An audio version of this blog post is available. Navigate to the audio player above and select the play button to hear this blog post narrated by Anne Bérubé. 

The importance of trust in transformation

I've been thinking a lot about trust lately and how it is such an essential element for any true transformation.

For many of us, trust is fragile, so when we are asked to trust ourselves, our body, that life has our back, or in the process of surrendering, it feels like putting our life into something or someone else's hands and it feels impossible. Yet, we need it to move forward, to allow newness to come into our life, and it is a required ingredient to experience authentic fulfillment.

Trust allows us to be vulnerable while feeling connected and safe. It will enable us to go to new places and explore new territories without worrying that we will be interrupted, arrested, or punished for having put our walls down.

The absence of trust shuts down...

Toxic Empathy
Psychologists make the distinction between “emotional empathy” and “cognitive empathy” or “social intelligence,” which is to appreciate what’s going on emotionally with another person without any contagion of feelings. Cognitive empathy allows us to understand that someone is suffering and still want to help, but without feeling what they are feeling. This distinction makes all the difference when it comes to serving and still conserving our energy.
Emotional empathy is a disembodied emotion, meaning that your attention is outside of yourself. You project yourself in the other person’s body, you feel what you perceive they feel.
Emotional empathy takes you out of yourself and places you in the other person’s shoes where you are disconnected from your inner world. You are out of your body and in an emotion that doesn’t belong to you. In the process, you contaminate your present moment awareness. In this state,...