It is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this year let’s remember that true mental health is not just the absence of illness. It is the presence of Mental Wealth, which comes from tapping into the infinite abundance of joy and peace within. At times we may feel like we are in a bliss deficit, but there is a surplus inside every single one of us. Yes, it may be covered up…
For the better part of nine years, I lived in monasteries, ashrams, tribes and forests. I even spent months in silent meditation retreats. During all this time, I was trying to figure out who had the best methods and teachings. Some retreats were very strict, where we’d meditate in tiny prison-like cells for 14 hours a day. 3am wakeup times, total silence, and nothing but meditating and eating two meals. Some places…
It’s like we’ve all been wearing super high-definition virtual reality headsets with surround sound and smellavision all our lives. It’s easy to forget the awe and wonder that lies just beneath the surface. Our brains are physical objects designed to recreate the physical world. But the more we practice, the more we listen to our heart and intuition, and the more tuned we will be to our own inner peace…
Todd's spiritual journey happened completely by accident. When on vacation with a friend at a resort in Arizona, what he thought was a horse riding class turned out to be a life-changing exploration and discovery into the window of the human soul. This experience was the spark that took Todd from an award-winning Writer and Creative Director in Manhattan at the world's largest ad agency, to quitting his job, selling…
A near universal experience as people begin to go down the spiritual path is that they discover that when they are no longer disconnected from the rest of the universe, they become highly sensitive and empathetic. This can be a very uncomfortable experience at first simply because it is so new and different. Some people wonder if this means that the spiritual path is bad or not meant for them.…
I'd ran into a guy in India who told me about this Vipassana retreat he'd done. He told me it was super difficult but really great. You have to wake up at 4am everyday and meditate for 12 hours a day. No phones, no reading, no talking, no writing, don't even look other students in the eye.Eager for real, transformative experiences, I signed up the first chance I got. It…
We all want love. We love love. But there is no one who can love us harder or more intimately than ourselves. So how do we love ourselves? Why are we so hard on ourselves? What even is self love? Is it a spa day, a doughnut, or a new pair of shoes? In this podcast, I explore the most important thing we can do to change that inner voice…
How Can You Not Be Attached to Family and Loved Ones?I know it seems strange at first, but the more we examine it, the more we will find that love without possessiveness or clinginess is a far greater and more powerful love. This is what true unconditional love looks like.When we love with attachment, we love with stress and anxiety too, constantly worrying, even if it’s imperceptible. This subconscious stress…
It is not easy to undo a lifetime of seeing the world in a specific way. The conscious mind can much more easily grasp onto a concept than it is for the heart to feel it on a deep level.In fact, in this instance, it appears like the mind is trying to think its way into the heart, but it doesn't really happen that way. The Union of the heart…
Who you are is who you’ve chosen to be. Who you will be depends on the choice you make now.You are not your genes or the luck of your circumstances.You are not your surroundings or your influences.You are not what you eat or what you do.You are what you choose.Whether it's a conscious choice or an unconscious one is up to you. You are a collection of your choices. What…
“I thought my biggest fear was growing old and dying in prison. In truth, my biggest fear was growing old and not knowing myself.”
- Rick Smith, Albama inmate
Path to Peace - A newsletter not just for your mental health but also for your spiritual health.
