Tag Archives: healing

How To Work With Impermanence

There have been times in my life when I felt I couldn’t keep up with all the change, and times I didn’t want things to change. Have you ever felt that way? Change is an inescapable law of nature, and it doesn’t take into account how we’re going to feel about it. Our best response […]

Train with Slogans

Pema Chodron teaches the value of training with slogans–they’re easy to draw on in a pickle.  I’m a big fan of doing whatever will work in the moment. I use slogans because they’re easy to access and though they can be trite, the right slogan can speak VOLUMES. Can I share the slogans that help […]

Vipassana: Insight Meditation

It’s been over a week since I returned from my vipassana meditation retreat. I haven’t fully processed the experience, but I figure it’s time to put some of it down in writing. Vipassana is a ten day, silent retreat. Students are trained in the style of meditation that the Buddha taught. This practice is all […]

Be Love Now

Every day we walk around with our hearts tugged in different directions. At any one moment, my heart can open up into love or close off in self-protection. It’s scary to live in openness all the time because that means we can really be hurt. What happened in Orlando this month is proof enough that […]

Yoga For Trauma Recovery Workshop

Last year, I got to experience one of the best moments of my career as a therapist. The Yoga for Trauma Recovery Immersion went beyond any expectation I could’ve had. Our students truly internalized the spiritual yet practical healing tools we offered. They came to class with an enthusiasm to learn and grow. They all […]

Do I Matter to You?

A commonly unspoken feeling in family life is, “Do I matter to you?” It might sound strange that people sharing a home and a last name could question that of each other, but in the work I do, I see this question all the time implied, without being explicitly asked. I’ll give you an example. […]

Isvara Pranidhana: The Yogic Art of Surrender

  Isvara pranidhana is the yogic practice of surrendering to something higher. I can’t think of any other practice that reminds me how small I am and how important I am, all at once. The art of surrendering acknowledges how little we have control over in this life. We can try to outsmart, outmaneuver, cajole, […]

What Recovery Feels Like

Almost a month has passed since the Yoga for Trauma Recovery Immersion experience at Breathe Los Gatos. This was one of the most incredible experiences of my career–facilitating eighteen people through their respective healing and learning processes. Each person in the group displayed a willingness to look deeply inside and then to bring their healing […]

Why I Know Yoga For Trauma Recovery Works

When Jennifer Prugh and I began the yoga program for the residential treatment facility I worked at in 2008, it wasn’t long before I understood the profound contribution yoga has on the healing process. I remember one young woman in particular. She entered treatment to recover from sexual trauma–this trauma led her to self-medicate in […]

Book Review: Reconciliation, Healing the Inner Child

Thich Nhat Hanh uses mindfulness and meditation as tools to apply to childhood wounds. His voice is ever calm and compassionate, creating a safe space for the reader to look at their pain without judgment or shame. He addresses the child inside all of us and asks to pay loving attention to the child within. […]