Be the Peace You Want to See in the World
There IS Something You Can Do About the State of the World We are at a crossroads in our country and on our planet. It can feel as if people are becoming more and more polarized. Democrat vs. Republican. Black lives vs. Police. The US against the rest of the world....
Travels in Bhutan: Lessons from the Kingdom of Happiness
Have you ever thought that more money or a higher status in the world might make you happier? If so, lessons from Bhutan, The Kingdom of Happiness, might indicate otherwise. Bhutan is a country that knows a thing or two about happiness. This tiny Buddhist kingdom in...
Free Mindfulness Resources to Help You Start (or reinvigorate) a Practice
I often get asked how to start or sustain a mindfulness practice and what books I recommend. Please read on for some of my favorite FREE mindfulness tips and resources to help you get started. But first, why should we care? Let’s say you want to strengthen and tone...
How Do You Love a Beast?
You will only ever have 2 choices: Love or Fear. Choose Love. Dear Friends, One of the most important decisions you can make today (or any day) is to choose love over fear. All emotions are sub-categories of these two emotions. Except we forget that this is a choice...
The transformation of education: lessons from SXSWedu 2016
I just returned from SXSWedu 2016: a whirlwind of a conference and festival that attracts over 6000 people from all over the globe, all with a common interest in improving education and fostering innovation. The attendees come from a variety of backgrounds. There are...
Mindful Beach Rescue: A final exam on kindness and compassion
It was the last morning of a mindfulness retreat I was leading. I was getting ready for our final practice together and closing circle when the distress call came in. A guest had gone for an early-morning walk on the beach and had come across a very large aquatic...
Happy Thanksgiving…and Why I’m Spending it Alone
This Thanksgiving will be different for me, as I've decided to spend the day alone, deep in the desert on a vision quest. I will miss my family and friends, but it feels right for me to shake it up this year and go deep. There is so much chaos in the world right now,...
A Tale of Monkeys and Money and Power…and one small voice
The Moments That Define Us Sometimes life gives you an opportunity to declare who you are and what you stand for. Here's a story of one such opportunity. It was during one of my stints in corporate America that an email came through my inbox with a subject line that...
Feeling Stressed? Try R.A.I.N.
Normally when we encounter a stressor, we react in a habitual, mindless way, which tends to increase (or even cause) suffering. R.A.I.N is an elegant and simple process, which can help us see more clearly and transform our relationship with difficult situations. WHAT...
“Normalize the magic,” and other great advice from Martha Beck
"Normalize the Magic," and other great advice Martha gave me They say when the student is ready the teacher will appear. Well, I thought I was ready for years and no teacher was appearing. I knew something wasn’t right. I knew I was just slightly off course, but...
The Dark Side of Academia: One Girl’s Story
The Dark Side of Academia: One Girl's Story Perhaps the girl is just naïve. Girl gets a job teaching at a university and is excited about the opportunity to help students and contribute to the next generation of health care providers. Somewhere along the way there was...
How Our “Culture of Testing” Causes Problems: Mindfulness Can Help
This blog originally appeared in Edutopia, the George Lucas Education Foundation online journal about what works in education. You can read/comment/share their version here. By objective measures, our young people are more anxious and depressed and have more...
True Independence Is an Inside Job
As we finish up the 4th of July celebrations, I have been contemplating independence. It is a great concept and a definite cause for celebration but what does it actually mean? It is true that America is independent from Great Britain but are we really independent as...
Stuck in Indecision? Try Feeling Instead of Thinking Your Way To Clarity.
I had spent so many years bowing down to the altar of higher education (both as a student and a professor) that a few years ago this would have seemed like a radical idea, blasphemous even. Don't be silly, I might have thought, the rational mind can find a solution to...
How a Compassion Practice *Might* Have Gotten Me Out of a Speeding Ticket
Earlier this month I arrived back in my “happy place” of Sedona, AZ. I had just arrived the night before and had the whole month stretched out before me. The place I was staying in was even more gorgeous and peaceful than it looked online and was right on the creek....
Dollar Store Enlightenment
I have been feeling the occasional twinge of stress around money lately. Although I am in transition, starting a new business and it is normal for me not to be bringing in as much money as I did last year when I had my steady job. My currency this year is mainly in...
My “Why”: Inner Transformation Leads to Global Transformation
I keep hearing that "why" we do things is much more important than "what" we do. I was asked to ponder this and write about it for an education conference I'll be speaking at next week in Palm Springs. Here is what came to me. My love affair with mindfulness began...
Reflections and Lessons From SXSWedu: Five Tips to Get Out of Your Own Way and Shine
The SXSW (pronounced South by Southwest) family of conferences and festivals that is held in Austin, TX every year started with a music festival in 1987. They promote themselves as the “premier destination for discovery” and a space for intellectual and creative...
5 Ways to Help Turn a Problem into a Blessing
I was driving on a remote stretch of road on an island in NC when I heard a loud “pop” and my car began to overheat. It was getting dark and a big nor’easter was rolling in. I was on a particularly narrow stretch of road with water on both sides. I had just arrived to...
New Years Message, 2014
2014, I will miss you. You gave me the courage and opportunity to give my first keynote address, graduation speech and to lead mindfulness workshops from Vegas to Boston, all in the service of liberation and joy. You gave me a whole new tribe of friends (you know who...
About Erin
Erin believes that narrow boxes are for shoes and not for people and she hopes you'll join her tribe on the mindful path to freedom!
