A few months ago, my wife had a minor medical emergency. Any kind of medical emergency is scary—even more so during a time of rampant Covid spread. Even for symptoms unrelated to any upper respiratory illness, just the fact of
How I Understand the Current Moment, and Where I Hope We Go from Here
I’m having trouble figuring out what to title this entry, because I don’t know what to call this current moment. “Unrest” seems too small a word. “George Floyd Fallout” (as I’ve seen it referred to in the news) seems both
Mindful Living in the Chaos of Covid-19
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
The Neurobiology of Self-Defense, Part 2
This is the second of a two-part series on the neurobiology of self-defense. Part 1 focused on the fight/flight/freeze responses. This article will focus on the neurobiology of social interactions. The Neurobiology of Social Interactions Much of the following discussion
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
Addendum to Ours is Not a World of Heroes and Villains
Not long after posting Ours is Not a World of Heroes and Villains, I was contacted by the survivor in the story I shared. She was upset that I misrepresented the situation, and asked that I leave the post up,
Ours is Not a World of Heroes and Villains
[Note: I have published an addendum to this post. You can read it here.] One of the things I often tell people when I’m talking about believing survivors is that all experience is valid; that you don’t have to experience
The Neurobiology of Self-Defense Part 1
This is the first of a two-part series on the neurobiology of self-defense. This post will focus on fight/flight/freeze responses, and how traumatic stress impacts those. Next time, I’ll talk about the neurobiology of social dynamics.
The Value of Integrity
When Erin and I were identifying what would be the guiding values of Culture of Safety, we each contributed two. Erin said that procrastination couldn’t be one of them (they asked me to write this article a month ago), so