Author Archives: alyssaluboff

Philosopher, meditation guide, and healer in Oregon, USA.

Life with No Teacher

Do you crave someone who has all of the answers? A teacher who will step in and tell you what to do? Or, at the very least, someone to offer guidance, to tell you when you have strayed from your path, and when you are back on? – I have often wished I had suchContinue reading “Life with No Teacher”

Looking Forward, and Looking Back

This picture is from 2004, the year our middle child was born. I am looking forward, and I am looking back. That is the essence of this blog, the Emerald Shaman. What essential pieces of our humanity have we lost moving forward, and how do we recover them? How do we reconstruct them in newContinue reading “Looking Forward, and Looking Back”

Seeing Healing

Last month, I brought home from my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah reception three plants wrapped in foil. Since our apartment is small, I left them on the balcony. I thought it would be a good way to let Nature take care of the plants and not to have to worry much about them. After a fewContinue reading “Seeing Healing”

Breaking Up with a Narcissist – Advice for Our Country

How do you break up with a narcissist? How do you get rid of that toxic person in your life? Earlier in history, these might have been mere self-help questions, but now they concern the whole country. How do we, as a nation, break up with Donald Trump? How do we let go of ourContinue reading “Breaking Up with a Narcissist – Advice for Our Country”

Growing through Up and Down

One day in Tai Chi class, my instructor said something that surprised me. When you’re experiencing a lot of Yang energy and everything is going strong, he said, expect Yin to come along. In other words, when you’ve been flying high for some time, expect to come down. When life is easy, expect it toContinue reading “Growing through Up and Down”

Asking the Big Questions

The other day a reader on Facebook contacted me. He wanted to get a professional philosopher’s take on a question. “What do you think…,” he asked, “of the meaning of existence?” “Well, that’s a big question,” I could hear my own advisor answering in my head.  In academic philosophy, we are trained to be veryContinue reading “Asking the Big Questions”

When Life Comes Crashing Down – A Recipe for Healing

There are those very dark and gloomy days, the ones where everything seems to fall apart. Absolutely everything. You’d go stick your head in a hole and stay there forever – if only you could find a hole, if only you could bear a minute more of the chaos. What do you do? How doContinue reading “When Life Comes Crashing Down – A Recipe for Healing”

Valentine for a Broken Heart

Today I posted a new guided meditation that is part of a series I am developing on how to heal a broken heart. I don’t think there is a more exquisite pain than that of a broken heart. And yet that pain has driven a great deal of my own spiritual work. At times, IContinue reading “Valentine for a Broken Heart”

How to Achieve the Benefits of Meditation When You Can’t Focus, Relax, or Let Go

Most people know that meditation calms the mind and relaxes the body; they are also aware of the tremendous health benefits of this practice. The problem is that many people find it hard to sit still long enough to meditate. One of the most commonly taught meditation techniques is to focus on the breath. IfContinue reading “How to Achieve the Benefits of Meditation When You Can’t Focus, Relax, or Let Go”