Writing with Heart

"Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth."

This quote from Pema Chodron is today's WORDS CHANGE US.

Pema's words feel true to me. They reflect my own experience.

Where there's fear, there's heat, and something to look at.

I was 51 years old and,admittedly, stricken by both doubt and...

Tonight's WORDS CHANGE US comes from "This Is Water" by the late David Foster Wallace. I think these words speak for themselves. What do you worship?

"Here's something else that's weird but true: in the day-to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such...

Tonight's WORDS THAT CHANGED ME comes from a modern spiritual classic, "The Teachings of Don Juan" by Carlos Castaneda.

Here it is:

"Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use."

I've liked this quote since I first read it in the late 1990s.

Back then, I...

Tonight's THESE WORDS CHANGED ME come from the Buddhist maitri practice. Maitri means lovingkindness in Sanskrit. Here are the words:

May I be filled with lovingkindness.

May I be safe from inner and outer dangers.

May I be well in body and mind.

May I be peaceful and happy.

May I be free.

Some...

Today's THESE WORDS CHANGED ME comes from Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. 

After days of listening to the Buddha's teachings, Siddhartha, a wanderer seeking enlightenment, encounters The Awakened One in a grove.

And guess what he does?

He gives the Great One a piece of his mind!

Here's what he...

I was in my mid-thirties and quite depressed when I first stumbled on a recording of Alan Watts' unique style of spiritual entertainment. Within a few minutes, I was chuckling out loud and had forgotten I was depressed.

These days, I no longer suffer from depression, and Watts' recordings still...

When I used to travel a lot as a magazine writer, I tried to work fast so that I could explore more of the countries I visited. I gravitated toward holy sites. Temples, churches, ashrams, ancient ruins, active charnel grounds. I wasn’t a believer, so I wasn’t even sure what...

Years ago, I committed to a daily yoga practice after two decades of casual three-days-per-week practice.  Within months, I saw tangible results. I became more fit, more flexible, a little happier, a little less reactive, and even more connected to my spiritual self, which I’d...

Hi Friends,

I’ve been thinking about faith lately.

Faith is a central theme in the travel memoir I’m writing. Faith has been a central theme in my life.

Since I was a kid, I've been drawn to religious and spiritual paths. But as strong as the pull toward God has sometimes been, my...

A consistent yoga practice can be powerful. It’s like standing in front of a mirror and staring at your reflection. This can be frightening for anybody, but for a middle-aged man it is especially so.

First, you see things that surprise or shock you. Is my belly really that lumpy? Is my hair...

Last February, a few weeks after my 51st birthday and on the twisting road to becoming a middle-aged yoga instructor, I skulked through the orange-themed lobby at a Boulder, Colorado, yoga studio. Past the racks of Lululemon yoga pants and T-shirts that read “Spiritual Gangster,” I...