As we previously wrote in our guide to the Best Free Meditation Apps & Podcasts, we adore Sarah Blondin’s poetic, beautifully-written meditations, which the Vancouver-based writer and meditation teacher puts out for free on her Live Awake Podcast. Recently, we came across Blondin’s “Honoring Life” meditation, which strikes us as a perfect meditation for our […]
Life Coaching
We Need More Collective Effervescence
During a recent conversation over coffee with a friend, I was reminded of a term I first learned from a Brené Brown conversation with musician Dave Grohl at ACL Festival in 2023: “collective effervescence”. Collective Effervescence is a feeling of energy and harmony that people feel when they engage enthusiastically in a shared purpose. It […]
The ‘Psychic Sponge’ Effect: How To Be Less Sensitive To Other People’s Emotions
Empaths who are highly sensitive to other people’s emotions are often exhausted by the so-called “psychic sponge” effect. Being a psychic sponge is when you’re so sympathetic and acutely aware of other people’s emotions and “vibes”, so to speak, that you feel those feelings in your own body– even if they don’t belong to you. […]
7 Science-Backed Ways to Stop Racing Thoughts at Night
According to the latest data from the Cleveland Clinic and the National Institutes of Health, almost 50% of adults report difficulty falling asleep at least a few times each month. While the number of people with full-blown insomnia is hard to measure, many people who struggle to fall asleep blame racing thoughts at night. In […]
12 Things That Are Better Predictors of Happiness Than Money, “Success”, or Accolades
If happiness is all that matters at the end of the day, then why obsess over money and success when everything you need to be happy is already within your control? This is the premise of what I call the “Dirty Dozen” of Happiness: 12 key attributes, circumstances, and personal qualities that are better predictors […]
11 Helpful Tips for Optimizing Postpartum Nutrition, Recovery, and Healing
The postpartum period is one of life’s most truly challenging phases. Postpartum nutrition– aka nutrition during the first 40 days after delivering a baby– plays a huge role in how well new moms heal and prepare their bodies for this next critical phase of nurturing and developing along with their baby. Thus, it’s worth paying […]
4 Mental Health Bath Recipes For Improving Wellbeing (& Why We All Need Hydrotherapy)
Baths are an ancient healing practice in almost every culture around the world, from the hothouses of Scandanavia and banyas of Russia to mud baths in Ecuador, hot springs in New Zealand, and ancient Indigenous parajes of the American Southwest. The therapeutic use of water to soothe mental and physical ailments (also known as hydrotherapy), […]
What To Do After A Car Break-In in San Francisco
If you’ve landed on this post you’ve most likely just become the victim of a car break-in in San Francisco. My condolences. Scroll the list below to follow the steps for what you should do next. *** Unfortunately, car break-ins are not at all uncommon in SF; in fact, experiencing a “smash and grab” is […]
The 12 Stages of Burnout, and How You Can Recover From It
So many young people suffer from low-grade burnout– a feeling of being totally overwhelmed with a To-Do list or work obligations that never seem to end. Often, this feeling is accompanied by a sense that you will never escape this feeling. This is because anxiety, stress, and burnout are all related– fix your anxiety, and […]
A Simple Breakdown of The 5 Love Languages
About 25 years ago a marriage counselor named Dr. Gary Chapman wrote a now-iconic book called The 5 Love Languages (which, yes, you can buy on Amazon). Over two decades later, new generations of people continue to discover his concept of “the five love languages” and apply them to their lives and relationships. What is […]