Let me start by saying that modern healthcare has largely stripped humanity out of the vital work of many healthcare professionals. We must get back to doing what humans do best: building authentic, trusting relationships. To accomplish this, we must lean into technological innovation, not to replace the patient-provider relationship, but so that the relationship becomes the focal point

It’s incumbent on leaders and managers to work collaboratively with the folks on their team to develop individualized development plans.

Grinding and hustling is glorified just as expected in a consumption-based, capitalist society. Until recently, I was in the grips of this activity-based-self-worth pattern.

As a leadership team, we’re at a phase transition. Instead of spending most of our time creating clarity around our goals, to-do items, and developing systems, we will focus on the context of work, i.e., the culture.

When you value the inner monologue’s opinion the same as a four-year-old who believes in Santa explaining how presents are delivered on Christmas, you’ve reached the level of observation necessary to move to the next step…

There has been a major shift in my relationship with asana (and meditation but that’s another story). I used to approach asana from a dualistic, linear perspective. Master asana to a certain extent and then begin working with pranayama and then finally, begin seated meditation.

This sort of woo-woo language tends to trip up “serious” people, myself included. The profound simplicity of flow and obstruction can be challenging to grasp yet intuitively obvious.

A lot of work went into putting together the resources for the following email, mainly regarding document creation. You’ll find a link to download several essential documents foundational to our culture and desire to create a deliberately developmental organization.

If you want to wake up, you must see that a regimented schedule is another way the egoic self exerts the illusion of control. The ego (character) seeks to reinforce its existence and (I believe) that the notion of “time management” is one of the most pervasive traps out there.

I have no compulsion to learn and grow. Quite a statement coming from someone who has built an image around reading, intellectual pursuits, and spiritual growth. What appeared once as a ceaseless desire for improvement has vanished. What happened?

In consensus reality, you are the main character in a play, with many other characters playing their roles. In the awakened state, it’s as if you were playing a character in a theatrical production, but you stepped out of character while everyone else maintained their fictional personas.

I predict that the next generation of leading behavioral health organizations will be masters of four things: (1) creating community, (2) collecting, analyzing, and managing data, (3) addressing social determinants of health, and (4) reframing healthcare from the reduction of suffering to the maximization of flourishing.

I tend to fluctuate from high highs to low lows. When I’m up, I’m like the Energizer Bunny – I require little sleep and am physically and mentally engaged throughout the day. When I’m down, I’m entirely burnt out – I want to crawl under a rock; everything from getting out of bed to washing the dishes feels challenging.

The best things in life are often the result of seeing challenges as opportunities. I dove into yoga, meditation, and spirituality because I felt adrift and incomplete in young adulthood. For those of us who have decided to make the healing professions our life’s work, I’d imagine many of us have experienced significant growth and development following considerable hardships.

This is the self’s last stand. The character will remain, but without continually reifying itself through constructing games, problems, solutions, wants, needs, and concepts, the self loses its sway. The small self should be anxious – this is a separate anxiety from general “character-related challenges,” such as paying the bills and making it to my next meeting on time. The current anxiety is existential.

Why would I share this information? Isn’t this, like, top secret? One of our core values is transparency, and I believe that if we’re going to have a longitudinal impact on the behavioral health field, we’ve got to have an open model – one that is shared and improved upon by folks inside and outside of the Advaita Collective.

We spend all day navigating an increasingly complex maze of concepts, and we are rewarded materially for that. Those who are conventionally “successful” (in our consumption-based, materialistic culture) are often those who have successfully navigated this construct zoo. But so what if that does not bring peace?

Ikigai encompasses finding purpose, fulfillment, and satisfaction in life by aligning four elements: (1) what you love to do, (2) what the world needs, (3) what you’re good at, and (4) what you can get paid for. I hope your work with the Advaita Collective moves you closer to discovering and working on your ikigai.

A bodhisattva is a person who has seen through the illusion of self and thus glimpsed the undivided perfection of the world, yet dedicates his or her life to addressing the multitude of problems in the (relative) world.

check out this behind the scenes look at what’s going on at the advaita collective (formerly Green Hill and AIM)…