[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] Verbal Abuse Victim[/caption] Verbal Abuse is an elusive type of abuse that happens in every day life. It's easy to spot the extreme cases, like those depicted in movies, with name calling and screaming that continues long outside of an isolated incident. But, this kind of abuse lingers in a grey area, and lays a foundation for more violent forms of abuse. Verbal abuse ...Read More

For the majority of my life, I believed that loving yourself meant you were vain. I thought it meant you didn't care about other people, were self-centered and stuck up. As a result, I went around being a push over, suffering and sacrificing myself at any opportunity because I thought that equaled being a good person. In the end, nothing was left but a spent person who didn't ...Read More

Last week I met a man at my train station who looked homeless. He had a bike stuffed with goods. He wore a bright orange vest like construction workers wear for safety. His legs were wrapped up in ace bandages. I was glancing at him curious about his situation when he stepped out and said, "Do you know why I have my legs wrapped up?"  "No, I don't" ...Read More

My mentor, Rhonda Shasteen, taught me early on to be true to myself. I've probably spent every day since then trying to discover my true self. I think you continue to discover it a little bit every day for your entire life. I've learned it doesn't mean be selfish. It means listening to the inner voice guiding you and honoring that voice. Listening to your inner voice is ...Read More

On the journey to self-acceptance, we learn to grow self-love, trust ourselves, and respect ourselves. On my path to loving and accepting myself exactly as I am and where I am in the tree of life, I've learned that respecting myself is key to receiving respect from those around you. Watch the video for more insight on respecting yourself.   Learning to treat yourself with respect is a ...Read More

So, what's the difference between choosing love and people pleasing? There's one answer. Boundaries. When a person chooses to act out of love, it is happening out of a place of consciousness. Sometimes love means saying yes. Sometimes it means saying no. And, sometimes love equals letting go. Doing all of these things requires an ability to establish and honor your personal boundaries. (more…)

Do you find a discrepancy in the way you want to act and react versus how you actually do? I know I do. I aspire to be enlightened and remain calm, and then I  have a bad night of sleep and spend the day feeling cranky. Do you give in to temptations for dessert and shopping when you know the better choice is to abstain? Do you find ...Read More

How does the old saying go? "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." It's kind of hard to taste the lemonade while you're holding a bag of lemons though. Say you take your lemons, wash them, cut them, squeeze them and add sugar and water to sweeten the lemon juice. After all of the labor, you have lemonade. The same goes for the pot of gold at the ...Read More