If you want to make yourself miserable, here’s the quickest way to do it: get worried about what other people think of you. Just by turning our attention outside, we can begin to imagine that others are judging us harshly.

I hope you had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend even if tempered by the tragic mass shooting in Highland Park. Join us in this 4-part webinar on Wednesdays, from July 13 – August 3, and learn how to train your mind to stop creating shame-based attitudes and how to deal with increasing traumatic scenarios in our countries.

“The most powerful, smallest, and largest thing in the universe is the Mind.” –His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa   When the human mind possesses such awesome power, why is it that  so many of us feel weak and helpless, believing we are “not good enough”?

I grew up in a small upstate New York town in the afterglow of WWII when the US was economically flourishing. I had the good fortune to live in a peaceful neighborhood, with loving parents and a stable home environment.

It had never occurred to me to ask my mind, “Why are you confusing me with these thoughts?” But eventually, I decided to give it a try. You can use the same method to overcome worry and get your inspiration back!

Why is it essential to be kind to ourselves? It’s astonishing that this question would even come up!  But it’s more astonishing how many of us don’t think we deserve kindness –– a tragic tribute to demeaning childhood programming and childhood trauma.

In ancient poems and teaching stories, you may have noticed that the mind is often referred to as a monkey, “the monkey mind.” The mind is also sometimes described as an unruly horse on which we are riding, more or less skillfully.