Neuroplasticity means that our brain can foster proactive change — In the psychedelic era, “mind-expanding experiences” referred to ingesting drugs that brought you to “alternate states of consciousness.” It meant that drugs would lead you through new “doors of perception,” an experience that would change your interaction with the world. While this may have helped some people attain something akin…

Demystifying the poignant advice of an old poet to a young woman — In this article, I would like to deconstruct a famous French poem to point out how manipulation can so easily be woven into seemingly useful advice. Sixteenth-century French poet Ronsard gave poignant advice to a young woman, Helene: Live, if you believe me, and wait not for tomorrow: Pluck today the roses…

Understanding what happens when we are under stress and how to handle stress proactively. — We are not powerless about stress. We can handle it proactively. To do this, we need to be clear on what it is. What is stress? It’s what happens when something majorly disrupts the flow of your normal functioning. Your systems’ resources are stressed beyond their capacity. It helps to see this through…

Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron tells the story of something that happened to her as a young woman. One day, she saw her boyfriend passionately embracing another woman. This scene stirred up so much that she had the urge to throw something at him. The problem is, they were visiting the…

A mindful exploration of what is triggered in us and what it relates to. — I was talking to a friend about the men’s tennis finals. She was distraught at the rage with which Djokovic smashed his racket. She was disturbed by his inability to regulate the intensity of his emotions and the eruption of violence. As we talked, she had a sense that there…

In Mahayana Buddhism, “emptiness” refers to the concept that everything is “empty” of independent substance — in other words, things (including events and people) are interdependent. In practice, what does this mean? It might help to think of the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” When something…