As an energy coach I help people move from pain to peace. Sometimes pain comes from a difficult relationship, a food obsession or a toxic workplace. Regardless of where the pain comes from, inner peace heals it.

Here's the formula - when life flows, we experience peace, when it is blocked we experience pain.

We get tripped up when we identify more with our thoughts or a particular situation than with our essence. Our fundamental purpose is to be a vessel for life. When we're fulfilling our function, we experience inner peace and a sense of well-being.

Over time, this feeling of well-being or the flow of life becomes the foundation for our identity, and we make decisions that promote the flow - regardless if it shakes things up a bit.

Life will lead if you let it. Put life in charge. The mind needs to be disciplined so that it doesn't act like a spoiled child. The body is a vessel - not a god. Our emotions are just that - energy in motion, they flow on the current of life and will not kill us - they just need to dissipate.

Once we put life in charge, the rest of our being and our world falls into divine order and inner peace ensues.

"Be what you are. Give what is yours to give. Have style. Dare."

- Stanley Kuntitz

Today is Valentine's Day. Usually I'm busy getting my daughter off to school, making sure she is wearing pink or red, and that she has her bag of Valentine's in tow for her friends and teacher. She is with her dad this morning and we did all the prep over the weekend, so I am left with me.

I'm not complaining, I'm great company. And even though I don't have a "special someone" in my life at the moment, I've already received three Valentine's! (So what if one was from my email hosting company..)

It actually feels like a sacred day - a reminder of sorts, that love is in the air and waiting to bless us at every turn. Like Easter, when you tell yourself that everyday is about forgiveness and rebirth. Well today is reminding me that every day is about love.

So if you read this today or any time in the future, consider it a Valentine, for you are loved.

Does essentialization - moving closer to one's essence - happen from the inside out or the outside in?

Shedding layers that cover our radiance is essential for letting our inner light shine. But what I've discovered is that it is impossible to shed outer layers that often provide security without feeding your essence daily.

So the process is simultaneous! We feed our inner spirit daily, all day if possible, by remaining aware of our eternal, timeless Self. Meditation, conscious breathing, and mindful awareness feed our spiritual core and help it to grow.

As it grows, and we begin to feel more secure obout our spiritual essence being the foundation of our identity, we can let go of the outer stuff that we used to cling to for security: bad habits, relationships that no longer serve our growth, jobs we've outgrown, labels that no longer fit, extra weight or physical congestion, emotional baggage...

Soon we become transparent... Well, maybe not soon, but sooner rather than later.