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Psychosomatic Disorders
The therapist client relationship is fundamental. A trauma-informed, evidence-based approach can transform clients with psychosomatic disorders.
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
Supporting a Loved One Through Depression: Compassion, Patience, and Hope
We all know someone who has been down.
Counseling Downingtown
3 min read
The Friction of Being Visible
It means that being who I really am is not forbidden or muted just because others are uncomfortable or don't want to hear it.
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
I Say Yes When I Mean No
I say yes when I mean no and the wrinkle grows. -Naomi Shihab Nye There have been many times that I said yes when I meant no, afraid of displeasing others, and even more afraid of being viewed as selfish. I think the first time I decided to get married, I said yes when I meant no. Young and inexperienced in being myself, I agreed to be a fish out of water for as long as I could, so as not to hurt or disappoint or displease. Not surprisingly, it all ended badly. And how many
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
ANCIENT HINDU STORY, AS TOLD BY MARK NEPO, AUTHOR OF THE BOOK OF AWAKENING
He asked, “How does it taste?” “It is very salty,” said the apprentice. After that, they took a walk heading toward a lake.
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
JANUARY 14 – THE LIFE OF EXPERIENCE – MARK NEPO, THE BOOK OF AWAKENING
So often we anticipate a reward for the uncovering of truth. For effort, we expect money and recognition. For sacrifice and kindness, we secretly expect acceptance and love. For honesty, we expect justice. Yet as we all know, the life of experience unfolds with a logic all its own. And very often, effort is seen, and kindness is embraced, and the risk of truth is held as the foundation of how humans relate. However, the reward for breathing is not applause but air, and the r
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
January 13 - Why we need each other - Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
“ A blind child guided by his mother, admires the cherry blossoms.” Kikakou Who knows what a blind child sees of blossoms or songbirds? Who knows what any of us sees from the privacy of our own blindness – and, make no mistake, each of us is blind in a particular way, just as each of us is sighted uniquely. Consider how each of us is blinded by what we fear. If we fear heights, we are blind to the humility vast perspectives bring. If we fe ar spiders, we are blind to the sp
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
January 11 - Ted Shawn - Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
Underneath all we are taught, there is a voice that calls to us beyond what is reasonable, and in listening to that flicker of spirit, we often find deep healing. This is the voice of embodiment calling us to live our lives like sheet music played, and it often speaks to us briefly in moments of deep crisis. Sometimes it is so faint, we mistake its whisper for wind through leaves. But taking it into the heart of our pain, it can often open the paralysis of our lives. This b
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
JANUARY 10 - AKIBA - MARK NEPO, THE BOOK OF AWAKENING
Stories hold great power in our lives, serving to inspire, encourage, and motivate us. These tales often come from the experiences of both ordinary and extraordinary individuals, from both the past and the present. Significant narratives also appear in the writings of global faith traditions. I encountered one such story recently in philosopher-poet Mark Nepo’s daily meditation book, The Book of Awakening. The epigraph for his January 10 entry featured this tale from the Tal
Tracy Rappold
3 min read
JANUARY 9- LIFE IN THE TANK - MARK NEPO, THE BOOK OF AWAKENING
Jan 9, 2026 Love, and do what thou wilt. Saint Augustine “It was a curious thing. Robert had filled the bathtub and put the fish in the tub, so he could clean their tank. After he’d scrubbed the film from the small walls of their make-believe deep, he went to retrieve them. He was astonished to find that, though they had the entire tub to swim in, they were huddled in a small area the size of their tank. There was nothing to contain them, nothing holding them back. Why wouldn
Tracy Rappold
1 min read
January 7 - We Must Take Turns - Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
We must take turns: diving into all there is and counting the time. The gift and responsibility of relationship is to take turns doing the dishes and putting up the storm windows, giving the other the chance to dive... While one explores the inner, the other must tend the outer. A great model of this is how pearl divers search the deep in pairs. Without scuba tanks or regulators, one waits at the surface tending the lines tied to the other who soft-steps the sand for treasu
Tracy Rappold
1 min read
The Spoked Wheel - Mark Nepo
What we reach for may be different, But what makes us reach is the same. I magine that each of us is a spoke in an infinite wheel, and, though each spoke is essential in keeping the Wheel whole, no two spokes are the same. The rim of that Wheel is our living sense of community, family, and relationship, but the common hub where all the spokes join is the one center where all souls meet. So, as I move out into the world, I live out my uniqueness, but when I dare to look into m
Tracy Rappold
1 min read
WHEN CHANGE ISN'T HAPPENING
Self-help literature is out there and can provide quick and easy interventions. These books can also be very inspiring and help you recognize that you are not alone.
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
January 5 - Show Your Hair - Mark Nepo, Book of Awakening
“My grandmother told me, “never hide your green hair – they can see it anyway.” Angeles Arrien From the agonies of kindergarten, when we first were teased or made fun of in the midst of all of our innocence, we have all struggled in one way or another with hiding what is obvious about us. No one plans this. It is not a conspiracy, but rather an inevitable and hurtful passage from knowing only ourselves to knowing the world. The tragedy is the many of us never talk about it,
Tracy Rappold
1 min read
JANUARY 4 - BETWEEN PEACE AND JOY - MARK NEPO, THE BOOK OF AWAKENING
“We could never have guessed, we were already blessed, where we are….” James Taylor This reminds me of a woman who found a folded sponge all dried and compressed, and tucked inside the hardened fold was a message she’d been seeking. She carried the hardened sponge to the sea and, up to her waist in the deep, she watched it unfold and come to life in the water. Magically, the secret of life became visible in the bubbles being released from the sponge, and to her amazement, a
Tracy Rappold
1 min read
January 3 - Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
“The coming to consciousness is not a discovery of some new thing; it is a long and painful return to that which has alway been.” Helen Luke Each person is born with an unencumbered spot – free of expectation and regret, free of ambition and embarrassment, free of fear and worry. It is this spot of grace that issues peace. Psychologists call this spot the Psyche, theologians call it the Soul, Jung calls it the Seat of the Unconscious, Hindu masters call it Atman, Buddhists ca
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
January 2 - All Fall Down - Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
Lead us from the unreal to the real.” Hindu Invocation It was a snowy night, and Robert was recalling the time two springs ago when he was determined to paint the family room. Up early, he was out the door, to the hardware store gathering the gallons of red, the wooden mixing sticks, the drop cloths, and the one-time brushes that always harden, no matter what you soak them in. He mixed the paint outside and waddled to the door with a gallon in each hand, the drop cloth under
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
January 1 - Precious Human Birth - Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
Of all things that exist, we breathe and wake and turn it into song. There is a Buddhist precept that asks us to be mindful of how rare it is to find ourselves in human form on Earth. It is really a beautiful view of life that offers us the chance to feel enormous appreciation for the fact that we are here as individual spirits filled with consciousness, drinking water and chopping wood. It asks us to look about at the ant and the antelope, at the worm and the butterfly, at
Tracy Rappold
2 min read
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