This path of spiritual/personal growth is rife with paradox. Things that appear on the surface to be contradictory but upon deeper exploration reveal themselves as deep Truth (capital T).

We can't tap into our most essentially creative power or the flow of abundance when we're rushing forward.

Our fullest power and potential are only available when we're firmly grounded in this present moment. 

"I love the thing that I most wish had not happened." Talk about fierce acceptance.

And that's what we're doing with all this awareness cultivation. We're learning to create more space to help us accept whatever "is" in our lives. The pleasant, the unpleasant, and everything in between.

The more we strive for perfection, the less worthy we feel.

The antidote to the thankless, life-force-depleting, never-ending perfectionism cycle is simple. It's the deep-in-your-bones trust that: You are enough.

But you don't fall out of good habits because you're a glutton for punishment.

You fall out of them because some (less than conscious) part of you is likely choosing a different — and more instantaneous — reward than the good habit seems to offer.

Anything we do repeatedly we keep doing because we get some kind of reward from it.

Two antidotes to suffering:

1) Keep your eyes on your own paper (or yoga mat). 2) Let yourself let go of things you can't control.

Momentum picks up or inertia settles in based on our first thoughts and actions of the day.

So setting an enlivening tone first thing in the morning is a simple but powerful way to shift gears upward for your entire day.

That's how a life of following your intuition — or following the bread crumbs, as I like to think of it — is.

You might not understand why you've been called to do the thing you feel called to do, but you do it anyway because it just feels right.

It's only in hindsight that you see how it all connects.

You don't have to believe it fully for the seeds of possibility to start to germinate.

You just have to keep the door of possibility open, and acknowledge that even slightest sliver of what's possible.

Then keep opening the door a little more and a little more, and the universe will start to open the door in equal measure.

All we need to do to get unstuck from a sticky moment - aka a sticky thought - is to: Pause. Step back. Take an objective look at what's actually happening (not in your mind, but in reality). And get curious about what's under the microscope, with no clinging to or pushing away whatever you discover.

Every time you let a should trump a genuine desire, you're telling your big “S” Self — your natural core of love and kindness — to get out of the driver's seat so your little “s” self — your control-loving ego — can take the wheel.

Yes, long-held beliefs have layers. But if you chip away steadily and with heart-centered intention, you'll get to their core, and you'll uncover what's actually always been true: That you are 100% whole. That there is nothing you need "out there" that you don't already have "in here." That you are fully capable of giving and receiving love. And that you are worthy of love. Right. Now.

Our beliefs create our life experience. So if how we park is how we live, what do your parking habits say about your view of life? Do you trust that there will always be something that's a good fit for you, or do you take whatever you can get for fear that might be all that's going to come your way?

Boldness stirs the fear pot. Going against the grain takes guts. Rocking the boat...well...rocks the boat. And yes, that can all be uncomfortable. But aren't you already uncomfortable not speaking up and not going for what you really want in your life?

We don't have trouble feeling happy about someone else's happiness because we're terrible people. We have trouble feeling it when we want something like what they have for ourselves...

And we secretly fear we may never be able to have it.

You'll know when to leap when you feel it in your bones — in a part of yourself that feels totally un-pin-point-able, but also more real than anything you've ever felt before.

Acknowledging and accepting our emotions is very different than indulging or dwelling in them. The more fully and honestly you let yourself feel whatever you're feeling right now, the less you'll have to play clean-up down the road. There are no emotions you're not allowed to feel.

When we align our actions in a committed way with our most sincerely heartfelt desires, the universe tends to step in to support us in some way, even if not in exactly the way we'd envisioned. But we have to meet the universe halfway.

You never know whose life you might be changing for the better right this second by just showing up. There's no different way, no "more” you need to be to positively impact someone's life right now.

When the landlord opened the door to the apartment I now live in, my first thought was, Wow, this is tiny. My second thought was I know I'm gonna live here. I just knew in my gut this space was for me. And the past 3 years have proven that intuitive hit to be right on the money. Sometimes intuition comes clearly like that. But when fear is involved, intuition can feel fuzzy.