10 MINUTES TO LESS SUFFERING

People can say all kinds of stuff about us—about our looks, our intelligence, or even job prospects. And sometimes, it can be hurtful. However, we need to always remember that, just because someone says something about us, it doesn't mean it's true.  In order for us to figure out what we should believe (and not believe), we need to be able to value ourselves enough to explore how we truly feel and...

We all have a vision of how we want the world to be. Most of us want to see more love and kindness— both in our daily lives and in the world. At the same time, many of us feel like we need to protect ourselves from a world that is cruel and uncaring. But if we close our hearts, we disconnect from that loving vision we have for both our lives and the world. An open heart may feel more pain, but it...

Life is always calling us forward, but sometimes we don't listen. We stand still and say 'this is my life, this is who I am, and this is what I do.' But life isn't stagnant—things change, we lose jobs, relationships end, we get hurt. When life changes and we are standing still, stuck in how we thought life would be, we can miss life trying to guide us towards the beauty of the moment and new oppor...

Some of us say we're sorry all the time, but we don't need to be! We apologize to get people to like us, to avoid conflict, or because we're afraid to speak our mind.  But when we say we're sorry and don't need to be, we are not valuing our true selves.  If you did something wrong and you want to apologize, great—apologize! But if you are apologizing when you haven't done anything wrong, you often...

Many of us compare ourselves to others with regard to our looks, our jobs, and the money we have (or don't). Most of the time when we make these comparisons, it makes us feel bad about ourselves. We fall into the trap of believing that other people have more than us and that we will always be less than. There is nothing wrong with finding inspiration or direction from other people, but in order to...

So many of us try to protect ourselves by not trusting other people. Yes, we do need to try to make good decisions for ourselves, but if we make our entire lives about a lack of trust in other people, we will close our hearts to new experiences. A better approach may be learning how we can trust ourselves. This way, no matter what happens, we will trust that we can handle whatever comes our way, e...

Most people feel great when they can tie up loose ends, but we are often faced with situations where 'closure' isn't possible. We find this most in our relationships with other people. We can have a bad breakup, an argument, or even a slight disagreement, and as hard as we try, we just can't make things right with someone. The truth is that life can be messy sometimes, and all we can do is accept...

Wouldn't it be great to make your own rules, always be your authentic self, and love what you do each day? So many people these days are encouraging us to find our own path or follow our bliss. Although this can be a wonderful new journey, if we don't love ourselves or have a secure identity, we will suffer greatly—we might not even have the strength to make necessary changes. Please listen to thi...

It can be difficult to navigate how to respond to people when they are rude or obnoxious to us. Our inclination might be to respond harshly, but this type of response can create more drama. Often it is best to take a pause and contemplate how our response will serve us. Sometimes it is best to let things go and other times we can cultivate a response that fosters our goals. Either way, focusing on...

Trying desperately to know ourselves can be just another way of being addicted to certainty.  We seek safety in knowing our capabilities and our path to success.  But defining ourselves as a certain type of person limits our possibilities.  We end up stationary when everything around us is changing. If you want more success, then claim to know yourself less!

As much as we care about the people in our lives, there are many times that we leave important things left unsaid. We always think people know how we feel, but sometimes the people we care about have no idea how much we love them or how meaningful they are to us. Don't leave it to chance. Time passes quickly, and we don't want to miss out on giving one of greatest gifts we can give—that is, just l...

There are certain events in our lives that will cause us pain and create suffering. Sometimes we judge ourselves too harshly for how we show up for these difficult events. We forget that others suffer just like we do, and that our pain does not mean we are weak or not able to handle what is happening. Everything is always changing, and suffering, too, is transient in nature. This awareness can hel...

The problem we have with most relationships is that we think we know what the other person is thinking. But the truth is that we often have no idea what is going through the mind of our boss, friend, family, spouse, or boyfriend/girlfriend. We sometimes assume something that is not true. Listen to this podcast to learn how to pause and question our thoughts about the conflicts in our relationships...

Some of us believe that we don't have the right to feel upset about things because we have good lives or many blessings.  What we often fail to realize is that any suffering can overwhelm our minds regardless of how seemingly insignificant the source is. If we are willing to acknowledge the validity of how we feel—whether the root is big or small—we can create an opening for finding a new perspect...

From our experiences, we know that the year to come will be filled with unexpected events.  How can we prepare ourselves to deal with uncertainty with more strength and resilience? Listen to this podcast to find a way to embrace the unknown, helping you to stay strong and resilient no matter what you face.  MAYBE how you show up for the future will open you up to new possibilities and opportunitie...

Some of us limit how much we are willing to give to other people based on our past and fears.  It's important that we examine our feelings towards giving because it can be such a meaningful and fulfilling part of our lives.  The act of giving opens our hearts, enriches our lives, connects us to other people and overall makes the world a better place.  A world we feel comfortable leaving to our chi...

As the new year approaches, many of us are thinking about things that did not work out as planned or goals we did not achieve this past year.  BUT NO NEED TO WORRY! You always have this moment, and in this moment, life always will offer you something new to experience.  And the more you sit in the now, the more you will feel joy and satisfaction while allowing yourself to be guided towards a new y...

Sometimes the holiday season is not always filled with cheer.  It can be a time when we have more disappointment and conflict with relatives and friends whether at a holiday celebration or special event.  However, it is also a wonderful time to let go of past and present hurtful situations, so we can start the new year with a clean slate.  MAYBE the best New Year's Resolution is to see our relatio...

A lot of people pride themselves on getting many things done at once, but what many people don't realize is that when we are distracted and try to focus on multiple things, we often neglect the situation or the person in front of us, we don't present them with our best selves, and we don't get the best results.  We also miss out on the most precious and productive part of our lives, which, in real...

Have you ever looked in the mirror and started to feel horrible about how your body looked?  We don't always realize it, but many of us have been programmed to reject our bodies, spending our lives searching for an ideal of beauty.  Yet, the definition of beauty in the dictionary is "that which gives pleasure to the mind or senses." This means we get to determine our notion of beauty based on what...

Those of us who have a tendency to be people-pleasers usually want the best for other people. However, the other, more well-known part of being a people-pleaser is the need for everyone to like us, which often leads to anxiety, worry, and ultimately self-compromise. When we can give up people-pleasing, we can start thinking about the pleasure of speaking our minds, the pleasure of achieving our go...

For some reason, many of us tend to take our anger, discomfort, and frustrations out on the people we love most. We may insist that it's because we are most comfortable with our loved ones, but we forget that without tender care, even the best relationships become broken. This podcast will give us tools to treat each moment with our loved ones as sacred and always be reminded that love is the brid...

If you were to look up the definition of 'beauty' in the dictionary, you would find that beauty is defined as "that which gives the highest degree of pleasure to the senses or the mind." But are we truly cognizant of what actually gives us pleasure? Or have we been conditioned to be pleased by what the outside world considers beautiful? If our search for beauty is more about external standards of...

Sometimes we want to be mean to someone because they hurt us. We blame them for something bad that happened, or we want to teach them a lesson. Even though we might feel justified, acting this way tends to bring us further from where we want to be in our lives.  This podcast will explore six questions that we can ask ourselves to guide our decision-making, pushing us towards greater joy and succes...

The society we live in routinely provides us with often fictitious images of what it means to be happy. These constructs—fed to us from birth—often attempt to answer the following three questions: What kind of relationships do I need in my life to be happy? What do I need to do to be successful? And who do I need to be in order to be happy and successful? Only we can answer these questions for our...