From SivanaSpirit By Lisa Cappiello: I’d like to believe that because I’m a yogi, a healer, and an ongoing spiritual seeker, that I’m immune to jealousy. Especially since I believe that jealousy is such an unnecessary, low-vibrational state of being, and I never want it directed toward me. But I’d be lying. Truth be told, there…

By Kaylia Dunstan “We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.” ~Dorothy Day Throughout my life it’s been really hard to admit when I’ve felt lonely. I’ve been through intense periods where I have been without others. I’ve been surrounded by…

By Michael Davidson “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the world.” ~Marcus Aurelius At the end of August I moved to Madison, Wisconsin. This was my second major move in a year. In both cases, I was separated from almost my entire prior social network. After college, making friends seems like…

By Charlene Anestis “I don’t know a perfect person. I only know flawed people who are still worth loving.” ~John Green Do you ever wonder if that voice in your head is right? Do you re-live events, scouring through every detail to look for places where you went wrong in your actions? Do you ever walk…

By Jamie Hufnagle “There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.” ~Don Miguel Ruiz I was a chunky, shy little girl who was attached to my mom’s leg. She was my protector and served as a source of unconditional love. As I left my mom’s side and went off…

By Patsie Smith “Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at anytime and be yourself.” ~Hermann Hesse As a child, I hated when someone told me to sit still and be quiet, and rightly so. I was young and full of energy; every minute of being still and silent…

By Alicia Rodriguez “At the end of life, the wish to be forgiven is ultimately the chief desire of almost every human being. In refusing to wait; in extending forgiveness to others now; we begin the long journey of becoming the person who will be large enough, able enough and generous enough to receive, at the…

By Dina Strada “To forgive is somehow associated with saying that it is all right, that we accept the evil deed. But this is not forgiveness. Forgiveness means that you fill yourself with love and you radiate that love outward and refuse to hang onto the venom or hatred that was engendered by the behaviors that caused…

By Lori Deschene “Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” ~Dalai Lama If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s that we want to feel happy; and on the other side of that coin, we want to avoid hurting. Yet…

By James Gummer “Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” ~Dalai Lama Some breakups are so bad that they make you hate the sunshine. It’s up there gleaming, looking down on you, being all sunny despite the fact that you feel like…

By Alana Mbanza “No feeling is final.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke I met him the last semester of college and was instantly attracted to him.  I was definitely attracted to him physically, but it was the way he sat in class with such quiet confidence and mystery that made me long to know him. I practically drooled…

By Lori Deschene “One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.” ~Unknown Sometimes, for me, it’s not a matter of if I’ll work on the weekend; it’s a matter of how. On the one hand, I’m committed to being mindful and creating balance in my life. On the other hand, I have a…

By Maria Stenvinkel “We do not heal the past by dwelling there; we heal the past by living fully in the present.” ~Marianne Williamson I’ve struggled with it. Letting go, I mean. I’ve struggled with moving on from my past. I’ve struggled with ridding myself of guilt, shame, and grief. I’ve struggled with freeing myself from…

By Nicole Barton “Everything in the universe is within you.” ~Rumi When I was twenty-three, I lost my job through chronic illness. I thought my life had ended, and I spent the next few years an anxious, panicky mess—often hysterical. Eventually, I took off to scour the globe for well-being techniques, and searched far and wide for…

By Jen Picicci “If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t, you will see obstacles.” ~Wayne Dyer Gwen and I first met at a lactation group for new moms. She seemed like someone I’d get along with, and we talked here and there, eventually becoming Facebook friends, but nothing…

By Bryn Bamber “I used to dislike being sensitive. I thought it made me weak. But take away that single trait, and you take away the very essence of who I am. You take away my conscience, my ability to empathize, my intuition, my creativity, my deep appreciation of the little things, my vivid inner life,…

By Nicole Hind “You must learn to love yourself before you can love someone else.” ~Sonja Mylin   It’s tough being out there. I remember myself some years ago embracing the world of online dating. Everyone kept telling me “be yourself” (and I kept telling myself that), but when I was actually on a date, “myself” would…

By Sandra Cooper “Emotional intelligence begins to develop in the earliest years. All the small exchanges children have with their parents, teachers, and with each other carry emotional messages.” ~Daniel Goleman I consider myself an expert on the emotional needs of children. Mostly because I was one. No one goes into parenthood anticipating the ways they…

By Beth Clayton “Life is the dancer and you are the dance.” ~Eckhardt Tolle The day I decided to leave acting felt like being exorcised from my own body. I was twenty-nine and had been dreaming of being an actor from the time I first saw a regional production of Cats around the age of eight. I spent…

By Anonymous “Never fear shadows. They simply mean there’s a light shining somewhere nearby.” ~Ruth E. Renkel My last breakup was on April 16th, 2012. I remember the date because on the evening of April 17th, as I sat with a blotchy red face and tears in my eyes, my dad told me I soon would…