“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~Dalai Lama In my mid-thirties, my active and adventuresome life as a broadcast journalist collapsed. It began with a trauma, followed by flu-like symptoms that stuck around for thirteen years. Almost overnight, I Read more…
“It feels good to be accepted, loved, and approved of by others, but often the membership fee to belong to that club is far too high of a price to pay.” ~Dennis Merritt Jones Like a lot of people, I grew up putting others’ needs and wants first. I learned Read more…
“A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what a ship is built for.” ~John Augustus Shedd Growing up in the Midwest in a traditional family steeped in Catholic values, safety was paramount. We adhered to conventional roles: father, mother, brother, and sister, with me as the baby Read more…
“If you love yourself, it doesn’t matter if other people don’t like you because you don’t need their approval to feel good about yourself.” ~Lori Deschene I spent my whole life trying to please other people. I would put myself through stress and discomfort to fit in with what they Read more…
“Vulnerability is the core, the heart, the center, of meaningful human experiences.” ~Brené Brown, Daring Greatly Migraines. I’ve had them since I was five years old. Sometimes they’re bad, sometimes they’re really bad. But I have them. When I was five, I had electrodes placed on my skull to do Read more…
“Perfectionism doesn’t make you feel perfect. It makes you feel inadequate.” ~Maria Shriver My name is Steffi, and I am a recovering perfectionist. This might come as a surprise to those who know me because I don´t fit the stereotype. The inside of my bag is as messy as my Read more…
“When things change inside of you, things change around you.” ~Unknown When I was twenty-three, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. It was not until two years later, when I stopped taking medication, that I discovered I had a mental health disorder linked to my menstrual cycles. Meditating daily Read more…
“Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there.” ~Deepak Chopra Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the chaos of daily life, longing for a sense of calm and clarity? That was me a year ago, trapped in Read more…
“Not all toxic people are cruel and uncaring. Some of them love us dearly. Many of them have good intentions. Most are toxic to our being simply because their needs and way of existing in the world force us to compromise ourselves and our happiness. They aren’t inherently bad people, Read more…
“If you don’t give your mind and body a break, you’ll break. Stop pushing yourself through pain and exhaustion and take care of your needs.” Lori Deschene For forty-five minutes, I lay on my yoga mat in child’s pose, unable to move. The exhaustion in my body felt like a Read more…