I recently faced a dilemma in the grocery store: should I buy the pricier organic raspberries or the budget-friendly option? I discovered I was having a tug-of-war between two underlying values. It raised questions about the kind of person I am or want to be.

This episode explores how values shape decisions and how to align actions with values.

This episode brought to you by ⁠⁠Leah Pearlman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcoming Way⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This is parable about yearning, defeat, and overcoming limitation.

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Three years ago my partner Vince and I began looking for a house together. After years of looking, nothing felt quite right. The night after this latest disappointment, I lay in bed feeling defeated.

In this episode, I share how I worked with that sense of defeat and and found a new way to find my home.

This episode brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠Leah Pearlman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcoming Way⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Most of think we'll be better off when we get what we think we want. But better off how? Usually what we REALLY want is to feel a certain way, and we've believed we can't feel that way until our life changes.

For example, maybe you're waiting for a partner to feel loved, a job to feel successful, or wealth to feel safe. Maybe you're waiting to be accomplished to feel proud, or out-going to feel connected.

What if you could have what you want, what you really want, now? This exploration helps you begin to practice new feelings now, while also making space for the resistance that reliably comes up in the face of change.

This episode brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠Leah Pearlman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcoming Way⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Getting rejected sucks.

It seems like we can't control how long it lasts.

We might find ourselves doing things to distract ourselves or to escape the feeling, but when we check, the discomfort is still there.

This exploration guides you to welcome and let go of the facets of the discomfort, allowing the intensity to subside.

Open to the possibility that you are just a few minutes away from feeling more ease.

This Exploration is brought to you by⁠⁠ ⁠Sharon Cavanaugh⁠⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠Welcomingway.com⁠⁠⁠.

Recently, I sent a long, vulnerable email to close friends and family. Immediately, I felt regret.

I was sure they would judge me for what I wrote. I was beating myself up before anyone else could.

This episode explores how to work with feelings of shame or embarrassment or self-disgust.

If you want a guided meditation to support you with something similar, check out the "Judging yourself" exploration.

This episode brought to you by ⁠⁠Leah Pearlman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcoming Way⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Sometimes we can get really down on ourselves when we believe we have some characteristic or personality trait that is keeping people from loving us, or keeping us from feeling successful, or useful, or safe. It can be very tempting to either succumb to this abuse OR try to get away from it. In this exploration, we welcome this belief and the accompanying feelings into our conscious awareness so it can be seen for what it is: a passing (painful) feeling that doesn't mean anything about who we are or what we're capable of.

This Explorations is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leah Pearlman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcoming Way⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

For most of us, when we don’t know what to do, we get tense.  We want to fill up our not-knowing with figuring out or rushing ahead, or clenching around a particular outcome that appears ideal. 

We don’t notice that not-knowing is its own experience, and a precious one.  Not knowing can have a quiet, open quality, if we let it. It’s the birthplace of wonder.

This explorations guides you in and through the experience of not-knowing.

This Explorations is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leah Pearlman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcoming Way⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Sometimes we can be afraid we made a mistake. Maybe a big mistake or small, but either way, it can feel pretty awful, especially if we suspect someone was hurt or negatively affected by something we did.

This exploration will help you welcome the feelings that come with this bummer-of-a-situation.

This Explorations is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leah Pearlman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcoming Way⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Do you ever look around the room, your life, the world, wearing everyone-is-better-than-me glasses? I do, sometimes. In this short story I share one way to work with that painful feeling when it comes.

Brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leah Pearlman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcoming Way⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Sometimes we are overtaken by a sense of feeling personally insignificant and worthless. It can be so tempting to resist these feelings and try to deny them, rather than to notice them as feelings. This exploration will help you face these uncomfortable suspicions head-on.

This Explorations is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leah Pearlman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Welcoming Way⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.