Is it wrong to want more? Should it be enough to meet our most basic needs of survival? Or should we set our aspirations as high as we can? For many of us achieving our goals is difficult, but having a goal, and striving to achieve it, is inspiring, it is after all the genesis of the entire wellness movement. Our aspirations, however, often don’t…
Nobody likes to feel out of control. Which is why facing our own mortality and realizing we have no agency over when or how we will meet our end can be disorienting. Controlling our immediate environment, however, is within our power. Creating an orderly home, with a place for everything breeds contentment and studies show can actually help to lower stress. Tackling our household cleaning…
Imagine you’re at a movie theater to see a film. This theater is special, however; instead of just sitting in a seat and watching the movie, the theater completely immerses you in the experience. You are able to smell, taste, and feel everything that’s going on around you. You even hear the protagonist’s thoughts as if they were your own. According to Michael A. Singer,…
“You’re so sensitive.” “You need to grow a thicker skin.” “Buck up.” If anyone has ever said anything like this to you before, you know how unhelpful it is to hear. While everyone has a different capacity for handling difficult people or situations, according to Dr. Judith Orloff, some of us may be especially sensitive to other people’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions: Empaths. Anyone is…
There is a common misconception that confidence is something you either have or you don’t. But confidence isn’t something you’re born with; it’s something you build through wisdom and experience. Confidence is what happens when your negative self-perception is overcome by evidence of your achievements. For some, this comes easily. Others, however, struggle with understanding how to gain self-confidence. When we have high self-confidence, however,…
The most common cause of our unhappiness is ourselves. We create limits and assumptions in our heads that create anxiety, rob us of joy, and cause our own needless suffering. Don Miguel Ruiz wrote The Four Agreements to teach us how to eliminate those self-imposed beliefs from our thoughts and live our happiest lives by reminding ourselves of four simple mottos. These four mottos, which…
The Japanese are suffering from a health crisis: High stress. With the third-highest suicide rate in the world, chronic stress has been ravaging the island nation for decades. In fact, Japan is so stressed, they even have a word, karōshi (過労死), which roughly translates to “death by overworking.” The stress crisis has led to a number of solutions in Japanese healthcare and culture. One in…
Whether we were trying to fit in with our peers as children or hoping our coworkers will like us as adults, we’ve all felt the desire to belong. It can also feel impossible to find acceptance while being yourself. Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown explores the need to belong and teaches us that to truly belong, we must be comfortable being our most authentic selves. Using…
Expressing feelings have gotten a bad rep. Social media prides us on relentless positivity, we’re encouraged to persevere through tough situations with an unwavering smile on our face and then we’re praised for being so strong. Many of us even feel ashamed when we feel a “bad” emotion like sadness or anger, and instead, we opt to keep those feelings to ourselves while we put…
According to Tracee Ellis Ross, better known as Rainbow Johnson on ABC’s Black-ish, the patriarchy is not very pleased with her. At 45 years old, Ross has never married and has no children. This seemingly controversial life she’s built for herself garners all sorts of reactions from friends and strangers alike, who assure her that she “just hasn’t found the right guy yet” or that…
