Last November I attended a day-long training with Drs. C. Alexander and Annellen M. Simpkins on “Neuroscience for Clinicians: Mind-Brain Change for Stress, Anxiety, Trauma, Moods and Substance Abuse.” What a fun dynamic team of psychologists they were! As you can imagine, each of those subtopics could have been its own full day of learning, but the overview was powerful...[ read more ]

"Creativity is intelligence having fun" -Albert Einstein Encouraging creativity in others brings me great joy. I’d like to spend this time discussing what I see as an enormous impediment to the creative process. As a creator and seller of handmade items, it is refreshing to see an increasing interest in handmade. I see a growing appreciation for crafters of all...[ read more ]

As I've mentioned before, I often don't need the new year to have a feeling of freshness to my life. I enthusiastically use the first of the month as a new beginning. . . or it's also a great way to reframe the concept of Mondays. However, one part of the new year that feels particularly special is getting a...[ read more ]

First, I have to acknowledge that this title came from my fabulous new virtual assistant Gwendolyn (you can check out her site by clicking here) as she and I were communicating about writing more for the blog and on a bright Monday morning I get an email from her that reminds me to do some “writing, writing, writing.” It made...[ read more ]

I'm really excited to share that in late January 2016, I will be starting a 6-week mindfulness meditation group! This is a shortened version of a group I led for two semesters at the University of California-Davis with undergraduate and graduate students and I'm so excited to be bringing it to the Miami community. Here's an appetizer about why mindfulness...[ read more ]

Hi dear reader, Hope this finds you well. I'm so moved my the positive feedback and support I received last week. It was quite a process of reflection, responsibility and risk to put myself out there like this. It meant the world that you supported it. Speaking of the three Rs from last week, I wanted to follow-up a bit...[ read more ]

Giving gratitude time and space in your life is a hot topic these recent years, and good news is that it isn't an empty act. Gratitude has been shown to help create mental shifts in the way people feel. Martin, Steen, Park, & Peterson (2005) found in their research that a one time act of gratitude resulted in an immediate 10% increase in...[ read more ]

There's a frequent conversation I have with the people I work with, which consists of whether to wait until the feeling of motivation is present or to "fake it till you make it". Meaning, do we wait until we're motivated to do something or do we push through the apathy? I think I could use a little more pushing through...[ read more ]

I didn’t have a clear picture of what I wanted for my New Year’s resolution. Thank goodness I did not get frustrated with myself and have an expectation that I “should.” I was actually (for once) just very curious and accepting of the fact that there was not an obvious vision of what I wanted to focus on for this...[ read more ]

Do you have a New Year's Resolution to create more peace in your thought-life? Have you always been curious about the benefits of meditation, but don't know where to start? Get a jump start with this weekly short-term group on the how-tos with weekly meditation homework and a beginner's introduction to mindfulness meditation as a life skill which can positively...[ read more ]