Shakti Sutriasa
Embodying Well-Being Part IV

We are now at the last pillar of well-being which is defined as purpose.

Purpose has had a resurgence of interest in the past few years, and I confess to have done my fair share of contemplation with it!

Most inquiries around purpose seem to focus on action, as in what you do, how you do it and then show up in the world. But underneath that is another layer, isn’t there? It’s the motivation behind the action.

Here’s what I mean. If you think you are here to be helpful, of service, then you will choose a job to illustrate that belief.

Embodying Well-Being Part IV
Shakti Sutriasa
Experiencing Well-Being Part III

We’re already at the 3rd pillar of well-being!

As a quick review, the first two are:

1.Awareness

-Meaning, the ability to be more present, tuned into your here and now as well as to your mind chatter.

From Dr Davidson directly:

“Awareness: A heightened, flexible attentiveness to one’s environment and internal cues such as bodily sensations, thoughts, and feelings.

Skills: Mindfulness, attention, self-awareness”

Experiencing Well-Being Part III
Shakti Sutriasa
Cultivating Well-Being Part II

How is your practice of awareness coming along?

Another way to think about awareness, is mindfulness. If you google that word alone, you’ll find loads of practices (in addition to the pause one I gave you) to support you in cultivating more awareness.

Today we’re exploring the 2nd pillar of well-being that Dr Richard Davidson identified with his neuroscience research.

Cultivating Well-Being Part II
Shakti Sutriasa
Cultivating Well-Being Part I

Have you heard of a neuroscientist named Richard Davidson?

He’s been doing research on the brain specifically related to mindfulness, meditation, and well- being for decades. And his research is fascinating!

One of his key findings is around the idea of well-being. Through extensive study, trials and research, he has identified what he calls 4 pillars of well-being.

The really exciting news is that these so-called pillars aren’t inherent qualities, or even simply acquired knowledge. They are qualities that each and every one of us can cultivate and apply every day of our lives! Wahoo!

Cultivating Well-Being Part I
Shakti Sutriasa
3 Ways to Manage the Rate of Change in the World

Have you experienced the past few months as intense, chaotic, and full of uncertainty?

Yes?

You’re not alone.

Some days feel like a tough slog. Like we’re moving through dense resistance. Which is all the more reason to embrace your spiritual practice and deepen into it. 

Many seers have spoken of this time we are in as an amplification, when everything is speeding up and gaining power. This is exactly why you have to choose your own sanity, clarity and peace.

Not only because the chaos is ever growing, but because the benefit of you doing your inner work is amplified during this time. In other words, you can use this time to fast track your liberation.

3 Ways to Manage the Rate of Change in the World

6 Steps to Transforming Regret

6 Steps to Transforming Regret

Still ruminating over the 5 biggest regrets dying people have?

Good!

Now let’s focus on how to release regret. Because, let’s face it, we all have them. The trick is to not allow them to keep you stuck in the past.

If you’re ready to move forward and heal, here’s what writer and life coach, Martha Beck has to share.

Her six steps to dissolving regret.

1. Get Beyond Denial

Bad sh*t happens to everyone. The question is, how do you remember it? Are you holding onto it, wishing it hadn’t happened? Are you angry or sad about it?

Beck describes this as, “unproductive regret,” a way to avoid taking action and moving forward

Top 5 Regrets of the Dying

Top 5 Regrets of the Dying

Working as a hospice social work intern, I often sat with people who were actively dying and talked about their lives, what brought them joy, and what they were afraid of.

So, what hospice nurse, Bronnie Ware , had to say in her 2019 book, Top 5 Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing wasn’t a big surprise.

Can you guess what the #1 regret waas?

Not being brave enough to live a life true to yourself.

In other words, not following your dreams.

Take a moment and ask yourself, will this be one of your regrets?

How to Make the World A Better Place

How to Make the World A Better Place

The fall always feels like a reflective time, with trees changing colors, and the weather cooling…

Autumn is also a time of powerful celebrations across the globe. From Durga Puja in India, to the autumnal equinox, to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, two of the holiest celebrations in Judaism.

Which makes me think of a Jewish teaching known as Tikkun olam, that we humans are here to help make the world a better place. Or, in another sense, to leave the world better than we found it.

4 Steps to Managing Pain

4 Steps to Managing Pain

Have you had this experience? You read the newspaper or go online, and suddenly feel overwhelmed by the suffering and pain in the world?

Being a sensitive person, that can feel overwhelming.

So what do you do?

In 2019, I was in the Tigray region of Ethiopia shortly before what would become a civil war. Everywhere I went, I could feel the pain, the anger, frustration, tension. At times, it felt crippling. Because I could sense this pain but also felt helpless to solve it.

After sharing this experience with one of my teachers, the guidance I received was this. “You don’t have to fix the world, your job is to love the world.”

Since 2019, I’ve been working on understanding exactly what that means and how to do it.

For me, that process has involved: acceptance, forgiveness, prayer, and envisioning.

Here’s how it works:

7 Ways to Tap Into AWE

7 Ways to Tap Into AWE

Did you know there’s neuroscience research on AWE?

One of the leaders, Dr Dacher Keltner, recently published a book called, Awe: The New Science of Every Day Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.

He describes awe as: “the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your understanding of the world.”

Being a social scientist, he’s interested in emotion and actually studies how the sensation of awe affects our biology! Not only does it calm your nervous system, it also activates the body to make oxytocin, the love hormone!

5 Ways to Strengthen Your Resiliency

5 Ways to Strengthen Your Resiliency

When I was in social work school, we heard a lot about resilience, like it was this magic ingredient for success. We weren’t exactly sure why some people had it, but it was clear that those who did were able to much more easily weather adversity and life challenges.

In truth, I don’t think resilience is actually elusive.

We’re all resilient, otherwise we wouldn’t be here! Because life can be difficult and we keep going.

The question really is, how do we strengthen the muscle of resilience?

Here are 5 Ways

Getting What You Really Want in 3 Easy Steps

Getting What You Really Want in 3 Easy Steps

I once heard Marci Shimoff, the author of Happy for No Reason, explain how to be successful using 3 simple steps:

The first one is Intention.

Intention requires us to get crystal clear about exactly what it is that we want.

Such as:

  • A brand new red Honda Accord

  • A job working for a specific company doing a particular job

  • A partner with these particular traits

 Get the idea?

The more specific and precise you can be the better.

Let’s face it, most of us bumble through life and forget how important it is to actually stop and dream in to exactly what it is that we want in our lives.

So stop right now and do it!

Are you wanting the right team of doctors and practitioners to support your healing?

Is it a specific amount of money to flow into your bank account every month?

Whatever it is, get clear, paint the picture for yourself.

4 Ways to Manage The Fast Pace of Life

4 Ways to Manage The Fast Pace of Life

Is it just me or are you feeling like we’re in a moment of rapid change?

I look around and everything appears to be in motion. People moving homes, getting different jobs, tackling new health problems…

Even though my life feels relatively stable, I’m traveling more and am busier than ever! 

And while that all feels exciting, especially after the cloistering we’ve done these past few years, I find that my heart rate can get elevated from managing both the amount of change as well as the rate with which it is happening!

Forgive & Set Yourself Free: 3 Steps

Forgive & Set Yourself Free: 3 Steps

Have you seen this movie The Mauritanian? It’s based on a true story about a Guantanamo Bay detainee. At one point, he explains that in his native language, Arabic, the word for freedom is the same as the word for forgiveness.*

I was struck by this. Because day after day, year after year, these words echo in my mind, “forgive and set yourself free.”

I first heard them from Louise Hay, and as I began to do forgiveness work, I found that it was true!

Forgiveness does have an incredibly liberating quality. Quite the opposite effect of what we think we will experience.

Ready to Attract Your Ideal Partner?

Ready to Attract Your Ideal Partner?

The question I get more than any others is this:

How can I be in relationship with a partner that completely sees me, gets me, loves me and supports me?

Whether you’re in a relationship right now or not, this blog is for you!

Why?

Because it reveals the ONE secret that every person who is in a truly fulfilling relationship knows.

Want to know what it is?

It’s actually really simple.

A Simple Way to Use Time Efficiently

A Simple Way to Use Time Efficiently

We have been told that time is an artificial construct only our lived experience does not feel like that!

Time feels relevant, full of meaning. We have appointments, schedules, flights, people to meet…

So perhaps the way to look at time is to ask yourself, are you using your time or filling your time?

In other words, how do your days feel? Are they exciting and vibrant? Do you feel alive and excited about your life?

Or are you waiting for the day to end? For you to be done with some task you don’t like in order to relax, chill out, or do what you want to do.

One of the most important lessons I learned about time, is that it is happening right now.

I often find myself quoting a line from a John Lennon song, “life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”

No Liquid Luck? 3 Ways to Find Your Flow

No Liquid Luck? 3 Ways to Find Your Flow

I don’t know about you, but I think about living in a state of grace, or being in the flow, a lot!

You know what I’m talking about, right?

That space, where everything is easy, life feels simple and abundant. As if the obstacles simply melt away effortlessly.

When you’re in that place, it feels both enlivening and empowering.

So why is it – if this space feels so good - that we fall out of it?

This is when I wish I could go to Hogwarts or perhaps just Diagon Alley and get the supplies to make the potion, Felix Felicis, otherwise known as, Liquid Luck.

If you’ve never read the 6th Harry Potter book, The Half Blood Prince, or seen the movie, perhaps you have no idea what I’m talking about!

What's Your Soul's Vision for 2023?

What's Your Soul's Vision for 2023?

I love making vision boards! Maybe you’ve even made one with me in the past!

 But if you’re new to vision boards, no worries! Click HERE to access my free kit! 

Every year I make a vision board. Normally, I’m super intentional about it, too, trying to incorporate about every aspect of my life – from growing educationally and spiritually, to working out, to go on vacations!

Shortly before the onset of the pandemic though, I learned about a concept called Soul Collage® which is creating collage imagery in a more free flow way, allowing your subconscious to pick images and words for you, as opposed to purposefully thumbing through magazines for specific pictures and exact words.

Since then, I’ve tilted my vision board practice more and more towards this method, incorporating this dream-like process into it.

Step Into the Year of the Chariot

Step Into the Year of the Chariot

it’s officially 2023. What do you want for your year?

One of my daughter’s is really into the Tarot and she says that the card for this year is the Chariot.

Apparently, this card is all about saying a big hearty YES to what you want to create in your life.

So, let’s hear it.

What is it that’s yearning to be birthed, that’s ready to come into fruition, that’s calling to you?

January, after all, is a time to vision.

Why not begin by creating a road map to joy? A path that chariot can navigate to help you achieve all you desire.

Here are 3 simple steps:

What Exactly is Advent?

What Exactly is Advent?

I never knew much about advent growing up in a household with, as my mother famously called herself, a “fallen Catholic” (whatever that meant) and a culturally Jewish but Atheist step dad. My father didn’t take us to church or temple either, although he’d have probably told you he was agnostic.

To me, advent meant colorful calendars with tiny windows and doors, and most importantly, daily chocolates!

It wasn’t until recently that I began to understand advent in a mystical way, as a means to support our self-transformation, and encourage our personal connection to the divine.

Essentially, what these 4 weeks before Christmas are designed to do is provide a time to intentionally clean out in preparation for receiving the light.