My body forgets quickly that life is on my side. Even after years of healing, my animal suit tries to protect me from disappointment by attempting to control outcomes. It wasn’t safe to be opened and soft as a child. And if I was, if my guards were down, then my environment would remind me quickly to shut it down. Often the reminder would come as a surprise, out of left field, catching me vulnerable, reinforcing the need for more protection, more layers.

Sometimes, everything outside of me proves true my conditioned belief that life is not on my side; I am the only one on my side. When my heart is closed, and my fire is kept neatly at bay below my diagram, with shallow breaths and business, of course, the reality I project is one of disappointment, of compromise, and of smallness.

And if I stay like this for a while, my inner world starts to crumble too. It’s harder to meditate, harder to breathe deeply, and my health suffers. Opportunities for a return to wellness seem...

Our voice is the bridge between our inner and outer worlds. We BECOME when we speak the truth of our experience, when we put sound to what we know to be true. We accelerate our healing and transformation when we sound ourselves out and are witnessed by others. Although we can do a lot of personal development work in the privacy of our own mind, if we don't go out into the world and are not heard and seen for who we truly are, we can only go so far in realizing our soul. Our voice is the instrument the fire of our soul needs to actualize itself.
In my live programs, I see firsthand how life-changing it is to speak out loud the truth of our own experience and be witnessed by others. We can speak our truth more easily when we feel safe and can be witnessed by a group that is compassionate and non-judgemental. This kind of environment helps our nervous system redefine safety, so when we go back into the world, there is less of an edge to our emotions when we want to speak. When we find...

When I decided I wanted to do my Ph.D., it was very much a decision from my intellect. I wanted to become a university professor, and graduate work was the path to it. It was a practical, logical, and ego-pleasing want. I know now that the core essence impulse inside me wanted to be a teacher, but I let my mind decide how. I worked hard at it, persevered and I did achieve my goal. However, when I graduated, I did not have the feeling of joy I thought I would have, but instead, I found myself wondering, what’s next?
This is an example of self-realization as opposed to soul-realization. I had an idea of who I wanted to become, and I put all my attention towards becoming that person. You may be able to do anything you put your focus on, but self-realization is ephemeral. It doesn’t satisfy the soul.
  Soul-realization, on the other hand, is eternal. Instead of putting your focus on goals, your self-image, or what you think you want, you place it on the abstract inner...

           You can understand a spiritual concept intellectually, which will help you make small incremental changes. It will bring you a certain earthly fulfillment and help you realize the image you envision of yourself. But the deep and lasting spiritual healing, the kind your soul is craving, and that takes you out of burnout and into your full power, can’t happen until you take the concept from the intellect into the body. You have to integrate the process in the cells of your body. This is what you came for. You were made to do this. This changes the fabric of your soul and will stay with you in future lifetimes.

            I know from experience that choosing to look in and pay attention to your baggage can be intense, overwhelming, and often feel like you are doing things wrong. At this point in the process, I want you to know that this feeling is...