How to Structure Your Life

In last week’s blog I introduced the concept of structuring your life. If you missed that article then you can read it here, as it will form the background for what I am discussing here. In that article I discussed the seven major areas of life which we must all engage in order to live […]

Define Your Core Values

In the last few weeks I’ve discussed how to start off on a new path in 2021. I’ve discussed burning your bridges, taking a stand for yourself and learning to say no to what no longer serves you. The next step to creating your future, the way you want, is for you to define your […]

Time to Take a Stand

The new year is now upon us and it is time to reassess who we are and where we want to go. We are still living with the remnants of 2020, as the COVID 19 pandemic still rages on in most parts of the world and many people are still dealing with the economic fallout […]

Burn Your Boats

As we approach the end of 2020, I am reminded of a famous story from history. In the year 1519. Hernán Cortés led a large expedition, consisting of 600 Spaniards, 16 or so horses and 11 boats, to Mexico. Their goal was to capture a magnificent treasure said to be held there. Upon arrival, Cortés […]

A Time To Reflect

We are almost at the end of a tumultuous year and what a ride it has been. Whatever expectations we had of 2020 were turned upside down by the cascade of events which transpired from the COVID 19 pandemic, the economic uncertainty left in its wake, to racial tensions arising out of the execution of George […]

The Power of Gratitude

American Thanksgiving has just passed and marks the beginning of the holiday season. This is an exciting time for many people as they prepare to entertain their families and friends, purchase gifts for their children, decorate their homes and get caught up in the magic of the season. It can also be a difficult time […]

Your Life Is a Continuum

We often think of our lives as one challenge after another interspersed with brief periods of joy. It can certain seem like this, especially in the tumultuous year that is soon coming to a close. We have been challenged in all areas of our lives, which is compounded by fear around our health, our relationships, […]

What Is Ancestral Trauma?

Several years ago I published a book entitled, ‘Healing From The Inside Out: Overcome Chronic Disease and Radically Change Your Life.’ If you have not read it, in the book I go into much depth about healing, which is the process of becoming whole. It essentially means to cultivate and integrate all the levels of […]

Why Self-Compassion Is More Important Than Ever

We live in very challenging times with multiple global challenges converging on us at once, including the pandemic, threats of terrorism, racial injustice, political uncertainty, economic instability and climate change to name a few. The world can seem daunting and difficult to navigate at times.   Global challenges often lead to stress, which can compound any […]

How to Improve the Quality of Your Life

Everyone is trying to improve the quality of their life, however few people know how to do this. We seek material goods in our consumer society and seek validation from our partners, family and friends for to reaffirm our worthiness and value but none of these can improve the quality of our lives. This is […]

How To Be Fully Present

What does it mean to be fully present? This is a question that I’ve been struggling with for years. I’ve always thought that my life would have a certain trajectory and I would have hit certain milestones by various stages in my life’s journey. Needless to say, this did not happen. I’m not saying that […]

Become Relentless

Relentless is my favourite word in the english language. It has implications like no other word I know. It is greater than persistence, perseverance or determination. It implies the highest level of commitment to whatever you are trying to accomplish to the point that any obstacles or challenges, which get in your way, drive you […]

What Will It Take?

Many people are asking this question as our world struggles through one crisis after another, pandemics, chronic disease, environmental destruction, climate change, economic uncertainty, racial injustice, political mistrust, opioid addiction, human trafficking, outdated education systems and many others which are too numerous to mention here. How long will it take for humanity to wake up to […]

Are You Broken?

It is so easy to feel this way, especially in the last six months, in which we have been challenged more than we ever thought we would be in all the areas of our lives. Even before the pandemic, people were overwhelmed and stressed out. The fact is that the world we live in is […]

How To Practice Stillness

In last week’s blog, I discussed how to manifest what you desire. I talked about how you must focus deep within yourself to experience who you truly are at your core. Your true nature is that of consciousness, being, awareness or soul, but few people ever get to realize this because they are so embroiled in […]

How To Manifest What You Want

Much of our lives look a lot different than they did 6 months ago. The pandemic has changed many people’s lives in the realms of health, relationships, careers, finances and their future outlook. Although things may often seem hopeless, we must not lose hope. Realize that you can still create the life that you desire. How […]

What Mask Are You Wearing?

It is funny now that the whole world has now been forced to wear masks everywhere they go. The reason I find this funny is because most people have been wearing masks their whole lives. What do I mean by this? Many people are not true to themselves and present a facade to themselves, to […]

Why Being Busy Is Not a Badge of Honour

Do you remember your life 4 months ago? Most people can scarcely recall their life before the pandemic and how incredibly busy they were. Fighting traffic jams to commute to work, long work hours to meet deadlines, rushing our children to innumerable activities, endless shopping even when we don’t really need anything, especially during the holidays […]

What Should You Focus On?

The world is slowly starting to emerge from the quarantine and self isolation imposed by the COVID 19 pandemic. The last several months have created upheaval for most with workplace restructuring for all, job loss for some, financial challenges for most, relationship stresses for many and fear for a large number of people. As we reorient […]

What Is Happening On The Planet?

The last several months have been the most tumultuous in recent history. We have been facing a global pandemic, which has forced us into lockdown and quarantine. People have been grieving the loss of their way of life and how things used to be before COVID 19. As if this was not enough, the United […]

The Beauty of Simplicity

If the COVID 19 pandemic has shown us anything, it has been that we need to simplify our lives. This has not been by choice but by necessity. Most of us have been forced to shelter at home and do everything from there, including work, education, shopping, socializing by phone and online and almost everything […]

Rising From The Ashes

We are more than two months into quarantine with the COVID 19 pandemic and some parts of the world have started to lift their restrictions. These include some of the hardest hit countries in the world including China, many European countries and several states in the US. As we slowly start to move back towards […]

How Fear Influences Our Choices

In my last blog I discussed the power of our choices in empowering our health in the era of COVID 19. I discussed that most of our choices become habits that are programmed in our subconscious mind through reinforcement in the earlier part of our life. I discussed a process to help overcome our negative […]

A Wake Up Call For Humanity 

A vast majority of the world is now in lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID 19. This has dramatically affected life globally with many non-essential businesses being forced to shut down, staggering job loss around the world, economic recession, school age children who are no longer going to school, overwhelm of healthcare systems around […]

Finding The Positive

We are now nearly a month into the Coronavirus pandemic and billions of people around the world are in lockdown. The media just keeps piling on an onslaught of negative news from Italy, New York and other parts of the world. It is difficult to note lose hope but, in times like these, we must focus […]

Managing Fear In Challenging Times

This is a challenging time for everyone. Our lives have been stifled by the Coronavirus pandemic as most of us have been forced to leave our jobs and schools and stay at home to prevent the spread of this viral infection. We are also constantly barraged by negative images and news by the media onslaught of […]

What To Do In A Time Of Crisis

The last week has brought unprecedented changes to our lives personally, socially and financially both locally and globally. Many of us are now confined to our homes, asked to stay away from our own family members, friends and acquaintances for fear of contracting or spreading Coronavirus with imposed breaks from our work, university, college or […]

Emerging Into Oneness

In last week’s blog I discussed the deeper meaning behind the coronavirus epidemic and all of the crises that we have faced in the last two decades. The fact is that these crises have been with us longer than this century and include two World Wars, the Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the many Middle […]

How To Cultivate Self Compassion

In last week’s article I started to discuss how to start cultivating the art of listening. I explained that the reason why a lot of people have trouble listening is because they are so focused on themselves because they feel less than adequate due to past major or minor traumatic experiences. I discussed how cultivating […]

How To Listen

Listening is one of the most important skills one can cultivate, however, it is also one of the most difficult to master. When we are infants and children it is our parents and extended family that look after our needs as we are not yet independent enough to meet them ourselves. As we grow older, […]

A Healing Story

I would like to share a remarkable story of a patient I met this past week who I will call ‘Mary.’ Mary is a 71 year old female who came to my clinic with respiratory symptoms, mainly shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing. This is frequently how my patients present since, as a respirologist, I […]

Accelerating Your Awakening

In last week’s blog I talked about how the majority of human beings are asleep to who they truly are and how we need to wake up to our true nature beyond physical form, thought, emotion, life story, relationships, roles and career. I explained how these are simply aspects of who we are which provide […]

Why We Feel Separated and Isolated

We live in a world which is more disconnected than ever. Despite advancing technology, such as the internet, social media and smart phones, which are meant to bring us together, we feel lonelier than ever. Facebook friends and likes have replaced close personal friendships, we prefer to swipe right or left instead of mustering up […]

Wake Up!

If what you think I’m talking about is waking up from your morning sleep then you need to read this. The truth is that the majority of human beings on the planet are asleep all of the time, even when they appear to be awake. What do I mean by being asleep and the call […]

The Beauty of Experience

Experience is a word which I have become interested in lately. What does the word ‘experience’ truly mean? When most people ponder this word they think of their day to day activities and tasks. In addition, most people categorize their experiences into neutral, negative and positive. Let me explain. For most people, going to work is […]

A Transformational Weekend

Several months ago, I travelled to Montreal to speak at the 44th international conference of the International Institute of Integral Human Sciences. This is an organization whose mission is to unite science and spirituality. My topic was ‘Embracing the Unknown,’ but that’s not what I want to talk about. As part of this conference, I […]

Emotional Traumas and Blocks

In my last article I discussed the problem of urban violence in America which is also increasing in incidence in Canada. I linked this rise in urban violence to unresolved past emotional traumas and the subconscious blocks they cause.  The fact is that we all suffer from emotional trauma, no matter how minor we may […]

The Problem of Urban Violence

A few months ago there were two deadly shootings in the United States, in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. I was actually in Ohio, not too far from Dayton, when these took place. These types of shootings, although isolated incidents, seem to be on the rise. Along with these incidents the gun control rhetoric […]

Your Hero’s Journey

A patient, I have looked after for many years, made me reflect deeply recently. Without breaching privacy, all I will say is that he is a male, who I will call Peter, with chronic regional pain syndrome which started after a traumatic injury he suffered 9 years ago. He recovered from the traumatic injury, with multiple surgeries, but […]

Reflections on Being a Physician

My journey to becoming a physician has not been an easy one but it has been more than rewarding. I could not have easily said this through the sleepless nights studying for final exams, bearing the drudgery of seeing patient after endless patient on a night on call as a resident or the countless tasks […]

How to Nurture Your Connection to Your Children

In my last article I discussed the importance of forming a health attachment with your children and how it is crucial for their brain development. I also discussed how this role has been lost in our modern, busy, technologically enhanced lives. We need to continue to nurture our connection with our children despite how complex our lives […]

The Importance of Attachment

A few months ago I attended a talk and workshop, in Toronto, by Canadian author Dr. Gabor Mate who is a family physician from Vancouver, BC, who has worked with the most disenfranchised populations in Vancouver. He has written several best-selling books, including In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, which is about his experiences with treating addiction […]

The Importance of Conscious Breathing

Breathing is the most important function of life. Unfortunately, it is also the first function that we tend to neglect the most. The purpose of breathing is to delivery oxygen from the atmosphere to air sacs in our lungs to be absorbed through the air sac cell membranes into tiny blood vessels called capillaries. From […]

Reframing Problems

Let’s face it. Life is difficult. It is like riding the waves of the ocean. One day it is smooth sailing and the next day it can be a stormy, tumultuous ride. It does not matter how famous you are, how rich you are or how intelligent you are, everyone faces problems. The problem with problems […]

How To Follow The Road Less Travelled

Life should be a glorious adventure. For too many people it is routine and mundane. Many people just go through the same routine on a daily basis which may include going to work, doing the groceries and other errands, if you have children, shuttling them from school to activities to homework before getting them to […]

Using Creative Visualization to Optimize Physiologic Flow

In the last several articles I’ve discussed the concept of physiologic flow and how every aspect of our physiology depends on flow. In the last article I discussed how to optimize our physiologic flow through nutrition. This week I’d like to discuss the use of creative visualization to optimize physiologic flow. Creative visualization is the […]

What Is Physiologic Flow?

In my last post I introduced the concept of inner flow and how it involves going beyond our thoughts and emotions to the deeper essence of who we are which is our consciousness. This week I’d like to discuss the next level of flow which is physiologic flow. What is physiologic flow? If we look […]