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TED Talk: Bill and Melinda Gates Giving Away Their Wealth

“When anyone gives anything with good heart, he or she becomes a philanthropist — a conduit and a catalyst for love” —Corinne Updegraff Wells

In 1993, Bill and Melinda Gates took a walk on the beach and made a big decision: to give their Microsoft wealth back to society. In this TED Talk interview with Chris Anderson, the couple discusses their work at the Bill

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Approaching the Holidays Mindfully

“Picture yourself in a state of perfect health, energized from head to toe: calm, focused mind; strong, healthy body; and a joyful and inspired heart. Let this be your healing gift to yourself.” —Jeni Martinez, Owner, Three Trees Yoga

The above quote is perfect for reflecting on this December, as we in the United States and other countries move closer toward the holiday season. How

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Beautiful You by Rosie Molinary

Beautiful You author Rosie Molinary passionately encourages women—whatever their size, shape, or color—to work toward feeling wonderful about themselves despite today’s media-saturated culture. Drawing on self-awareness, creativity, and mind-body connections, Molinary incorporates practical techniques into a 365-day action plan that empowers women to regain a healthy self-image, shore up self-confidence, reframe and break undermining habits of self-criticism, and champion their own emotional and physical well-being.

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I Can Only Walk: One Woman’s Story of Triumph

She stepped onto the treadmill next to mine at the gym in a town I was visiting. I had slowed down, being nearly finished with my workout. “Hello” she said with a warm smile. I returned her greeting and we began to chat. She was a cancer survivor, she told me, having spent years enduring radiation and chemotherapy. I noticed the absence of regret or

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TED Talk Tuesday: Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling with Emilie Wapnick

Do you remember being asked, as a child, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Do you remember how you felt when you were asked that question? Emillie Wapnick, in her TEDxBend Talk called “ Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling”, suggests this question is limiting and confining to a child…and is often thought of as more of a

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I No Longer Have the Patience... by José Micard Teixeira

Feeling a little disappointed with how certain things were happening in his life, author José Micard Teixeira penned the following elucidation on a train ride from Lisbon to Oporto in an effort to get a few things off his chest that represented the accumulation of several situations over months and also a cathartic liberation through words that, deep down, represent what a lot of people

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Parenting from the Inside Out by Daniel Siegel and Mary Hartzell

Parenting from the Inside Out, by Daniel Siegel and Mary Hartzell, is a beautifully written book addressing the importance of attuned and loving parent-child relationships as well as the importance of understanding how our own experiences as a child impact and influence how we parent.

Illuminating ground-breaking research in the field of “interpersonal neurobiology”, Dr. Siegel and Ms. Hartzell explain how the parent-child relationship directly

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Worried About What You’re Not Doing

Guest post by Leo Babauta, Zen Habits

In any given moment, many of us are thinking about what we’re not doing.

We feel guilty that we’re not doing more. Worried that we’re not as productive as we could be. Guilty that we procrastinate.

We feel guilty that we don’t exercise more, eat right, have better bodies.

We worry that we should be doing something better,

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TED Talk Tuesday: What Adults Can Learn From Kids with Adora Svitak

How long has it been since you were called “childish”? According to child prodigy Adora Svitak, being childish is a good thing, an imperative. This young woman (12 years old at the time of her presentation) goes on to say that the negative traits the word “childish” addresses are seen often enough in adults that we need to abolish this “age-discriminating word” when it comes

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A Prayer by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Two weeks ago I woke up in, what seemed, a depression. My coffee tasted bland, the sky was gray, nothing appealed to me and even “getting things done” offered no solace at all. It had always worked before. But on this day, nothing was “working”: I felt empty and hollow, numb to the world and frightened. What was wrong? I asked myself over and over…

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The Conscious Parent by Shefali Tsabary

For any of you who are parents – or may become parents – you may be wondering: How do I raise a loving, resilient and responsible child? If you are like me (I’ve raised three blessed children), you may wonder: did I do a “good job”? And if there are grandchildren in the picture, what about our role with these young people? How can we

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TED Talk Tuesday: Conscious Parenting by Dr. Shefali Tsabary

In this TEDxSF on Conscious Parenting, Shefali Tsabary Ph.D., gives a compelling and deeply stirring presentation on the importance of raising our children with awareness, attunement, respect and love. Dr. Tsabary, a clinical psychologist with a private practice in New York, begins her talk by sharing several powerful examples of the lifelong burdens many people carry, such as that of a grown man who asked

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Are You Happy? Consider These Five Points

Every tradition and many guidebooks have teachings about how to be happy. Yet that question remains one of life’s great mysteries. As a beginning to understanding happiness, start by asking your self the following questions and then journaling what comes up for you.

1. Write your definition of happiness. Are you living it? If not, are there habits or attitudes you might consider changing?

2.

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Mindfulness Basics: A Simple and Usable Review

Thankfully the word “mindfulness” is becoming what we call, in our culture, a household word. We see it everywhere from books to articles to talks – on YouTube, TED talks and other media channels. Being a pioneer in the “mindfulness movement”, I am overjoyed. Yet I got to wondering: could we use a review, a “short version” of what mindfulness is…and isn’t? Maybe we’ve forgotten

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Answering the Fundamental Question of Mindful Self-Compassion

Guest Post by Steven Hickman, Psy.D., ED of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, Dir of Professional Training, Center for Mindful Self-Compassion

It’s a simple question, really. But one that often brings on a state of perplexed astonishment when someone asks us: “What do you need?”

Unless we are a sobbing child who has come rushing to his mother after some sort of sibling

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TED Talk Tuesday: Mindfulness and Neural Integration with Dan Seigel

Relationships and Reflection in the Cultivation of Well-being

Dan Siegel is a prolific and highly respected author, speaker, researcher and clinician. In this Ted Talk, “Mindfulness and Neural Integration”, Dr. Siegel explores how schools can combine with technology in promoting self-regulation in children. And, as well, how positive relationships and reflection help to cultivate resilience and well being in our youth.

In an engaging and

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Mindful Minute: Doing Enough by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

“Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or

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Unconditional Love by Hāfez

Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muhammad Hāfez-e Shīrāzī – known by his pen name Hāfez – is considered one of the greatest Sufi poets of all time, renowned for his lyrical, mystical, healing poetry.

For me, the poem quoted above is deep and beautiful and may be an invitation to let go of our expectations of others – of our sense of being owed something by someone

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Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation

Have you ever wondered how it might be possible to personally and easily change your mood – or internal state? From feelings of mild sadness to deep depression and loneliness, our emotions and body state can, at times, severely impact our enjoyment of daily living. Living life to the fullest is, often, only a dream for some people who suffer from a distressed internal state.

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Hakomi in Action

Hakomi experiential therapy is a gentle, respectful method that allows one to access deep, core material, opening the possibility for awareness and transformation. So what does Hakomi Therapy “look like” in real life? The following is an example of one person’s experience with a Hakomi session: one where kindness and compassion, patience and pausing (and a bit of skill), allowed my friend to access a

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