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Happiness and the Good Life

Does acupuncture work by re-mapping the brain?

Yoga Speak, Coming to Terms with the Language of Yoga

Gratitude: Focus on the Good Life

Memento Mori, Looking at Death

How to: Make a wooden raised planter for your balcony (any size)

Focal Points & How to Build a Fountain for your Urban Garden

Urban gardening, planning a balcony garden

Featured Stories & Videos

Recycle plastic and other packaging directly in your kitchen: An Idea

What if you had an aesthetically pleasing tall kitchen cabinet that behind the matching cabinet door is an apparatus that you could feed packaging to helping to ensure that it gets recycled, would you use it? Maybe it seems like a crazy dream but dream it I will.I can’t simply dream it into reality so I’m putting the idea out there. This week I finally posted a video that I… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/recycle-plastic-packaging-waste-kitchen-machine-an-idea/">Read More »</a>

The Anatomy of a Love Bag

A love bag is easy to put together and can make a positive difference in someone’s day. A love bag is simply a bag filled with consumable goodies and a message of love. I hand them out as gifts to homeless people around Santa Cruz when we go into town. I started this practice in the nineties when I had an early morning babysitting gig in my Virginia hometown. On… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/anatomy-love-bag/">Read More »</a>

Do only humans have souls, or do animals possess them too?

In common parlance, the word ‘soul’ pops up everywhere. We may speak of a vast, soulless corporation or describe an athlete as the ‘heart and soul’ of his team. Soul music gets us swaying. We want our lover, body and soul. In each case, ‘soul’ connotes deep feeling and core values. ‘Feelings form the basis for what humans have described for millennia as the … soul or spirit,’ the neuroscientist Antonio… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/humans-souls-animals-possess/">Read More »</a>

Guns Cause Death

This past week I fell into the social media vortex or more specifically Facebook’s vortex of death for a few minutes each day. It’s easy to get sucked in since Facebook doesn’t honour my preference to see the most recent posts in my ‘newsfeed,’ instead, they insist on changing my settings on a regular basis to ‘most popular’ or whatever they call it. They seem to think that I want… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/guns-cause-death/">Read More »</a>

How We’re Harmed by Our Dissatisfaction with Ourselves

Over the last five years or so, as I’ve worked with thousands of people on changing their habits, I’ve come to a realization: dissatisfaction with ourselves is a pretty universal phenomenon. We are unhappy with who we are, sometimes in small ways but often in very fundamental ways. We doubt ourselves, feel inadequate, dislike our looks, criticize our failing harshly, feel uncertain about whether we’re worthy of praise or love.… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/how-were-harmed-by-our-dissatisfaction-with-ourselves/">Read More »</a>

Remembering the 9th of February

No, you didn’t miss this February holiday, this 9th of February, it’s my day, a day of remembering. I used to try to forget. February, for many people, is the short month, the last month to get through the winter blues. March seems more hopeful as the days feel longer and we are teased with warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere. But in February, we’re distracted with Valentine’s Day mid-month… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/remembering-february-you-are-love/">Read More »</a>

Stories & Poems

Remembering the 9th of February

Luis

I’m thinking of Luis today. He lost his sister a long time ago. He was young, she was younger. It destroyed his parents. Of course, her death would. That is expected. He was hurt too, but their mourning consumed them and life was no longer happy and normal. Christmas stopped. Celebrations and joy were on hold. Rituals became meaningless for them. He felt sad. He was still their child. It… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/luis/">Read More »</a>

The boys I loved and how I learned to be wary of strange men

Madly in Love When I was a little girl I had many crushes and was ‘madly in love’ with boys and men. All of them were older than me. I met my first love at around the age of 5. He was 40 and one of my father’s colleagues, his name was Henri. I only met him a couple of times but I wanted to spend as much time as… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/the-boys-i-loved-and-how-i-learned-to-be-wary-of-strange-men/">Read More »</a>

I remember you and your plump pies…

When I was in third grade, my parents hired a “maid,” who was in her late 50’s, by the name of Maggie Rodwheil. It was an erroneous title, as the job required her to be a substitute mother and a cook, who generously helped to clean up after eight people. She happened to be an excellent chef, and she worked 10-hour days, to cover for the time when our mother… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/remembering-maggie-rodwheil/">Read More »</a>

“On Gram”

Florence Fowler (b.1907-d.1988) In her last years, she had arthritis and spent every day shuffling around the kitchen, taking breaks as she was determined to make a delicious meal for her grandsons who lived on the floors above her. She didn’t complain about her arthritis and found enjoyment in nourishing her grandsons. Florence was a pathmaker and leader as the first woman manager in the offices of the A&P grocery… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/gram-aka-florence-fowler/">Read More »</a>

Join me in sorting out the details to learn more about yoga!

Yoga Speak, Coming to Terms with the Language of Yoga

When watching yoga videos on line or taking a live class some instructors might use only the English language or maybe they use some Sanskrit terms or a combination of both. I made an infographic with some terms to help us have a beter understanding of some of the terms. Here is Yoga Speak One on the language of yoga. Learn with me and feel free to share your experiences… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/yoga-terms-language/">Read More »</a>

Tree Pose, Mythology and an Infographic

Tree pose aka Vriksasana or Vrksasana, it is one of the poses where I can morph into the pose’s name. it is also a pose that can test you and ground you. Tree pose as the barometer or thermometer for grounding Grounding is something that I used to have difficulty with when going through bigger life changes. Those are the times that I wanted to be detached from the earth.… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/tree-pose-mythology-infographic/">Read More »</a>

Yoga with Adriene

I’ve been meaning to write about Yoga with Adriene. Her motto is ‘find what feels good.’ She is one of my favourite yoga instructors on YouTube and is also probably the most well-known yoga instructor on YouTube with close to 3 million subscribers. She has a channel with hundreds of videos. She mentions in at least one of her videos that she had an injury in the past. I can’t… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/yoga-with-adriene/">Read More »</a>

Yoga Asana – 3 legged downward dog

3 legged dog Infographic Recently I was excited to celebrate my 2 year anniversary of my return to yoga. I still have a ‘fluffy belly’ but my level of fitness & flexibility has increased and I no longer suffer from migraines (which were caused by menopause.) Some days are more challenging than others. Here is the 3 legged dog infographic that I created so we can learn together. The images… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/yoga-asana-3-legged-dog/">Read More »</a>

Introduction to Asanas – 5 Yoga Poses Infographic

A lot of people write about how yoga has transformed their lives and it is a practice that can change your life. Sometime in the future, I’ll get to writing about that experience. The healing it provided or should I say provides regularly has inspired me to share what I’m learning. It’s only been about 2 years since I returned to a practice and it’s not always easy but it… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/introduction-asanas-5-yoga-poses-infographic/">Read More »</a>

Ashtanga is it a yoga practice style or 8 limbs towards a purposeful life?

Recently I wrote about Hatha yoga and its core definition, sometimes with all the various styles spoken about, trademarked or invented it simply is confusing at times. From that, I’ve decided to keep posting some simple graphics to help sort out a lot of yoga terms and ideas. Ashtanga was confusing to me since I’ve heard the word in various contexts. So to help clear that up, today I am… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/ashtanga-8-limbs-of-yoga-purposeful-life/">Read More »</a>

Yoga an endless list of styles, the list goes on and on and on…

Yet, the simplest yoga term for a physical practice all starts with the term Hatha. Frankly sorting out all the different yoga styles can be confusing, especially since there are a lot of styles that range from an instructor creating their own style and accompanying term, to a simple noun descriptor – Ashtanga, Bikram, Family, Pre-natal, Dog yoga, Iyengar, Vinyasa yoga, Yin, Kriya, Kundalini, etc. The list is long. Sometimes… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/hatha-yoga-styles-list/">Read More »</a>

Self-Improvement

Happiness and the Good Life

In the spring semester of the school year, I teach a class called ‘Happiness’. It’s always packed with students because, like most people, they want to learn the secret to feeling fulfilled. ‘How many of you want to be happy in life?’ I ask. Everyone raises a hand. Always. ‘How many of you are planning to have children?’ Almost everyone raises their hand again. Then I lay out the evidence… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/what-aztecs-teach-us-about-happiness/">Read More »</a>

How We’re Harmed by Our Dissatisfaction with Ourselves

Remembering the 9th of February

You are not broken, I’m not broken

I went to grab the link to my latest vlog on my YouTube channel, You Are Not Broken, to create a post and embed it on the home page, then this came up as a related video. Of course, it caught my eye, I hit play and the first song wasn’t the title of the record and the music blared on a quiet Christmas morning. So I had to include… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/not-broken-im-not-broken/">Read More »</a>

JP Sears Mindful Humour & Being Yourself

Most people know JP Sears as the fun and enlightened jokester on YouTube. What some people don’t know that through his work as an emotional healing coach he started to share insights on his YouTube channel, answering questions to help people heal and live a fuller life. Even though he was serious, he found humour naturally as he shared his authentic self. This led to his creation of some very… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/jp-sears-mindful-humour/">Read More »</a>

Love Yourself Like Your Life…

During a difficult period in my life, I used to joke with a friend about self-love, proclaiming aloud, “I love me” as I kissed my own hand. We would giggle then because it seemed silly. But loving yourself isn’t silly. When we truly love ourselves, we are more likely to make choices that are in alignment with our personal values. Still, sometimes self-love eludes us. A lot of people talk… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/love-yourself-like-your-life-depends-on-it/">Read More »</a>

Your Complaints Hold You Back

Middle ground? What middle ground? We complain when things in our lives both stay stagnant and evolve. Pleasing a “need” is a never ending battle. In a world of constant upgrades the ability to complain becomes a monumental catalyst to social media. Social media gives EVERYONE a platform to educate the world on what really doesn’t matter and as a result you receive instant gratification via “like”. Is your timeline… <a href="https://consciouslife.guru/your-complaints-hold-you-back/">Read More »</a>