I believe this troubled time calls on us to open our minds and hearts to the innumerable connections we share with others -- in our families, communities, social systems, and on our planet -- and strive to understand what it means to be human now.

In this video, I tell the story of how this miracle man guided my spiritual awakening, reorganized my plans and changed my life forever.

In this interview by Omega, spiritual teacher Panache Desai encourages you to see that you are not a mistake, that you are not broken.

Nurture your soul with healthy foods that inspire you and build you up. Avoid those that create ugly feelings inside. By doing this, you will be able to keep your inner garden oasis beautiful and flourishing.

We can shrink in fear and wallow in our worries, just close down. Or we can use this time to work toward the expansion, openness, and love that we all know in our heart of hearts is possible.

The yogic path labels nonviolence as "ahimsa." According to this tradition, violence is any act that inflicts harm onto not just other people, but onto oneself.

In this place, alone with my daughter Rachel, with a few simple things, walking and walking, it seems complete enough. Even the drama of death and divorce seem distant, part of the endless cycle of life, not something to dwell in, to linger on, but to face, absorb and pass on.

Instead of celebrating and partying with the usual aches and discomfort the next day, why not be in the perfect stillness and let the peace and quiet bring its special presence into our lives?

This New Year's, let's draw needed attention to and appreciate the simplicity and significance of the weight of words. Let's gain control over our emotional waistlines and reflect on the words and sayings that weigh us down and lift us up.

Maybe the gift of silence is what this year's holiday is really about. The gift of silence can restore the mystic within an unbelieving soul. Given the opportunity, the peace and stillness this Christmas Eve can restore something even more beautiful: our innocence.

This season, we can give ourselves the gift of embracing our hearts in silence. Our crowded thoughts come from a crowded heart. Taking time to enjoy silence is time for the simple beauty of life.

To let go and fall into the arms of silence carries us into the sweetness of surrender. It is to become a master in the humble art of living.

It's a wondrous thing, the way our bodies have been created to be nurtured as we expand with a breath of oxygen and contract by exhaling what the body doesn't need. Go ahead. Give yourself this gift of conscious breathing.

The more we pay attention to the sense of another's love, to a place that provides beauty and ease, to our own strengths and aspiration, the more we connect with the heart space that will offer a healing refuge.

Global transition is, as it says on the tin, a global phenomenon. Yet "crisis" is about a state of place as well as a state of mind; and this state of place is not universal.

As soon as we enter into silence, there are gifts that renew and strengthen our essential selves. These gifts are qualities that enlighten and bring real joy. I call these qualities "muscles of the heart."

The difficult feelings are our greatest teachers, the alchemists' chunks of coal that, when approached with consciousness, are transformed into gold.

Whether you are struck by a lone shoot pushing through the cracks in pavement, the runt tree on your block, the intermittent flow of rain, the seeming forest of the park, the night sky, or the fallen leaves, please let nature be your teacher and think deliberately on these things.

These three steps will help you navigate negative comments on the Internet, but what's most important is to practice raising the positive energy around you. Where there is darkness, we need to bring more light.

Loss doesn't always have to be greeted with anger or sadness. In fact, if you greet loss and differences with grace, you might find that you live in a warmer, brighter world than you ever realized. That's how my grandmother saw the world, and she shared the warmth.

In contrast, when you're letting your authentic soul shine, you have the love and energy to offer emotional nourishment to those you come in contact with. Your authentic soul is a peacemaker. It seeks nirvana, lives in the moment, and believes that something far bigger than itself exists.

True fulfillment is only possible when we come from a place a love. And the problem is most of us are coming from a place of fear, not love. And the even bigger problem is that we are able to create a lot of success and goal line results from that place of fear -- in fact, it is often our strongest motivator.