Rest + Revitalization: When Your Soul’s Check Engine Light Comes On
We live in the matrix — where hustle is seen as honor, and stillness is often mistaken for stagnation. But even the most reliable engines need time to cool. Rest isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of wisdom and balance. It’s the moment your body and mind whisper, “I need to breathe.” And like a check engine light flickering on the dashboard of your life, it’s there for a reason. You can ignore it for a while, but eventually, even the best engines stall or fail without proper maintenance . . .
Family & FRIENDS: Dynamics of Resilience vs. Dismissal
While I entered the beautiful bliss of my Fall term coming to an end, I began to watch the hit 90’s TV series Friends . . . There’s a certain kind of comfort in knowing that somewhere, somehow, there’s a Friends episode for whatever you’re going through. And in the midst of research I found that this show was the layman’s terms of human psychology . . .
The Transformational Power of Gratitude
As the Thanksgiving season approaches, I’ve been thinking a lot about how gratitude shapes our inner world . . . especially in a culture that profits off of stress, pressure, and anxiety. At Back2Youth, we spend time talking about mental resilience, emotional intelligence and there is neuroscience behind this to emphasize its importance. And the more we explore . . .
Meeting Yourself Where You Are: The Heart of Healing
In a world that rewards constant motion, stillness can feel like rebellion. We’re often told that healing means doing more, fixing what’s broken, or chasing after some distant version of ourselves. But true healing — the kind that lasts — begins when we stop chasing and start meeting ourselves where we are.
Campfire Conversations
At the beginning of this school year, Back2Youth hosted a three-day, two-night camp at the Oregon coast — a retreat filled with adventure, laughter, and moments of stillness that seemed to hold their own quiet lessons. For ten campers — six boys and four girls, ranging from eleven to seventeen years old — it was more than a chance to hike, run, and explore. It was an invitation to learn about themselves, each other, and the deeper values that shape who they are becoming.
We filled the days with energy and curiosity . . .
Mindfulness in Action: How Honoring Our Pace Leads Us Towards Empowerment
As a new volunteer with Back 2 Youth, I had the recent privilege of watching its mindfulness-based curriculum come alive in real life. On my very first day of camp, we visited the Salem Ropes Course — a place filled with challenges of varying heights, each designed to test both physical and mental limits.
Two courses, in particular, stand out in my memory. The first was a dueling course…
Living from the Heart: Spiritual Bypassing, Building Community & Introspection
How is your heart? Can you feel it in your body? Are you aware of sensations in and around it? Is it light as a feather or does it weigh like wet cotton in summer? Okay, enough of the third degree. If you don’t know then sit and feel into it because it matters; the condition of your heart is the condition of your life.
3 Writing Practices to Untangle & Illuminate Your Life
Try writing new or re-sequenced versions of past events. Doing so can untangle sticky patterns and open your life to joy.