How ICE Raids Are Affecting Children—And What…
At the end of winter break at the Garlough Environmental Magnet School in West St. Paul, Minnesota, more than 50 students did not return to class. Principal Libby Huettl of the Garlough Environmental Magnet School. © ISD 197 At the time, federal immigration agents were conducting military-style operations throughout the area, detaining both students and […]
Why Anger and Recovery From Chronic Pain Are So Incompatible
As a life-long survivor of severe bipolar disorder, I’ve learned to navigate the shoals of mental illness with some degree of dexterity. I protect my Mental health the way I’d guard a fragile child or animal: vociferously, and with constant attention. I try never to look the other way, lest depression or mania sneak up […]
Breaking the Cycle of “There’s Something Wrong with Me”
Does everything feel like too much these days? Get When Life Sucks: 21 Days of Laughs and Light for free when you join the Tiny Buddha list. “The wound is where the light enters you.” ~Rumi “I can’t do anything right. There’s something wrong with me.” My daughter said these words quietly, almost as if […]
How Self-Compassion Can Help School Leaders Stay Grounded
It’s late in the afternoon when the knock comes on the office door. A parent has arrived, visibly upset about a decision made earlier in the day. As you speak with them, their voice tightens. Your own chest does, too. You notice your shoulders creeping upward, your breath becoming shallow. You want to listen well, […]
AI Helped Me Sound “Better” and Feel Worse
Does everything feel like too much these days? Get When Life Sucks: 21 Days of Laughs and Light for free when you join the Tiny Buddha list. It was close to midnight the first time it really hit me. I was sitting alone at my kitchen table, still in work clothes, phone in hand. I’d […]
Navigating Perimenopause Together – How to Strengthen Your Relationship in Midlife
What to Expect in Midlife Perimenopause symptoms that signal the beginning of the menopause transition for women happen a lot earlier than many of us expect and not the way we often anticipate. The average age of menopause (the day after a woman has gone a full year without her period) is 51. Everyday after […]
Want to Eat Healthier and Feel Better on Your Skin?
For years, people thought of me as healthy because I rarely ate meat or desserts. But it was more that I was desperate to stay thin, and I consumed tons of processed food and sugary candy because I could eat them without gaining weight. Now that I’m older, and especially since I have children, I’m […]
Can “Self-Love” Undermine Personal Growth?
It’s hard to avoid mentions of self-love these days. Social media inundates us with jargon about achieving self-love by knowing our attachment styles and “re-parenting ourselves,” while assessing others for red flags so we can cleanse our lives of toxic people. This builds on decades of self-help literature that shifted our focus to self-optimization at […]
The Art and Value of Paying Attention
Your attention is a crucial asset and resource. Its proper application can be a differentiating factor in your life and work, in distinguishing you in relation to other people and, crucially, in what you can offer to the world that artificial intelligence/AI can’t. Attention can also be a valuable component of self-development. Thinking of attention […]
Can Self-Compassion Change the Way You See Society?
Ever since I was introduced to mindfulness, I have contemplated the image of the monk spending his days meditating in a cave deep in the foothills of the Himalayas. It seems like enlightenment might be slightly more attainable without the daily annoyances of traffic, parking tickets, taxes, and endless commercials. For most of us, however, […]