Shakti Sutriasa
How to Really Change the World

You know that expression, “wherever you go, there you are.”?

I was thinking about that the other morning.

If you’re like me, you want to world to be a better place, more loving, peaceful, sane.

But what if the real way to succeed at changing the world isn’t by going out and tangibly changing the politics, or environment but is all about changing yourself? In other words, changing your mind about the world.

This is what I think the above quote actually means.

How to Really Change the World
Shakti Sutriasa
How Porous Are Your Boundaries?

Boundaries often get a bad rap, as if they’re not a good thing, as if they prevent us from genuine connection.

Is that really true?

First off, let’s define what we’re really talking about.

A boundary can be physical like a fence or a wall, even your skin is a natural physical boundary.

Boundaries can also be set by social or cultural standards. For example, in Japan, people greet one another with a bow, rather than in the United States where we often shake hands or hug.

Boundaries – in terms of dictating behavior- also differ in public versus private spaces, and vary depending on the types of relationship you have with someone.

How Porous Are Your Boundaries?
Shakti Sutriasa
Feel the Presence of God with You Always

When you were a child, did you have an imaginary friend? Someone you held tea parties with, read to in bed, played hide and seek with, or blamed for the mess in your room?

According to WebMD, around 65% of children under the age of seven have them, so if you did, you’re in the majority!

Naturally, there are social and emotional reasons that children have imaginary friends. It’s good company. It’s also a way to try out new social behaviors, or process feelings. An imaginary friend can offer support, too. After all, it’s YOUR special friend, someone who loves you, won’t leave, and doesn’t judge.

Feel the Presence of God with You Always
Shakti Sutriasa
The Key to Having a Lasting Romantic ...

February is the month for lovers, for love, for reminding us of what our hearts yearn for.

Are you like me? Have you always been a romantic, from the time you were little?

I completely bought into the fantasy. You know it, right? Get rescued from your unhappy situation when you meet the love of your dreams, and live happily ever after.

As part this, I was HOOKED on the idea of falling in love even though I had NO idea of what love actually was.

I harbored this romantic dream for years.

The Key to Having a Lasting Romantic Relationship
Shakti Sutriasa
The Tarot Card Influencing 2024

Last year my daughter turned me onto this idea that there is a Major Arcana Tarot card that informs the overarching energy of the year.

One way to think about this is as the TONE for the year on a global scale, reflecting the energy that might be arising.

It’s actually quite simple to learn which tarot card it is for the year. Simply add the numbers of the year together. So, for this year it would be: 2+0+2+4=8

The Card that correlates with the number 8 is STRENGTH.

Immediately that feels heartening, don’t you think? As if it is inviting us to call on our own inner strength, knowing that it’s there for us always. Perhaps it’s an opportunity to cultivate strength even more since we may need this quality as 2024 unfolds.

The Tarot Card Influencing 2024

life purpose coaching

Procrastinate Tomorrow: 5 Ways To Push Through

Procrastinate Tomorrow: 5 Ways To Push Through

For many of us, procrastination feels like the bane of our existence.

It’s the voice saying, “I know I should be…,” the project you just don’t have time for, or the dream going unfulfilled.

I used to procrastinate with everything. I’d drag my feet, wait until the last minute, freak out and then just before the deadline, get it done. But after awhile, I realized that my pattern was causing me so much stress. I hated feeling the pressure and tension.

That’s when I decided to make some adjustments in how I approached my life. And here’s what I found most useful:

Feel It & Heal It: 5 Steps to Transform Pain

Feel It & Heal It: 5 Steps to Transform Pain

I was 15 years old the first time I consciously felt anxiety and had just started my sophomore year at a new boarding school. The souring in my stomach and the fear that blinded me was terrifying. So I bolted down the stairs of my dorm, and headed straight to the vending machines. I wanted to push away and bury all that anxiety and uncertainty.

By October, I’d gained twenty pounds because I didn’t know how to deal with dark emotions like: discomfort, anxiety, pain, anguish, frustration, resentment…

It took me 10 years to learn how to be present and experience these uncomfortable feelings.

Now when they come up, do I like it? Not really.

4 Simple Ways to Deal with Conflict

4 Simple Ways to Deal with Conflict

Some people love to argue and fight. Part of me is in awe of these gutsy folks because I am the opposite. I hate arguing. I don’t even like watching other people fight.

Instead, my typical response was always one of three things: I avoided the confrontation or I worked hard at making peace, smoothing things over or acting like it was no big deal.

But as I moved more into being authentic, none of these behaviors felt genuine. They were just ways that I was ignoring myself, allowing myself to be quieted or swallowing how I really felt. And then, when I ran a business, I had no choice because conflict was in my face.

It was time to deal with it.

Manifest Your Holiday Miracle

Manifest Your Holiday Miracle

The other morning I turned the page for my new lesson in A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and here is what it said; “I am entitled to miracles.”

I smiled.

First because I love that idea, and second because it felt so timely, given that Christmas and Chanukah are right around the corner.

I’ve always been fascinated with miracles, magic and what seemed like “other-worldly stuff.” To me, miracles were the foray of Gods, of holy people, of wonder. They weren’t something that a mere mortal such as myself could perform.

Until I learned more - that we, you and I, co-create our world with God.

Access Your Power Now

Access Your Power Now

Letting go of old, limiting beliefs gives you power. It frees you up to be exactly who you want to be and live your truth, your light and love.

I was reminded again this morning.

As I was meditating, the words that came were, “as we release our samsara, we make room in our lives for the things we truly want.”

Samsara is a Sanskrit word that describes the cycle of life- from birth to death. This includes all the actions of our lives, the karma we accrue and bring forward into the next incarnation, etc.

I think about samsara, too, as the bodily goo that gets attached to us once we take form and become human. It’s the stuff- the emotions, relationships, duties, obligations, beliefs- that ground us in a physical form and ego.

5 Ways to Foster Resilience

5 Ways to Foster Resilience

Last month, a former student visited my husband at the K-8 school we founded in 2004. He came to catch up, say hi and share that he was moving to Chicago for college.

I call Shawn an angel boy and here's why.

When he first showed up eight years ago, he was a scrawny 4th grader who couldn’t read. He also seemed hyperactive and had had some discipline issues at his previous school.

His adopted mother met with us and essentially begged us to “take care of her son.”

She was already on hospice and knew she only had a few more weeks to live. She was determined to find him a place where he could be loved.

Skydiving - A Lesson In Trust

Skydiving - A Lesson In Trust

About a month ago, I finally went skydiving!

I’d been flirting with the idea for 30 years but it just never happened.

And then I got scared.

Around the winter holidays, my daughter started bugging us to go skydiving as a family.

I reluctantly agreed and we scheduled to go in January. Our reservation repeatedly got canceled due to bad weather. My daughter returned to college and I was off the hook!

As the months ticked by, I began to realize that I had to face this fear.

Love: The Antidote to Tragedy

Love: The Antidote to Tragedy

 know I’m not alone in feeling despondent about the tragic and brutal murder of 49 innocent people on Sunday morning in Orlando.

For two days I was in denial about it. I just didn’t want to feel it, believe it was real. That someone could voluntarily harm innocent people right here in my own back yard.

And yet daily, the news is filled with stories like this. Of violence in every country, and city, affecting all walks of life.

So how, as sensitive, loving people, do we face tragedy and not shy away, give up or become hostile?

Love.

Quit the Diet and Eat Mindfully: 5 Ways to Start Today

Quit the Diet and Eat Mindfully: 5 Ways to Start Today

We all know diets don’t work. So why do we keep doing them?

Study after study proves people who diet gain back all the weight they lost and often gain even more. Now even neuroscience is confirming this.

Diets are a form of deprivation that our brains respond to by thinking we are starving and then slowing our metabolism rates which is why we plateau and don’t lose more weight.

I stopped dieting over twenty years ago.

Living the Dream

Living the Dream

Have you ever had a person in your life who saw your inner beauty, your soul radiance?

I have.

One of the first times this happened, was when I lived in Hong Kong. I was in my early twenties, struggling to find my way as an adult, and living 10,000 miles away from my family, friends and culture.

I admit it, I was lonely and scared.