I’m someone who lives with a lot of anxiety more generally. As I half-jokingly tell my beginning students, it’s why I started meditating. It’s also why I started training in martial arts. But that’s not why I keep meditating; why
Two Common Pitfalls for Allies of Trans and Non-binary folks
Growing up, I used to hear people say, “I don’t see color.” When I was young I didn’t question it. At the time, it seemed like a useful way to convey that I like people for who they are, not
6 Ways to be More Supportive of Trans and Non-binary Folks
Let’s begin with a story: Someone in our life—maybe a friend, family member, or colleague—reaches out to us and tells us they’re transgender, non-binary, or genderqueer. “Ooh, I got this!” we think to ourselves. “I need to be an ally
The Role of Confidentiality in Cultivating Trust
As I begin to unpack part four of Brene Brown’s BRAVING inventory, “vault,” I realize it feels extremely personal. Why is this, I ask myself? All of the first three items (Boundaries, Reliability, Accountability) are—objectively speaking—no less personal. After all,
Mindfulness for Everyday Safety
You might be asking yourself what does mindfulness have to do with safety or self-defense? After all, when we hear the word mindfulness, it often conjures ideas such as calm, awareness, being fully present, peacefulness and the like. Whereas, when
The importance of apology in conflict resolution
I’m in the middle of a tense conversation and the other person says, “You hurt my feelings and I’m really upset.” I’m flabbergasted! I never meant to hurt anyone and I certainly wasn’t trying to hurt anyone’s feelings. Why should
Cultivating accountability in our lives
How do we know when someone in our lives is trustworthy? Brene Brown, PhD, LMSW, uses the acronym BRAVING when talking about and assessing behaviors that allow us to trust others (and to trust in ourselves!). We’ve so far tackled
Overcoming Barriers to Reliability, Earning Trust
After “Boundaries,” an important characteristic of someone who is trustworthy is reliability (“R” in the BRAVING acronym). This may seem fairly obvious—after all, we all intuitively know that someone who doesn’t follow through on promises and commitments is harder to
Assessing trustworthiness through BRAVING
How do we know when someone in our lives is trustworthy? Brene Brown, PhD, LMSW, uses the acronym BRAVING when talking about and assessing behaviors that allow us to trust others (and to trust in ourselves!). The B in the