It’s tired of being misunderstood — Intuition. We have many names for it. Sixth sense. Spidey Sense. Instinct. Gut feeling. Inner knowing. But it’s hard to capture the concept in words. To fully grasp it you must experience firsthand, either by following your intuition on something, or wishing you had, in retrospect. Intuition is NOT a thought or a feeling That inner knowing does…

Step One: Unhide Yourself — I was painfully shy as a child. It was painful for me, anyway. I desperately wanted to come out of my shell, but that process would take years. Decades, in fact. Flashback to seven-year-old Alla. Midway through math class, she desperately has to pee. The number of class minutes left…

My Babushka (Grandma in Russian) died at 85. Her wisdom lives on. — Earlier this year, my Babushka died from Covid. She was the center of gravity for our entire family. Its very soul. Babushka was both highly sensitive and fiercely tough. A good hug could make her cry. And yet she was strong as Soviet steel. Surviving war, illness, persecution. Nothing in…

It’s equal parts funny and useful — Here it is, my friends. The secret to dealing with our emotions in a healthy way: Emotions are like children. You don’t want to let them drive the car, but you can’t lock them in the trunk, either. I first heard this little nugget of wisdom in a yoga teacher…

A modern twist on the old proverb “Good Luck, Bad Luck” — You may have heard a version of this ancient proverb about the wise old farmer and his horse. An old farmer had a single horse. It helped plow the field, sow the seeds, and transport the crops to the market. That horse was his livelihood. One day the horse ran…

Inner work can feel more like play if we let it — What do Neo-hippie havens like Bali, Guatemala, and Sri Lanka have in common? Sure, you can take a very scenic and affordable yoga class in all three, sandwiched between a cacao ceremony and a Tantra workshop. But that’s a surface-level similarity. I mean on a deeper, energetic level. Over the…

People often cry around me. It’s a good thing. — Recently I realized that all throughout my life, people have been crying in my presence. Not just close family and friends, but people I barely know. Strangers seated next to me on long flights. Tough guys who normally shove emotions down. And of course friends who are going through a…

And how to tell a true healer from a drug dealer — In the last decade, Google searches for “ayahuasca” have quadrupled. And it’s no surprise since ancient plant medicine has found its way into modern culture. Jim Carrey has tried it. So have many other celebrities and creative types. Ayahuasca ceremonies have starred in movies like Wanderlust and While We’re Young. …

Maybe you were meant to meet but not meant to be — Last summer my good friend set me up with a guy. As I got to know him, the crazy coincidences kept stacking up. Manhattan has 214 numbered streets. We had lived on the same exact one for years, two blocks apart. We took classes at the same yoga studio. Knew…