It was difficult. I go to an ecstatic dance meetup regularly, as part of my self-development and community practices. There are many of these "ecstatic dance communities" all over the world, each with its own unique culture. These groups consist of the most lovely variety of people engaging in free-form dancing, alone and/or with each other during an hour or two of conversation-free, drug-free, good ol' booty shaking. [ 2,307 more words ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/yesterday-i-dance…/

It was dusk. The early autumn air was still warm and humid. "I'd like to slow down," I said. "Are you going to walk with me or not?" she retorted. That's when I felt a subtle discomfort in the pit of my stomach, the slightest anxiety, and I thought I've got to make a decision right now. For me, in that moment, the pressure was on. [ 920 more words ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/a-story-about-mak…/

It's like all the money and savings experts say about how to actually save money, "Pay yourself first." If you don't make the conscious, deliberate commitment to produce before you consume, you'll be sucked into the current, and you won't come out alive. Money is important, it's just not the most important thing. When we put money first, before virtues, it will never last. [ 720 more words ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/money-happiness-o…/

Today I'm grateful for the power of my daily routine, for the sun entering Capricorn and for my love, desire and dream of being a professional life coach. I've been reading The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin, on recommendation from a life coach friend. (Side note: It's hilarious and awesome how it seems like almost everyone I know these days is a life coach or married to a life coach...!) [ 503 more words ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/merry-winter-sols…/

When we love ourselves magnificently, people are automatically attracted to what we have and they want to be in relationship with us. Sometimes we forget that we already have everything we need to be happy! When we feel needy, like we don't have everything we need already, people are often repelled from us. It's a lot of pressure to put on someone else to make us happy. [ 244 more words ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/25-fun-things-to-…/

I took the Men's Course with OneTaste in Austin, TX last weekend. I laughed, I cried (twice). And I was immersed in the heartfelt warmth of an elite group of courageous men and women who want the truth more than they want anything else. People who want to be fully alive. Those are my kind of people! People who are willing to put their self-concept on the line, to let their ego get battered and bruised and shattered to smithereens a little. [ 776 more words ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/how-to-pull-14000…/

Sometimes I feel shame about being human. It's so messy to be human. There are all these emotions and needs and stories... not to mention biological needs like eating and pooping. Or, probably the messiest part of being human--having sex and making babies (full disclosure: no babies for me yet). It's all one big fat mess! And then there are all the stages of development, at which any point one can get sidetracked and lost in psychopathology and neurosis. [ 685 more words ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/the-perfect-life-…/

Who do you think you are? Well, chances are, unless you've achieved the non-dual realization of Oneness with everything and nothing, who you THINK you are is not who you REALLY are. And for all I know, maybe the "non-dual realization" is only the beginning. I'll let you know when I find out ;p I believe that becoming fully ALIVE is a process of… [ 1,272 more word ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/self-ownership-ov…/

Sometimes I feel more like the Fake Death Disconnection Wannabe-Coach than the Real Life Connection Coach. Sometimes I want to curl up into a ball, fall asleep and never wake up. Sometimes I'll spend days or even weeks at a time dipping in and out of self-destructive and suicidal thoughts, hopelessness, and purposelessness. Depression takes me down, down, down, so deep into an abyss. [ 1,083 more word ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/lessons-ive-learn…/

No man or woman owns us. We own ourselves. We do not own each other. I re-read the USA Declaration of Independence yesterday and broke down in tears when I got to the end. I care about freedom so much, and I hate so much how our freedoms are being taken away, bit by bit, by those who would force us to comply with their ideologies. [ 170 more words ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/a-few-words-on-fr…/

Sometimes my sadness, anger and self-worthlessness feel so deep and infinite, I imagine if I let myself feel them at all that I'll be lost in them forever. I clearly remember the first few times I let myself feel as much of these "negative" emotions as I could. I remember how terrifying it was to peer into that oblivion, to imagine being sucked into it like a supermassive black hole, never to return. [ 795 more words. ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/how-to-deal-with-…/

For most of us, it seems there is a distance between where we are and where we want to be. That's not new information. But do we accept that this will always be true if we want to grow? We will NEVER be where we want to be unless where we want to be is where we already are. People say, "I'm getting there." "I'm learning." "I'm on my way." And I say, "When will this never not be true?" "Will you ever get there?" [ 102 more words. ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/were-perfect-grow…/

Look around you and begin to think, feel and learn what Nature is, what Nature wants and what it means to be ALIVE, what the meaning of life truly is. And stop taking other people's words for it. Don't take my word for it! Life is a celebration of existence. Life is an expression of perfection in its eternal growth and seasonal ebbs and flows. [ 819 more words. ]

http://www.reallifeconnectioncoach.com/…/06/05/not-taxation/