When a woman acknowledges her calling, one of the concerns that often arises is the fear that she will undermine or abandon her family (or other friends/loved ones). (Some women also fear that if they pursue their calling, they may never have a family, or attract a life partner.) Among her priorities, her partner, kids, parents, dear friends, furry beloveds, etc, are of course high on the list. Naturally, she does not want to disconnect with these important beings in her life. They are her comfort, her support, her world. She is also of great import to them.  Simultaneously, she

When you know something in your life needs to change, but you aren’t sure HOW to go about it, overwhelm is natural. But overwhelm lies. Overwhelm makes you think that there are SO MANY STEPS you have to take to make the change. Overwhelm complains that NOBODY will understand and EVERYONE will have a problem with the change. Overwhelm makes a very strong argument for redirecting any bit of energy you have for your bigger purpose to instead walk straight to the ??Van Leeuwen ice cream shop and get two scoops of salted caramel in a waffle cone. So when

Last night, while sleeping, a word kept echoing in my mind: Conviction, conviction, conviction. My unconscious was nudging me toward greater bravery in sharing this message today. So, I don’t want to beat around the bush here – this is the message: IT’S IMPERATIVE THAT YOU FOLLOW YOUR DEEPER CALLINGS TOWARD A FULLY REALIZED LIFE. IT’S IMPERATIVE THAT YOU STOP DELAYING YOUR “DREAMS” AND TAKE ACTION ON THEM. NOT FOR YOU – FOR ALL OF US. The world we all have co-created – yes, this one we are living in with frightening environmental crises, with deeply entrenched patterns of war

There is quite a bit of inner disturbance when you aren’t acting on your genuine values, and doing the thing you feel called to do.   And from what I’ve seen, it almost always shows up in the body.  For example:  You’re squashing the call to amplify your voice so your throat feels glommed up and it’s hard to breathe sometimes. You’re dismissing the repeated call to deeply study plant and herbal medicine and your body stiffness and pain seems to get worse each day (while your doc says there’s “no medical reason” for it). You’re denying the sense that you’re

The first really loud life calling I got was a voice in my head that said “I want to give my life to yoga.”  I was 28 and although I had spent the prior 10 years privately immersing myself in yoga philosophy, and the past two years religiously attending asana classes, I was considering some big life compromises.  I was considering giving over to a corporate lifestyle that felt very wrong for my nature. I was starting to give up on a professional life that could be rich with inner meaning. By answering that call to “give my life to

Have you ever found yourself caught at a moment in life where you are uncertain what your purpose is?  Or you’re in a bummer of a relationship, or sucky work environment, but you’re totally stuck as to how to get out? Or have you ever been stuck in a rut of things being “fine”, but you don’t feel particularly alive or excited about your path? These are powerful times to take a Quest. A Quest is a ritualized adventure, small or large, that brings you into nature and sets the stage for life-shifting insights to come through.  By choosing to

Over the past two months I interviewed 50 women on the topic of trusting their inner callings. These are women whom I admire. Women who have had all kinds of rich, painful, revelatory, joyous, challenging life experiences.  They are women who regularly sense their intuitions speaking, but don’t always feel the strength to follow them. Women who have a deep-down awareness of their true values, but don’t always feel safe speaking them out loud. Most of these women also have a powerful connection to nature. Some are more drawn to the ocean, others to mountains, others to the desert, others

Is this you? Wake up in the morning, go to the mirror, look at your face and immediately start to analyze – is my nose getting bigger? Is my skin getting spottier? Is that eye drooping? Did I sprout yet another gray brow? If this type of inner criticism sounds familiar, I want to propose something radical to transform all of these ‘problems’ you see… Ready? Here it is: Change your lens. Change the lens you’re “looking at” yourself from – change it from seeing to feeling. Try this with me. Instead of going to a mirror to decide how

Here in Beachwood Canyon, Los Angeles there are several ‘secret stairways’ tucked into the hills which I have gotten into the habit of climbing as a part of my fitness routine. These long, stone stairways were built back in 1923 when the ‘Hollywoodland’ neighborhood was first created by housing developers. It is the portion of Beachwood Canyon set back into the hills just under the “HOLLYWOOD” sign. In fact, the “HOLLYWOOD” sign originally said HOLLYWOODLAND – it was an advertisement for the fancy new development that was being built for the silent film stars of the day. In 1949 the

Genuine confidence feels amazing.   It feels so good to walk into a room believing in yourself – in your significance and validity as a human.  There’s this sense of coherence – of all parts of you working in harmony, of being WHOLE as opposed to fragmented.  Healthy confidence isn’t arrogance. Quite the opposite. When you feel confident in yourself you’re less self-obsessed.  You’re able to look around and really see and respond to other people.  You can be with people as opposed to just being fixated on yourself – obsessing whether you’re okay or not.  Furthermore, when you’re confident you put others at ease. They don’t tend to doubt or question your choices for