When I first adopted my puppy she was 30 pounds. I thought she was full-grown, but apparently, she was nowhere near full grown. People who met her when I first adopted her would see her months later and comment on how big she was getting.

Back in 2003, I saw the above photo on the cover of the New Yorker and I did one of those simultaneous laugh-and-sighs because it really resonated with me. I am not sure if what is happening in the photo is easy to see on here, but it is a Yogini in perfect lotus position with a scowl on her face, because of a nearby fly. Her yoga practice isn’t working for her.

In 2009 I lived in hilly San Francisco with no car and on the third floor of a huge house. I walked, took the bus or rode my bike everywhere. I was strong, mobile and in great shape. I took a bad fall and ended up having knee surgery.

I have been thinking about resistance a lot lately. About a month ago I began the process of writing a book. My friend flew down from Seattle a few weeks ago to help me develop the theme of the book—something I asked her to do.

There has been a theme of guilt running through my calls with clients this week. Lots of “self-flogging” for mistakes made in the past. Each time I’ve asked the question, “What’s it going to take for you to let yourself off of the hook?”

Are you familiar with the 5 Languages of Love? It breaks down how we like to give and receive love into five categories: words of affirmation, personal touch, gifts, service and quality time. I have found it to be such a great tool in learning about myself and the people I am in relationship with.

The other day I heard an interview with Stephen Cope, author of The Great Work of Your Life. He was discussing the process of finding one’s true calling. As someone who has dedicated the last 14 years of my life to exploring my true calling, I found this topic interesting.

Recently, I was listening to a podcast with a famous yoga teacher and he referred to the yoga practice as a mirror. I am sure I have heard this a million times in the last 17 years yoga has been in my life, but for some reason, on this particular moment in time, it landed with me.

When I was 7 I had some new friends over for a playdate. We were in the garage playing school. I was in my favorite role as the teacher. I loved teaching about grammar and spelling–two of my favorite subjects. After my friends left, a family member said to me, ” You should try not to be so bossy or you won’t have any friends.”

Holy moly! It’s crazy out there! I don’t know about you, but I am constantly struggling with the desire to keep informed of what’s going on in the world and the need—for the sake of my health and wellbeing—to be away from it.

The era of information technology has brought us a lot of wonderful luxuries. One of them being easy to access to information; anything we want to know is available to use with the touch of a button. However, as with most things, too much of one thing can have its ill effects too.

Gossip lacks integrity. If we look close enough we can uncover a deeper desire lying below the surface of gossip. When we look back at the times we engaged in gossip we discovered two aspects that seemed to surface the most:

I love to see how Yoga has become such a big part of the greater community in our culture. People from all walks of life can be found in the studio today. I see Yoga mats strapped around the backs of people on every block. It’s not just here in San Francisco anymore; studios can be found in almost every town in America.

Recently, I have had conversations with people who have been dealing with a lot of discomfort around embarking on new career endeavors. On the one hand they are excited and inspired, while on the other hand they feel really vulnerable and often question the viability of their efforts. Trust me, I understand the emotional roller coaster it can be to put yourself out there.

So, your reaction did not fit the level of the situation. Okay, fine. We’ve all been there. And, it’s likely we will be there again. But, it has such a bad connotation, and it’s a connotation that I usually hear in regard to women. It sounds like, “She’s so emotional.” Eye-roll.

I used to cling to love,

Now I know it’s not trying to escape me.

I used to blame others,

Now I accept that which is in me.

Do you know those moments when life feels like it’s imploding on you?

Everything feels so overwhelming. The bills seem like they are piling up, communication feels like it’s not working, your heart can’t seem to stop breaking, things aren’t going the way you want, and the unknown future feels like it’s closing in on you.

What do you do in those moments?

I want to talk about anger. I specifically want to talk to the ladies about anger. Men, you are more than welcome to join in, as I know anger is just as relevant a topic for you, but I am going to aim this at the females in the house, because women have a different kind of relationship with anger.

In this week’s blog post I would like to share an excerpt from a commencement speech given by the author of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, to the 2008 Harvard Business School graduates.

In this portion of her speech she eloquently discusses her perspective of failure and what we gain in experiencing it. A video of the speech in its entirety may be found at the end.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman

I recently came across a commencement speech that was given by the late Professor Randy Pausch at the graduation ceremony at Carnegie Mellon University in 2008.