I speak a lot about what I call "the trance of unworthiness" which is really epidemic in our culture, this sense of "I'm not enough," or "something's wrong with me." Most of us have some level of it because our culture has all these standards (handed down through our families) of what it means to be okay.

Feelings and stories of unworthiness and shame are perhaps the most binding element in the trance of fear. When we believe something is wrong with us, we are convinced we are in danger. Our shame fuels ongoing fear, and our fear fuels more shame. The very fact that we feel fear seems to prove that we are broken or incapable. When we are trapped in trance, being fearful and bad seem to define who we are. The anxiety in our body, the stories, the ways we make excuses, withdraw or lash out—these become to us the self that is most real.

There is so much division in this world. So what is really the path of healing? It can begin in this moment, by embracing the life that`s here.

I knew I could hold myself with that absolute love and compassion.

Sometimes the easiest way to appreciate ourselves is by looking through the eyes of someone who loves us.

We, like the Mother of the World, become the compassionate presence that can hold, with tenderness, the rising and passing waves of suffering.

When we experience stress, the nervous system tries to control things. Part of waking up is discovering what we are beyond that controlling organism.