational quotes that get thrown around so much they start to lose their meaning.

Or do they really lose their meaning?

Cause it's cheesy but it's also still very true.

I know I've experienced it many times.

It's easy to be so deep into something that we get fixated on the details and forget the bigger picture. That this tiny little movement that happens when we touch the water, if we zoom out enough, can create a much larger ripple effect and move things where they need to go.

It's slow and gentle, but it happens.

In its own time, at the right place.

So, two reminders to take away from this:
1. Tiny movements (simple actions) create much larger ripples
2. When things feel overwhelming, or don't make sense, zoom out. It's bigger than you think it is. And it's being taken care of.

You're a genius

The idea behind this concept is very simple, but this attitude shift can literally change our reactions to how our lives unfold and change everything.

An incredible teacher I got to attend a movement workshop with recently mentioned the concept.

And basically blew my mind.

It goes like this:

The absence of limitation is the enemy of creativity.

What the hell does that mean?

Let's step back for a quick second. You know those square gypsum ceilings sometimes used in public places?

If we look up at a ceiling that's made up of these but is missing one square, it can be so easy for us to get fixated on that missing square.

It stands out to us. Everything else is there, except that one square. Some people would actually feel irritated by the fact that that one square is missing.

It's the same with life, and movement. Let's take movement as an example. If your wrist hurts and you need to give it a bit of a break, it can be easy to fall into a place of frustration and focus on all the things you can't do because of your wrist.

But there are probably many more things you can still do.

In fact, you can use this limitation to deliberately get creative and see how fun of a movement practice you can create without using your wrists.

So going back to the quote, if we have every resource and/opportunity we could ever need available to us, we would miss out on the opportunity to find an inventive solution.

But if something is missing, then we get to get creative.

And creativity is so much fun!

But even more than that, our minds are wired to thrive on overcoming challenge. They love coming up with solutions to what seems like a limitation.

More often than not, creativity reminds us that what we think is a limitation, doesn’t necessarily have to be one. In fact it can help us access expressions of freedom we didn’t realize we had.

So if we choose to look for ways to work with limitation, we can start to see that we were never truly limited to begin with.

We just had a unique set of resources. That limit was only a limit due to our perception.

So whatever that missing square is in your life right now, know this:
It doesn't have to have the power to hold you back.

You're a freaking creative genius.

If you don't know that about yourself, I do (even if we've never met). I've had the opportunity to dive deep into studying how the human mind works.

So trust me, you're a genius. Not despite your limitations but because of them.

And if there was a mental block holding you back, this is your reminder to let that crap go.