Self- Help

Is It Good or Bad? And Are We Qualified to Judge?

by Marie T. Russell. Judgment plays a big part in our lives, so much that we are not even aware most of the time that we are…
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Focusing on Differences Creates Disharmony or Joy?

by Dr. Eric Pearl and Frederick Ponzlov. This penchant for human beings to discover how unalike they are, how distinct they are -…
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Living Life with Change

by Ronald P. Villano. Change is a necessary part of living. Many of us use planners to lay out the course of our day. Then, plans…
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Losing The Corporate Self and Finding the Truth of Our Existence

by Tom Borin. After 25 years of working with a large corporation, I have decided to leave. Why? I discovered that living in the…
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Any Fool Can Start a Fight

by Walton Lee. Nobody wants trouble. When confronted with a problem, keep this in mind -- that the people who initiate the…
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Angry at Yourself?

by Marie T. Russell. Are you angry at yourself? Some of you may respond "no" while others may recognize that you do carry anger…
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The Yoda of Grief: If You Feel It, It Will Heal You

by Deborah Heneghan. The best information I've ever heard on the topic of grieving and what happens when we don't do it comes…
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The Inner "Others": The Voices That Put You Down

by Cathy Holt. We are complex beings. Within each of us there are many, many aspects, some of which seem to be at war with…
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The Gentle Art of Blessing: Changing the World in One Day

by Pierre Pradervand. Every day, everyone we meet can be assisted by simply our changing our attitude and our focus. We can all…
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Attachment and the Shadow Self

by Alan Seale. Success and failure only have to do with ego. The soul is busy taking a journey and having experiences from which…
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Allowing is the Key to Life

by Ralph Carpio. ALLOWING IS THE KEY. That, in a nutshell, is what I learned is the key to life, to creating your own life. Those…
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Awakening Together: Awareness Is Curative

by Lama Surya Das. Everyone says that they want to change, but who is ready, willing, and able to actually do so? Are we ready to…
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All In Divine Order: Looking for the Blessing and the Opportunity

by Dr. John F. Demartini. Even the most terrible events always contain hidden blessings. The masters know this great truth and…
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Following Gut-Feelings: Staying on Course Towards Your Joy

by Lynn Grabhorn. How many times have you said to yourself, "I just got a hit (or a hunch, or a gut-feeling) to go there." And so…
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Embracing A New You Every Day

by Sanaya Roman. As they grow older, many people constrict their boundaries; they often seek what is comfortable, familiar, and…
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Befriending the Shadow

by Robert Ohotto. When we don't recognize or accept certain parts of our own nature - positive and negative - we'll project these…
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Conquering the Inner Demon of Anxiety using Animals & Imagery

by Nicholas E. Brink, Ph.D. The realization that my anxiety was caused by deeper feelings of lack of trust and fear of being hurt…
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Awakening on Your Path and Leaving Fear Behind

by Alan Cohen. As individuals, nations, and a planet, we have forgotten where we have come from, who we are, and where we are…
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The Defining Moment: The Confidence To Change

by Keith Johnson. My life was spinning out of control. I hated myself. I hated life. I hated people. My life was going nowhere.…
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Awareness is Power in the School of Life

by Dan Millman. Life is a great school, and nature is the ultimate teacher, but without awareness, or free attention, we miss…
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Want to Be Happy? Don't Take Your Emotions Personally

by Jim Dreaver. What becomes clear is the more you hold on to the need to have things be a certain way, the more emotional charge…
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Break On Through: Discovering the Road That Leads to Healing

by Deborah Tyler Blais. The two most important men in my life died at early ages due, in part, to their addictions. We are all…
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Nobody Owes Me A Thing

by Lionel Fifield. How many of you have felt stress, anger, resentment, and a range of other emotions when you felt that somebody…
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Finding Your Perfect Place

by Marie T. Russell. A question that often arises is "How do we know what is right for us?" How do we find our 'proper' place in…
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Expressing Feelings: A Drawing is Worth a Thousand Tears

by Lucia Capacchione. I discovered the healing power of getting in touch with feelings while struggling with a serious illness.…
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Creating Changes that Last! Can It Be Done?

by Dr. Jennifer Howard. When we feel stuck or want to change something, it usually comes from the desire to improve or rid…
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Happiness and Self-Help

Issues and Tissues -- It's Time to Let Go!

Issues and Tissues -- It's Time to Let Go!by Alan Cohen. We can upgrade all kinds of old patterns and situations in a much shorter time than it took to create them. Before we can do that, however, we have to let go of the notion that healing takes a long time, is hard, and requires pain...

Read more: Issues and Tissues -- It's Time to Let Go!

Helpful Keys to Help You Discover, Enjoy & Hold On to Happiness

Helpful Keys to Help You Discover & Enjoy Happinessby Susan Shumsky, DD. Does happiness arise by attaining a certain status, or by finding the love of your life? If you chase happiness in the things of this world, you will eventually become disillusioned. No matter how much stuff you acquire, how much you are admired or loved...

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Let's Play the Glad Game!

Let's Play the Glad Game!by Ashley Davis Bush, LCSW. Whenever you find yourself in a difficult or uncomfortable situation, think of three things that you’re glad about even in this unpleasant moment. They can be things that you’re glad are not happening or things that you’re glad are hap­pening. Feel...

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Clutter Busting Your Life: Letting Go of What Doesn't Serve You

Clutter Busting Your Life: Letting Go of What Doesn't Serve Youby Brooks Palmer. Giving yourself permission to let go of what doesn’t serve you is very powerful. You will become highly energized. People who have done clutter busting on their own have told me about how they were enjoying the feeling of openness and freedom. Then suddenly, it became too much, and they stopped the clutter bust.

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The Way to Happiness: From Attachment to Detachment

The Way to Happiness: From Attachment to Detachmentby Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo. What does Buddhism mean by non-attachment? Many people think the idea of detachment, non-attachment, or non-clinging is very cold. This is because they confuse attachment with love. But attachment isn’t genuine love — it’s just self-love.

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What Is Preventing You From Being Happy Right Now?

What Is Preventing You From Being Happy Right Now?by Barbara Berger. Ask yourself what is actually preventing you from being happy right now, right this very moment? If you are honest with yourself, you will probably say it's because you don't have what you want. This could be ...

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Natural or Regular

Natural or Regular by Alan Cohenby Alan Cohen. It is becoming clear to me that the way most of us have lived our lives has not been in harmony with the way the universe intended. It seems that we have somehow lost touch with the loving flow of life, our rhythm of being, our sense of peacefulness about ourselves and satisfaction with what we are and what we are here to do.

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Being Real, Being Happy: Letting go of the "Perfect Image"

Being Real, Being Happy: Letting go of the "Perfect Image"by Nicola Phoenix. Feeling accepted seems to feature so highly in our lives. We set such great store by how others perceive us. Even amongst people you would count as close acquaintances, do you let them see the real you?

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How to Change & Let Go

How to Change & Let Go of Struggleby Nicola PhoenixAt first you may notice small, subtle alterations in your life and everything appearing to flow with ease. You may find that other people start to notice a difference in you. You may even find that situations that you have always hoped for turn up. Most importantly, you will notice...

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How Do You Find the Path of Joy?

How Do You Find the Path of Joy?by Sanaya Roman.

There are many life-paths you can choose, just as there are many ways you can serve on a planetary level. There is a path of will, a path of struggle, and a path of joy and compassion.

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Everyone Desires Happiness... Yes, Everyone!

desire happinessby B. Alan Wallace. It’s easy to like some people and it’s not very easy to like others. They don’t smile back! So it has to go deeper. If we continue to judge people on the basis of appearances and behavior, the endeavor is hopeless. Instead we have to return to a very simple truth...

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Learning to Smell the Daisies

Learning to Smell the Daisies - article by BJ Gallagherby BJ Gallagher. A young woman had a suitor who loved her very much. The suitor came to her door clutching a bouquet of daisies to give her. "Where are my roses?" she demanded. Her suitor turned and went away. The next week he was back on her doorstep with another bunch of daisies...

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Dealing with Today’s Energies

Dealing with Today's Chaotic Energies by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.by Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.

Can you feel the energies bumping up against you? One minute, you feel pushed; the next minute, pulled. One minute, you’re OK, and the next minute, you’re not. It’s chaotic out there. Our world is in flux; nothing feels normal anymore.

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Fear: The Core of Your Problems

Fear: The Core of Your Problems by Jonathan Parkerby Jonathan Parker.

The idea that we create our own reality — that is, the concept of the mirror universe — often seems to ring true, but it also raises some troubling questions. Sometimes it’s easy to see this principle at work in our lives, but other times, especially when things aren’t going very well, it can be hard to understand how...

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Is This You? Frustrated, Cynical...

Article: Is This You? Frustrated, Aggressive, Cynical by Joan Borysenko

by Joan Borysenko.

The idealized self — the mask you put on for appearance’s sake — reaches the breaking point during burnout. All that work to maintain the facade, and it couldn’t even deliver the goods. You still don’t feel happy and fulfilled. As a result, the false self finally...

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Am I Being Kind...

Michael J. Chase, the author of the article: Am I Being Kind...

by Michael J. Chase.

As someone who was once unhappy in every sense of the word, I can personally verify that misery leads to heartless behavior, and vice versa. For years I experienced failed relationships, financial struggles, poor health, depression, and an endless stream of...

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Expectations of Happiness

Expectations of Happiness, article written by James Bairdby James D. Baird, Ph.D. It goes without saying — but I’m going to mention it anyway — that your happiness, or lack thereof, depends largely on your expectations. If you believe that only one person, job, home, or car can bring you happiness, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Even if you...

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Oh No, Not This Place Again!

Colette Baron-Reid, author of the article: Oh No, Not This Place Again!

by Colette Baron-Reid.

How many times have you found yourself in a repetitive cycle you just can’t seem to break? Are you back to that same old situation again, the one that makes you feel powerless and miserable? It’s easy to judge yourself harshly as you think, What happened? I did all that...

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The End of Sacrifice

The End of Sacrifice, written by author Alan Cohen

by Alan Cohen.

I recently made a pilgrimage to the ancient Mayan temples at Chichen Itza and Tulum in Mexico. At one pyramid our tour guide informed us that the Mayans regularly offered human sacrifices to appease their gods. While we would regard such offerings as primitive and even abhorrent, the mindset of sacrifice is still very much alive in the modern...

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Just What Is a Feeling, Exactly?

David  Kundtz, author of the article: Just What Is a Feeling, Exactly?

by David Kundtz.

Just What Is a Feeling, Exactly? That was a question a client asked me, with an emphasis on the "exactly." It's a great question because it is so direct, to the point, and so difficult to answer exactly and correctly. But because it is so important, and because...

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Feelings Are Important Guides

David  Kundtz

How can I tell you about the importance of feelings? It's like trying to tell you of the importance of the floorboards in your home. Most of the time we never really think about floorboards, but what if your home had none? There would be nothing to stand on. The same with feelings...

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Widening Your World

Patricia Broersmaby Patricia Broersma. When you open your life to the rest of our world, it can be daunting. It is easy to become hypersensitive to the violence and suffering around us. Maybe you cannot tolerate the extreme violence of many movies and TV shows, or even the news reports on the radio. Emotions may run high on all accounts.

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Only Words Of Love

Marie T. Russell

Every now and then I come across an affirmation that really 'hits home'. One of these is "I think and speak only words of love". I found this one in Louise Hay's book "Heal Your Body." When I started using this affirmation, I immediately saw and felt the effects.

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Inner Child Speaks

Marie T. Russell

by Marie T. Russell.

The inner child waits patiently for the adult to notice it, to talk to it. It asks itself: "How can I get her attention? How can I get her to talk to me, to listen to me?" It thinks back of its past experience with parents and teachers and remembers that...

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Are We Living in Uncertain Times?

Are We Living in Uncertain Times?by Caroline Sutherland. Uncertainty in these times is the only certainty. That which has a beginning will end. In my own life, many years ago, a business decision to take on a partner nearly ended in disaster. Though fear and panic gripped my heart I knew that the only way to...

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I Don't Care What They Say

Marie T. RussellHow many times have you been hurt by what someone said about you? How many times have you doubted your self-worth because someone criticized you, either to your face or 'behind your back'? Why do we react with such self-doubt or indignation when someone...

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Withdrawing Projections

Bill Plotkin, Ph.D.by Bill Plotkin, Ph.D. Why do we project our repressed parts? Why can't or don't those parts just remain peacefully buried -- or asleep in the basement -- and let us go on undisturbed with our "normal" lives? Apparently there is no way to avoid it even while there are limitless ways to ignore or deny it...

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Are You Holding Back?

Are You Holding Back? by Marie T. Russellby Marie T. Russell. We repress a lot of our emotions, whether they are considered 'good' or 'bad' ones. Sometimes we hold back on expressing our love for fear of being misunderstood, or perhaps thinking the timing is not 'right'. Most commonly, we have been taught to hold back on our 'negative' emotions — fear, anger, sorrow, pain, etc.

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Permission Granted: I Give Myself Permission...

Marie T. Russellby Marie T. Russell. How many times have you made a decision to change something in your life and then found yourself slipping off the path you had chosen? Have you found yourself repeating past behavior even though the higher side of your consciousness knew better than to be caught in that same old trap? Is it that you were insincere in your choice or rather that you stumbled on old programming?

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Removing Anger From Your Life

Removing Anger From Your Lifeby Dean Van Leuven.  A commitment to an anger-free life involves signing up for a new journey. Deciding to actually enjoy this journey will make it much more pleasant. Learn to think of life as a process. If you focus only on goals, you are not going to be happy until you have achieved them.

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Can Negative Energy Be Transformed

Sylvia Browneby Sylvia Browne. If you give energy to something that is negative -- such as worry, anxiety, or fear -- then you build it to such a state that it becomes worse than any action directed toward you. Make yourself like a funnel or a sieve...

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Emotions 'R Us: As We Think, So Shall We Feel

Emotions 'R Us: As We Think, So Shall We Feelby Dr. Paula Sunray. We can't be feeling what we are feeling unless we are "thinking" it. First we have to think and then we feel, so whatever we are feeling is a result of our thinking. If we are feeling fear, then we are having a fearful thought...

Read more: Emotions 'R Us: As We Think, So Shall We Feel

Can You Forgive Yourself?

Can You Forgive Yourself? by Kent Nerburn.by Kent Nerburn. Most of us have some corner where we cannot forgive ourselves. Our hearts ache for the choices made or denied, and we bury that ache beneath a blanket of guilt or high-minded justifications.

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Active Imagination -- The Oracle Within

Robin Robertsonby Robin Robertson. Jung developed a technique he called active imagination a process of consciously dialoguing with our unconscious, that allows anyone to consult an oracle within themselves. Someone who has learned active imagination is thus able to take some degree of control over his or her own growth process.

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Options for Wisdom

Jamie S. Waltersby Jamie S. Walters. What follows are some activities from which I draw for my personal faith and mindset practice. I don't do all of these things every day but, across the span of any given month, I endeavor to do some combination of these activities or disciplines regularly. The result? For me, greater clarity, less time feeling scattered

Read more: Options for Wisdom

Are You Worrying?

Are You Worrying? by Richard Carlsonby Richard Carlson. Worrying about things we have no control over is counterproductive. It makes you tense -- which, in turn, ruins your judgment. When you are worried, you live in a state of fear. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to be loving, helpful, and kind on a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis.

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April Fools

Marie T. RussellEveryday is April Fools Day...it doesn't only occur on April 1st. Many of us are living daily the greatest April fools of all... and we are it! We have been living our lives as a lie, pretending to be someone we're not. That is a powerful statement, yet, in many cases it is the truth. We are living OUR lives as if they belonged to someone or something else.

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Being True to Your Self

Being True to Your Self by Marie T. Russellby Marie T. Russell. You know someone is hiding something when they avoid meeting your eyes. Yet, there are times when I seem to shift my eyes away from my own Self or from others. In those cases, the truth of the matter is that I have set aside my own inner wisdom, I have betrayed...

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Making Amends to People You Have Harmed

Making Amends to People You Have Harmedby Madeline Ko-i Bastis. When we quiet the mind, our transgressions emerge from the shadows and we become sensitive to our interaction with others. A turning point presents itself. Though we feel regret at having caused harm, there may still be a niggling voice whispering that our actions were necessary. Tit for tat; he deserved that...

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Ego: A Lousy Guide to Relationship

 Carolyn Godschild Miller, Ph.D. by Carolyn Godschild Miller, Ph.D. It may surprise you to learn that your ego doesn't believe that love really exists, but it's true. Just think! When you allow your ego to direct your search for love, you are actually asking the only thing in the universe that doesn't know what love is, to find it for you.

Read more: Ego: A Lousy Guide to Relationship

All In The Same Boat

by Brian Weiss, M.D.by Brian Weiss, M.D. For several hundred years, people have mistakenly believed that technology, once fully developed, would solve the ills of mankind, that science would provide the path out of the woods, away from illness, poverty, misery, and pain. We now know that technology and science alone are not capable of solving our problems. We must find...

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Featured Articles

by Peter Fairfield. The heart is the organ of happiness! Of course I am talking about more than just the organ itself — I am talking about the heart as an emotional, energetic, and spiritual center. Most of us are unaware of how much we hold numbness... Read More...
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InnerSelf Newsletter: May 18th, 2013 This week we reflect on some of our choices: forgiveness or animosity? gratitude or indifference? disharmony or joy? green living or not? healing or illness? mindfulness or distraction? awareness or apathy? These are choices that we are making with each... Read More...
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by Marie T. Russell. Judgment plays a big part in our lives, so much that we are not even aware most of the time that we are judging. If you didn't think that something was bad, it wouldn't upset you. If you didn't think that something was good, you wouldn't feel any loss when it was absent... Read More...
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by Nicki Scully. In November of 2005, Acacia was hospitalized and diagnosed with recurrent lymphoma, in her brain, central nervous system, liver, and left kidney. It was clear that they would be unable to “fix” her. We decided to see what it would take to get her to Thailand for the memorial we were planning for Luke... Read More...
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by Deborah Niemann. Many people think that making the green choice is more expensive. Although this can be true, it doesn't have to be. Are you ready to save money, get healthier, and stop sending so much trash to the landfill? You can get started wherever you are living. The important thing is to get started... Read More...
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by Jack Angelo. Life is about change. Our breathing undergoes changes according to the rhythms of our state of imbalance (another reason to remain mindful of our breath). Specific breathing exercises can work on the causes of our stress, illness, unhappiness, or discontent in order to restore balance in... Read More...
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