Blog

Is it your time to roar? You are much greater than you know. The founder of Somatic Experiencing, Peter Levine, wrote a well-known book called Waking the Tiger. The title refers to a common experience of victims of trauma. During some past threat, they attempted to...

The previously scheduled blog has been pre-empted. How do we stay awake in a numbing world? I had planned this week to offer you a poem about the mysterious way we get what we really need from people, even though we often can't see that until much later. But that was...

How Do Your Feelings Stack Up? You'll be happier if you look at your feelings vertically instead of horizontally. I was with Holotropic Breathwork teacher, Jack Blackwell, last week, when he spoke of "horizontal" vs. "vertical" ways of working with our most...

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics Statistics can Serve to Minimize the Real, Human Pain of Trauma I came across a CNN article recently entitled "PTSD in women may have genetic link". Early in the article it states, "10% of women and 5% of men develop the condition [of...

You Have an Animal Inside Your Body as a Conscious Source of Wisdom One of my teachers once said to me, "Always remember, Paul, that sitting across from you is not only a person, but an animal, and you have to try not to offend either of them." Our bodies are...

What Did You Call My Kid? Are psychiatric labels for children helpful or harmful? 20 million children in this country have been given psychiatric labels, often with a drug treatment attached. Shouldn't we seek a different perspective when such a large proportion of...

If You Talked to Me Like I Talk to Me, I Wouldn't be Your Friend Question: I'm often angry with myself.  I fail to live up to my expectations. Answer: Did you have highly critical parents or older siblings?  Was there a lot of chaos, power-struggling, neglect, or...

Wonder and the Invisible Gorilla Where is Your Attention? Could anything possibly be wrong with your life which wouldn't be instantly and remarkably improved if you could experience wonder today? Wonder is something we feel when witnessing something unexpected, when...

My Grandpa ran a little store and post office in a tiny town in central Kansas.  I have one particularly fond memory of him. The summer I was 12 and Grandpa was 83, Dad and I visited his store once when Grandpa wasn’t around.  My curiosity was piqued when I noticed...

You Can't Say 'Yes' Until You Can Say 'No' Becoming true to yourself instead of conforming to others wishes is a fast path to real social freedom Question: My 15-year old daughter is being asked out by boys she's not interested in dating. She doesn't want to hurt...

Letting Your Body Know It Survived If "fight-flight" didn't save you from danger, part of you may no longer feel safe. A vehicle ahead of you suddenly slams on its brakes. You see the brake lights and start to move your foot to the brake, but before you can depress...

The Wrong Question Do the questions you ask yourself get you stuck or lead to what you want? A bird hit my front window this afternoon with a startling and bone-crushing thud. I found it lying where it fell atop a leafless bush, in plain sight and defenseless, neck...