If you want to improve your communication skills, here is one practical idea suggested by the authors of “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High”: “one good way to increase your self-awareness is to explore your Style Under Stress.” This is critically important, because when our sense of safety in communication is threatened, […]
A parable retold and interpreted by Eckhart Tolle, which illustrates through an example how we can practice the conscious “diminishing of the ego” in our lives. “The Zen master Hakuin lived in a town in Japan. He was highly respected, and many people sought his spiritual guidance. It happened that the teenage daughter of his […]
Here is an idea from Eckhart Tolle on how to consciously practice the sadhana of disappointment, which I find deeply inspiring. “A powerful spiritual practice is to consciously allow the diminishment of the ego when it happens and to not try to restore it. I recommend that you experiment with this from time to time. […]
In the past, I often facilitated trainings on “stress management” for teachers. They were organized on a voluntary basis – schools would present a list of different topics through which teachers could upgrade their qualifications, and they would choose. What struck me strongly back then was that the people who signed up for the stress […]
This is the title of one of the final chapters in Mariana Caplan’s book, “Halfway Up the Mountain: The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment”—“The Sadhana of Disillusionment.” What is written in it is something that is not often discussed, yet for me, it is exceptionally valuable. I believe it will be the same for […]
We communicate all the time. Just like we breathe. Even when we remain silent in the presence of others, we still communicate. Sometimes silence even speaks louder than words. We also communicate when we are alone – this time with ourselves, having endless inner dialogues, immersed in the whirlwind of thoughts. We tend to think […]
I recommend this book – Crucial Conversations, with the subtitle Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. The authors are four men with extensive experience in this field – Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. If I were to give in to the impulse of my rising sign Aries, I would recommend […]
There is a type of people who tend to postpone things.And they do not understand why, later on, things in their lives become worse and worse. Like an installment on a loan that is not paid on time, and the interest begins to accumulate…Like an overripe pear that remains untouched in the fruit bowl and […]
The presentation of the “roadblocks on the path to surrender as a way of life” would not be complete without introducing the third one: helping others in a way that blurs the boundaries between us and them. For people with spiritual values and sensitive hearts, this may turn out to be not only the greatest […]
It seems that Exupéry understood not only Gestalt therapy, but also systemic psychotherapy, because he “tested” adults with his famous Drawing Number One and Drawing Number Two. He could be seen as a secret predecessor of this approach in psychotherapy, because long before systemic psychotherapists he discovered that there exists a reality different from the […]
Below is an excerpt from Thomas Moore’s book Care of the Soul, which I decided to share because it offers yet another perspective on the theme of normality through the prism of social consensus. This is yet another article that comments on this topic, following the articles on: First- and second-order reality (the tradition of […]
After presenting the first block to “surrender as a way of life” from Pamela Kribbe’s book—”God as an external authority“—it is now time to present the second. It is titled “Society’s ideals and standards as the second false idol.” “Another false god that distances you from your true spiritual energy is ‘society’: the standards and […]
