"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Recommended Resources for Strengthening Resilience
Stay Present and Grounded in the Midst of the Storm
(Please note: I do not receive compensation from these organizations to promote them. These are simply resources that have helped me and that I hope can help you!)
Meditation app providing fundamentals, animations, guided and unguided meditations, and meditation courses covering many topics & challenges
Wide range of videos, resources, and science-based techniques to reduce stress and anxiety and promote peace and wellbeing
Inspiration and tools to help you live a more meaningful life
Institute for Mindful Leadership
Programs and tools exploring the intersection of mindfulness training and leadership excellence
Mindfulness exercises, meditations, and courses
Inspiring the creation of mindful and compassionate work environments
*** ESPECIALLY FOR KIDS ***
(including the HeartSmarts® Adventure eLearning program for ages 4 to 6+)
Article Archive
Insights, wisdom, and nuggets from my experiences to help you along your journey
Published
May 2020
by Sivana East
How to make resilience a daily practice — whether you're in the calm or the storm.
I used to chuckle to myself when my yoga teacher welcomed the “new beginners” to class. It sounded redundant to me. It took me years to realize that his phrase was not redundant.
“New beginners” were people showing up to class for the very first time. As opposed to what I now call “practicing beginners.” Practicing beginners have been to class many times, and they know that every time is still a beginning. An opportunity to learn, apply, and grow. We show up with a different body to each yoga class. We show up with a clean slate to each day of life.
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Featured
April 2019
by Designing Your Life
The Designing Your Life Team chose to feature my story on their blog for the Life Design Community.
How has Designing Your Life helped you design a more joyful, well-lived life at home and/or work?
Reframing has been huge. A technique I've also learned as a coach, reframing is probably the most powerful tool in my toolbox. It literally helps me form new neural pathways and adopt a different "default" than I've had before. I find myself quickly and naturally thinking differently, opening space for curiosity, opening my mind so I can imagine alternatives, and moving through both difficult and exciting times with the faith that I can choose my response to situations.
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Published
December 2018
by Holstee
How a brief pause from the rush of life can revolutionize our time, focus, and energy in that life.
I recently completed a spiritual pilgrimage that opened my eyes, sharpened my focus, and answered questions I’d been asking myself for years. The amazing part? I didn’t leave my house.
Last year I shared an article on the power of gratitude to heal the loss of my astronaut dream. Since then I’ve made huge progress in way-finding and narrowing down my interests as an emerging entrepreneur, but still found myself subject to “squirrel!” mentality. Following several paths simultaneously, I wondered if or how those paths related to each other. I felt pulled in many directions and wanted to bring all my efforts together, to find my unified “theory of everything.”
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Published
June 2018
by Holstee
Reflections on a journey across the seven continents.
When I hear the word “adventure,” I reflect on one of many memorable life experiences: completing a marathon on all seven continents. Notice the word “completing.” I’m not fast. Some of them were more like hiking/walking/jogging than running. The only time I ever won my age/gender category, I was the only person in my category. But I crossed the finish line each time.
People often ask me which race was my favorite. While I can’t pick one all-time favorite, each stands out in its own way. Together they create a tapestry of adventure, wonder, and humanity that has shaped me in deep ways.
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Identifying our personal wellness stop signs — and honoring them.
On the second day of the year, at a dark and cold 5:30am, I saw the red and blue flashing lights behind me as I'd barely gotten out of my neighborhood on my way to yoga.
I credit regular meditation with the fact that I didn't panic, freak out, or involuntarily start crying when talking to the cop. I probably would have done all those five years ago. I know I did all those 15 years ago during college, when I got my two and only traffic tickets ever.
Published
March 2018
by Holstee
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Published
December 2017
by One Idea Away
Overcoming the struggle to carry the weight of the world — and instead embracing those priorities that truly light us up.
Raise your hand if you've ever wanted to or thought you could or should "do it all," and right now. (Yes, my hand is raised!)
No surprise there; it's a pretty common outlook, especially in the ever-increasing pace of our technological world. It also seems to be creating a frenzied, stressed, distracted, and overwhelmed culture that feels alarmingly "normal." But the truth is, doing it all, all the time, isn't an achievable or healthy goal.
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How the healing power of gratitude can help us move through and grow beyond even our greatest challenges.
Four months ago, as I watched the movie "Apollo 13" with my students in a leadership class, I started sobbing during the rocket launch sequence. I ran out of the room and hid in my office so my students wouldn't see me fall apart. When I finally came back, as composed as I could manage and steeling myself for the rest of a movie that had inspired me since my teenage years, I asked myself: What just happened?
Published
November 2017
by Holstee
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Published
July 2017
by Holstee
How pursuing balance in all things can lead to a healthier, more fulfilling creative life.
What do horses, running, and Star Trek have in common? We can learn about creative balance from each of them.
Think about your brain. Do you consider yourself "left brained" or "right brained"? We often hear that the left brain is associated with logic and analysis, while the right brain is associated with creativity, intuition, and emotion. However, I believe that the full creative process — a creative approach to life itself, as distinguished from a specific art form like painting or making a photo collage — is enabled by a healthy balance between the left and right brain. They are yin and yang and without both, the circle is incomplete.
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Published
April 2017
by One Idea Away
Reinventing the "ladder of success" as a kaleidoscopic pattern you create for your life in every moment.
Stephen Covey, in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People wrote:
“It’s incredibly easy… to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall… If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.”
This analogy struck a chord with me as I sat in a three-day 7 Habits workshop in the summer of 2014.