New Worlds of Body, Mind & Spirit Since 1901
When you think of darkness, or the dark within us, what comes to mind? Does it bring up uncomfortable memories, difficult emotions, or the idea of being taken over by something outside of yourself? In my experience as a therapist and coach, darkness isn't something to fear or fix, although we may believe that it is. Darkness, or shadow, is often more about what we've put there than about who we are at our core. Pulling from Carl Jung's conception of the shadow, this inner darkness is not just our anger, jealousy, or shame that cause us to act in ways that may lead to disconnection, but also our disowned talents and hidden desires that have been cast aside. Darkness can be just as much ...
I'm a word nerd. An author, a lyricist, a songwriter, and a poet. The meaning of words takes up a good amount of space in my brain. When I wrote my book called Fearless, I included an entire section just to define the title (a title that I didn't choose, by the way). When my publisher told me that they had chosen a title for my book, I was thrilled. What would it be? Something like, "How to Retrain Your Inner Voice to Become Your Most Powerful Creative Ally?" Or, "How We Talk to Ourselves Matters?" The list of suggestions I had made ran through my mind like a train on a one-way track. Soon, this title, this beautiful title that was about to be revealed to me for the first time, would ...
I think it is fair to say that nearly all people want to improve their lives, right? (Of course, right.) Well, as I describe in my book Wisdom from the Woods, one way to better your life is to deepen the connection you already have with Mother Nature. Utilizing nature metaphors, the Earth Goddess can teach you ways to increase your level of overall happiness, reduce stress, and let go of resentment through forgiveness. (What a deal!) How to Create HappinessOne does not simply find happiness. Nor is happiness bestowed. You need to create it. It is essential to recognize that there are two types of happiness: Short-term and long-term. Short-term happiness is based on the emotion of ...
You talk to yourself in ways you'd never speak to a friend, a child, or even a stranger, snap at yourself for the slightest thing, replay mistakes in your thoughts over and over again, and catalog what's wrong in your life. Sound familiar? Here's what most of us don't realize: We've normalized being cruel to ourselves to the point that we are unaware of inflicting self-harm in this way. And because it's so constant, so automatic, we don't even notice that we're doing it. When what actually should be normalized is the knowledge that you are a loving, Divine being, despite anything to the contrary that you have experienced in life. One of the reasons I wrote Your Intuitive Nudge: A ...
