Do you have a hard time feeling good while people you love are hurting? When we codependently commiserate with others, expressing pity for them or complaining about our own lives in solidarity, we can actually add time to their healing process.

When something in the external world stirs up uncomfortable emotions, many of us run from or try to control the person or situation that appears to be creating them. But emotional triggers are prompts; true healing can only happen when we stop trying to avoid them.

I was on crutches the day I boarded my flight for Dr. Sue Morter’s alumni retreat. My mind insisted I wouldn’t even be able to ascend the 108-step staircase to the Oceana shala at the Bodhi Tree, let alone do yoga. Little could I have imagined the healing that awaited.