Too Emotional? Are You Sure?
Working with some educational leaders recently on improving schools, someone remarked,“The problem is simply that many of our teachers are just too emotional.” Years of experience hearing comments like this in schools and companies has taught me to slow down and ask more questions.
Making Peace with Fear
Gandhi once said, “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.” Last week, people from both our Wednesday and Saturday practice groups asked questions about working with their fears. People spoke about everything from the fear of nuclear war and the state of the world today, to the fears we feel […]
Too Emotional?
While helping a senior level executive think through some bristly team dynamics recently, she told me that “the problem” was that some team members were simply “too emotional.” She related an incident in which a direct report became teary in her office, and she responded by generously encouraging this person to “Go home, have a […]
Scary Shit and Shadow Comforts
On the days that scary shit gets the better of me, I notice myself holding my breath a lot. My body feels braced against life itself. Fearful, stuck and paralyzed. These take hold of me whenever I am about to really commit to moving in the direction of something that I really want, but am […]
When You Get Emotional In Public
Last week, I was casually telling some people about a time when a perspective shifted in my life and suddenly found myself choked up with tears and pain. My first thoughts: Damn. Not here. Not now. I was with a group of relative strangers, doing task-related, intellectually heavy things. We had an agenda. Tears were […]
Will Revenge Make Me Feel Better?
Walking the dog this morning, I noticed my mind playing out a revenge fantasy that I have been harboring. Have you noticed how when people hurt us in deeply enduring and life-altering ways, we sometimes feel like the only way out of our pain and suffering is to hand it back to them in the […]
Bittersweet Mourning
I know when a break-down is brewing. I start getting short and curt with people. I am irritable about things that normally don’t bother me. I can’t remember what I did a few hours ago. I stop returning emails and phone calls. I make decisions based on what other people need without checking in with […]
5 Steps for Working with Anger Nonviolently
Are you struggling with managing your anger? Read this article to learn how to work with anger nonviolently and transform it into clarity and energy. Discover the principles and practices for self-awareness and healing shared by the author, who got expelled from a boarding school in South Africa at 13 for defiant noncompliance with “hazing” rituals. Explore the five steps for working with anger and uncover your deeply held unmet needs to move from rage to tenderness. Learn from Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication and neutral observation to embrace your judgmental thinking and integrate them with awareness.