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Remember all those practices you've learned to help you live peacefully in a turbulent world? Methods like yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Chi Gong, mindfulness, and so forth? Little did we know how necessary they would become as the world began to change and we became less connected to each other over these long pandemic years!

I encourage you, as I encourage myself, to beef up or continue your regular routine of whatever practices you use to keep yourself centered and calm, those methodologies that de-stress your mind and body the most and give you inner peace. Remember to practice deep breathing as part of your daily routine. Make time every day for your renewal practices and be mindful that "as peace reigns within, so will peace reign without".

As I look out my window, I'm noticing there's a beautiful world out there. The earth is a special place that we mindfully and heartfully can consider our greatest possession.

What would we do without it and yet what are we doing to preserve it?

I support organizations that are working hard to save the planet's dwindling resources and species of trees, plants, and animals. If you haven't already, I encourage you to take some time to do your part by supporting a new conservation organization that your heart and mind reach out for - or a new "planned giving" commitment that occurs over time.

With everyone doing their part - this great boat we live on called earth gets lifted!

As we move forward into the year 2022, what are you yearning to change forever in how you spend your time? We all have strengths, weaknesses, judgments, jealousies, resentments. You see, the thing about negative feelings is that they really are toxic and eat away at our happiness and joy.

Where in your life do you hold onto and harbor some of these afflicting emotions? For every time you can push that thought away and watch it fly away into the distance, you get a feather for your cap!

Here's my challenge to you: Go out and buy a cap, some feathers, and start releasing toxic thoughts. The more you release the more room you have for adding joy and happiness!

Choosing to live by our values and what is important to us is key to looking back on our lives with pride and fulfillment. It is also a matter of respect. How much do we respect who we are, how hard we work, and the contributions we make to those around us?

Now is the time.

By living according to your values, you are acknowledging your own worthiness, self-respect and what you uniquely bring to the lives of others. Otherwise, we can end up feeling unappreciated, unloved – and yes – selfish and bitter.

Let's make a commitment this year to remember what we already know: How much we practice love and appreciation for ourselves exactly translates into how much we are able to give back to others where it will be passed on.

Thank you for following me on social media as we resurrect "The Three Sacred Practices" of human societies throughout time. Getting back to our human roots is so vital to solving our current problems.

Our current state of fear and anxiety is completely understandable as we struggle to right ourselves like ships without rudders in a world that feels increasingly out of our control. It's not hard for each of us to then lose track of what matters most to us and not be able to find our center of balance.

This pre-holiday week I'd like to suggest you ask yourself: What are the top three things you highly value and hold most dear in life?

Then assess how you are doing with those and make a commitment to have the courage and resolve to do better. There's your center of balance.

This is the 3rd part in this series called the Three Sacred Practices of human societies. Here we are referring to a circle of humans around a fire (Community/Village), moving water close by (Mother Nature/the Earth), and looking down from high up (Perspective/Wisdom). Last time we talked about the wisdom and perspective gained from looking down from a high place. Today I'd like to talk about the importance our ancestors gave to being near moving water.

The sacredness of the water that gives life to our planet was always honored by our ancestors by how they chose to live near sources of water and worshipped its many faceted life-sustaining gifts. Whether for drinking, watering crops, bathing, or the healing that comes from listening to the sounds of water flowing over pebbles, rushing down waterfalls, sloshing in pots, or ocean waves crashing on beaches, water has always been the strong cord that nourishes and binds us to our home the earth. Our ancestors understood this.

How are we today using, appreciating, and protecting this living resource that our very life depends upon?

In my last post I introduced a new perspective from which to view our current civilization and society. We took a look back at what the communities that survived historically had in common as inherent practices. I'd like to talk about one of the elements I described: the one I called looking down from a high place.

As I sit at my sister's farm In CT, I ask her about the aerial photograph on her wall and from where it had been taken. What a beautiful place that was - I couldn't remember having seen it before. She told me that it was an aerial shot of the farm from the camera of a drone flying overhead.

Hearing this I marveled at the new and powerful perspective I now had of her farm from above: Its beauty, positive environmental impact for trees birds, farm animals, water, and safe and loving energy.

And people - a place anyone can come to find peace and be cared for. The difference in what I now understood, to me was amazing, and one example of the value of perspective from above.

At the beginning there was a circle of humans around a fire (community/village), moving water close by (mother nature/the earth) and looking down from high up (perspective/wisdom). These practices were honored and appreciated by our ancestors because they kept the community healthy and protected. Members did their share to make sure all needs were met. As they took care of others, they were taken care of. What lessons can they teach us now? Could these valuable traditions be sacred arrows pointing to what is missing in our world today? Share your thoughts below!

Most of us are critical of ourselves. We find flaws in our appearance, personality and abilities.The internal critic can be relentless at times. It is hard to trust yourself when you are constantly criticizing your every move.

However, we all have good and bad thinking patterns. What if we were to accept all of them as passing thoughts and emotions? They are merely here for a second and then, whoosh - evaporated!

Once you accept ALL of yourself -- thoughts and actions, good and bad -- your true spirit and beautiful essence is uncovered and no longer needs to compromise itself. This allows it to emerge and your whole being come to true happiness.

When should you give up on trying to change a habit?

There you are, psyched that this time you will kick that terrible habit to the curb. But, yet again you mess up.

You can be off track for hours, days, and even weeks.

It happens to me - it happens to all of us. The question is how many times can you screw up?

The answer: As many times as it takes to succeed!

Is overwhelm taking its toll? It’s effects comes in many guises:

* Shallow breathing
* Tense muscles
* Feelings of panic
* Low self-confidence

When we are unconscious of our overwhelm-caused stress, we risk not only our health, and mental and spiritual well being, but also our relationships, careers and the realization of our potential.

The solution? Slow down and measure your stress levels from day to day. Learn where the real culprits are. Work on lowering the one thing that causes you the most distress, the one with the highest consequence. Even better — get help from someone who can make sure that you stick to a plan and will hold you accountable to it.

Let's explore a neglected topic: Creating unnecessary problems. It isn't a new topic, just one that isn't talked about much. Every relationship we have is co-created at every interaction.

When it goes right - Yay.

When it goes wrong, though, we have the tendency to either blame ourselves or the other person. This chips away at what is good.

Remember that every action and interaction is a two-way street.

So, the next time something goes wrong in an interaction, rather than place blame, ask yourself this: "How did I (we) co-create this problem - what was my part?" For when both parties accept responsibility, regardless of how offended and hurt you may feel at the time, both of you are able to talk it through and avoid building resentment.