feelings

Podcast: Permission to Feel: The Hidden Cure for Holiday Blues

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Discover why permission is the missing emotional skill that can help you beat the holiday blues. Inspired by two haiku by Richard Wright, this episode explores how accepting emotions—not correcting them—opens space for relief, honesty, and hope. Learn why permission softens resistance, eases guilt, and helps you navigate complicated feelings during the holiday season with clarity and compassion.

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Podcast:Beating Holiday Blues: When Feelings Arrive Without Warning

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Today we explore something many people experience why emotions seem to arrive out of nowhere during holiday season. You’ll learn the blues don’t have the upper hand and ways you can disarm them.

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Quieting the Mind: The First Step: Breathing Your Way to Calm

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Breathe Deep: The First Step to Quieting an Anxious Mind

Anxiety thrives in shallow breaths. Peace begins in the breath we often take for granted.

📝 Reflection

Breathing is so automatic that we rarely give it a second thought. Yet for centuries, wisdom traditions have taught that the breath is the bridge between body and spirit, between chaos and calm. In Buddhism, practitioners return again and again to the breath as an anchor for the present moment. In Christianity, the breath of life itself is seen as a gift from God, a steady rhythm reminding us we are sustained beyond our worries. And modern science has confirmed what sages always intuited: when we change our breathing, we change our mind.

Anxiety often shortens and shallows our breath. When fear rises, our nervous system switches into fight-or-flight mode, tightening the chest, quickening the heart, and setting the mind spinning. But slow, intentional breathing activates the parasympathetic system, calming the storm. Research shows that paced breathing at six breaths per minute can lower anxiety and improve heart rate variability, a key marker of resilience (Zaccaro et al., Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2018). In other words, by changing our breath, we train our nervous system to return to balance.

Thich Nhat Hanh once wrote: “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” His words remind us that we don’t have to chase away anxious thoughts; instead, we return to the breath and let the storm pass overhead. Each inhale is a new beginning, and each exhale is a gentle release.

Breathing is the simplest and most portable practice we have. No equipment, no ritual, no special setting required. It is the quiet medicine hidden in plain sight, available at any moment, to anyone.

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✨ Practical Step

Right now, pause. Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, hold gently for 2, and exhale slowly through your mouth for 6. Repeat this cycle for three minutes. As you do, notice your shoulders drop and your mind soften.

What Respect Really Means—and How to Show It Every Day

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Respect isn’t complicated, but it’s powerful. This post breaks down what respect is, five simple ways to show it to others, and how to respond with grace when it’s shown to you.

Respect is a big deal. It’s a big deal to be respected. It’s a big deal to show our respect to others. Respect is recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of another person—and showing it through your words, actions, and attitude. It means we value their perspective, boundaries, contributions, and presence—even when we don’t necessarily agree with them (yes, even that uncle at Thanksgiving or that colleague whose opinions we think are nuts).

Here are 5 Ways We Can Show Respect to Others:

  1. Listen without interrupting. Don’t just wait for your turn to talk—actually hear them out. Bonus: You won’t accidentally agree to something just because you weren’t paying attention.
  2. Acknowledge their feelings. A simple “I hear you” or “That must be tough” goes a long way. You don’t have to fix it. Just don’t say “Well, at least…”
  3. Be punctual. Showing up on time says, “Your time matters.” Showing up late with a frappuccino in hand says, “My caffeine addiction matters more.”
  4. Use kind and inclusive language. Words carry weight. Choose ones that uplift instead of undermine. Respect starts with your vocabulary—especially in tense moments.
  5. Honor personal boundaries. Physical, emotional, conversational—respect them all. If someone says, “I’d rather not talk about that,” take it as gospel, not a debate invitation.

How to Respond When Someone Shows You Respect:

  1. Say thank you. Gratitude is a classy response. It acknowledges the effort without making it awkward.
  2. Reciprocate. Mirror the tone, the patience, the thoughtfulness. It reinforces mutual respect and keeps the conversation from turning into a ping-pong match of ego.
  3. Stay humble. When someone gives you a compliment or listens deeply, don’t dismiss it (“Oh, it was nothing”). Own it with quiet confidence.
  4. Be open to connection. Respect can be the start of a real relationship—whether professional, personal, or somewhere in the cosmic space between.
  5. Keep paying it forward. Respect multiplies when it’s shared. If someone shows you kindness or dignity, let that influence how you treat the next person who crosses your path (even if they’re chewing loudly in public).


Respect doesn’t require a grand gesture—just daily acts of kindness, humility, and listening. Practice it, receive it, and pass it on. The world runs better when we treat each other like we matter—because we do.

Act As If To Make It So

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“Actions seems to follow feeling, but really actions and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not. Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if our cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.” ― William James

Today’s Joke: Joe’s GF is Spot On

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Joe: “My girlfriend said she figured out why I don’t show my feelings.”

Pete: “What did she say?”

Joe: “She said I don’t show my feelings because I don’t have any.”

Episode 53: A Love Letter to Babe – Another Step on the Path toward Healing

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In Episode 53 of my podcast, Journey from Grief to Healing, I write a love letter to Babe as if she will be able to read it tonight. I pour our my feelings for her. It was emotionally difficult to do this, however, it was a giant step toward healing. I am finding that releasing my feelings by expressing them in written word has proven to be therapeutic for me, even if the letters produced a catharsis. Grieving will not have the last word with me.

You can listen to Episode 53 on your favorite podcasting app or click here for Episode 53.

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