personal achievement
Embracing Growth Challenges In Your Relationship
At some point in a romantic relationship, we all face challenges that test our connection with our partner or spouse. People disagree, make mistakes, and experience conflict. It’s human nature.
However, it is important to realize that most problems in a developing relationship are often not inherently negative or catastrophic. Instead, they present valuable opportunities for personal growth, healing, and self-discovery.
If you believe that your happiness in a relationship depends on finding the perfect partner, it’s time for a new perspective. The key to a happy relationship is to remove personal barriers one at a time. By doing so, you can fully immerse yourself in love and become a magnet for attracting the right partner into your life.
Consider the following five common issues that many new couples face and how you can learn from them to foster a stronger, more fulfilling connection with your significant other.
The Happiness Myth
Some people go into a new relationship expecting their partner to bring them the complete state of happiness, joy, and fulfillment they have always sought. But others cannot make us happy, joyful, or fulfilled because achieving this is always an inside job. It starts with us.
Tarot Forecast December 2025: Queen Of Swords
As we near the end of the year, the Queen of Swords comes up as our guiding archetype for this final month of 2025. Her energy is one of discernment, honesty, and mental clarity. She is a powerful presence that calls us to rise above emotional noise and align with truth.
Where other cards might emphasize emotional depth or spiritual surrender, the Queen of Swords reminds us of the sacred wisdom of logic, perception, and clear boundaries. She is the elder counsel of the Tarot court, known for her keen intellect and ability to cut through illusion with precision and grace.
This month, her influence brings an invitation to end the year with conscious reflection and empowered decision-making. December’s energy is not about rushing into resolutions or emotional reactions, but about taking a pause to consider where we’ve been, what we value, and where we wish to go.
The Queen of Swords challenges us to lead with truth, not just in our communication with others, but in the narratives we hold within ourselves. She speaks to the power of thoughtful boundaries, the necessity of honest dialogue, and the liberation that comes when we finally let go of what no longer serves our growth.
Under her watchful eye, we may find ourselves more reflective, more intentional, and more willing to let clarity guide us. Whether it’s setting boundaries, speaking our truth, making a strategic decision, or decluttering our mental and emotional landscape, this month asks us to do so with integrity and intelligence. The Queen of Swords helps us end the year not in chaos, but in clarity. Continue reading
Reclaiming The Voice Of Your Inner Child
I always sing with my yoga students at the end of class. I used to work in the entertainment industry as a singer, dancer, and actress. Because of that, I feel confident singing in front of people.
Growing up, I was always full of joy despite my dysfunctional and rather glum family. Of course, they didn’t appreciate my natural exuberance. They certainly didn’t like that I sang all the time because it represented a lightness of being they had long since given up on.
Like many dysfunctional families, they put me down all the time. They told me that I couldn’t sing and that I sounded awful. But, as with all the other negative, hurtful things they tried to convince me of, I did not believe them.
I kept singing anyway, which irked them. I continued to sing and dance, and I even wrote, produced, directed, and starred in my own musical when I was eleven.
Now I’m not saying I had a good voice as a kid. I really don’t know if I did. But, loving to sing, some voice lessons and lots of joy certainly helped me become a relatively good singer.
One day, after my yoga class, a student came up to me and told me I had a beautiful voice. I thanked her. I often have people compliment my singing voice after class.
The student then told me her family told her she had a bad singing voice when she was a child so she stopped singing. She then mentioned other abuses she received by her cruel family.
Tarot Forecast October 2025: The Chariot
As October sweeps in, the energy of The Chariot rises to meet us, urging each of us to take the reins of our personal journey with confidence and clarity.
This is not a month for hesitation or self-doubt. Instead, it is a time to summon your inner strength, align with your highest goals, and move forward with steady intention. The Chariot’s energy is bold and determined. It tells us that while the road ahead may present obstacles, we are more than capable of overcoming them if we stay focused, balanced, and true to our course.
The Chariot speaks of momentum. It asks us to step into the driver’s seat of our lives and actively steer toward our desired destination. This isn’t about bulldozing our way forward; rather, it’s about controlled, conscious progress.
Challenges may arise this month that test our will, trigger emotional pulls in opposite directions, or demand tough decisions. Yet within these trials lies an opportunity: to deepen our self-mastery, strengthen our resolve, and refine our alignment with our personal truth.
Spiritually, The Chariot reminds us that true power comes from within. The balance between instinct and logic, emotion and thought, is crucial now. This month, we are invited to integrate these dual forces rather than be ruled by one or the other.
Think of The Chariot not as a call to charge ahead blindly, but as a sacred reminder that our journey is just as important as our destination. Progress is possible, and with conscious effort, it is inevitable.
The Simple Secret To Building Real Confidence
Building your confidence can feel vague or out of reach, like something you’re supposed to just know how to do, but often we don’t.
The typical advice is to do affirmations, spoken aloud or posted around your home, along with journaling and gratitude practices.
While these practices can help us cultivate things like intuitive awareness, inner peace or emotional balance, they aren’t always the most effective confidence builders.
There is one essential step we must take if we want to build genuine, lasting confidence. That step is action.
It’s easy to wait for confidence to arrive like a bolt of lightning, expecting it to empower us and prepare us to finally walk the empowered path of our dreams.
But the reality is that confidence doesn’t simply appear before the journey begins. It actually grows as we move forward.
Taking action can feel intimidating. You may not feel ready. You might believe you need more time, more clarity, or more skills. But readiness doesn’t magically arrive.
Change begins when we choose to take action, even if it’s imperfect. Manifestation requires more than thought and feeling. It calls for aligned, inspired action.
False Education Appearing Real (F.E.A.R)
I love the acronym F.E.A.R. (False Education Appearing Real) since we all have people, circumstances, phobias and so forth, that can put us into that space.
Fear is an instance of emotion that is triggered by the awareness, or anticipation of danger. It can also become a state of being. Excluding clinical fears, needing professional help, there are many fears we simply impose upon ourselves as a result of life experiences.
One of my fears is acrophobia, the fear of heights. When I get within five feet from the edge of a rooftop, I begin to shake.
Climbing 30 foot ladders has me nervous and when I hiked to the pinnacle of the mountain of Macchu Picchu in 2004, I could not take those last six nervous steps onto the plateau pinnacle rock. This was partly being due to a few other tourists already sharing the rock… and I am a little “accident prone.”
Although I was invited by my partner and the guide, I leaned against the rock debating my fear, shaking a little at the prospect and wishing that I could take those final steps, as I might regret it after I hiked down. Part of me did regret not taking those last steps when we got back to the base.
Yet, a bigger part of me knew I had to acknowledge the feelings in the moment, and since I am not a regular exerciser, I already had accomplished something tremendous by taking the hike to the top and back down the back side of the mountain. On the way I enjoyed the magnificent views and spiritual energy for several hours. Continue reading
Tarot Forecast September 2025: Queen Of Cups
This month we are inspired by the serene and soulful energy of the Queen of Cups. Her appearance as the card of the month sets the tone for a period of emotional clarity, compassionate connection, and deepened intuition. This is not a time to push, rush, or force. Instead, it is a sacred pause that invites us inward.
The Queen of Cups embodies the wisdom of the heart. She understands that true strength lies not in control, but in compassion. Her energy helps us soften where we have built walls, offering emotional nourishment both to ourselves and those around us.
This month, we are encouraged to listen deeply, not just to others, but to the whispers of our own soul. The next four weeks is about emotional intelligence, healing, and inner alignment. We are reminded that empathy is a superpower, and that our intuition is one of our greatest guides.
Traditionally the Queen of Cups is depicted sitting on a throne by the sea, symbolizing her deep emotional sensitivity and intuitive depth. The waters around her represent the subconscious mind and the realm of emotions. Her throne is adorned with images of sea creatures, signifying her connection to the watery, emotional realm and her comfort with navigating its depths.
In her hands, she holds a lidded, ornate cup, unlike any other in the Tarot. This closed cup suggests mystery, emotional containment, and sacred inner knowledge. It also symbolizes her ability to hold space, to keep confidences, and to honor emotional boundaries. She gazes intently at the cup, not distracted by the waves behind her, illustrating her capacity for focused emotional awareness and inner reflection. The Queen of Cups teaches us that strength can be serene, and that emotional attunement can lead to profound spiritual insight.