Beautiful People

We rarely find ourselves when we are hiding among sunshine-y moments, just-alright days, and sighs of contentment. We find out who we really are during the moments that feel too huge to handle.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierOctober 23, 2015anxiety, courage, death, expressive therapy, fear, Featured, hair, healing, heartache, innerchild, love, sexuality, vulnerableComment

Without Being Our Own Friend, We Cannot Hope For Happiness

When they told us we had to start working, they never said we had to stop playing.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierSeptember 28, 2015anxiety, childhood, create, creative therapy, depression, expressive therapy, following dreams, fun, healing, inspirational, love, play, playtime, relationships, rewire, vulnerable, workComment

Facin' a Fear: The Pieces of Myself I Hate and Hide

I'm sick and tired, literally nauseous and exhausted all the time, of being someone I'm not.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierSeptember 21, 2015anxiety, depression, dissociation, expressive therapy, following dreams, healing, heartache, love, meditation, open up, vulnerable, words, writer, writingComment

Sometimes, All You Have To Do Is Make Soup

Yesterday, life felt wildly unmanageable, but from this chaos I resolved to find a place of calmness within. Before I could pout about all the chopping, boiling, stirring, timing, and storing that awaited me, I walked straight to the kitchen and began gathering ingredients. I started making soup.

Navigating Anxiety, Other StuffNiki NapierSeptember 14, 2015anxiety, Autumn, cheap, depression, expressive therapy, food, healing, meditation, nurture, nutrients, recipes, soup, stew, vegetablesComment

Fear, Just a Bully in Our Minds

What strikes me as one of the strangest human fears is our terror of the unknown within ourselves.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierSeptember 7, 2015anxiety, depression, expressive therapy, fear, healing, heartache, meditation, nature, practice, reality, reiki, self love, self-discovery, truth, vulnerable, yoga, yogiComment

What's Been Up With the Moon, and Why It's Been Making Us All Mad

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed: people have been a bit batty lately. Friends, family, neighbors, the cats, everyone seems to be colliding with dramatic emotions and drastic miscommunications.

Navigating Anxiety, Other StuffNiki NapierAugust 31, 2015astrology, expressive therapy, healing, heartache, influence, letting go, moon, mystical, nature, pain, pisces, purging, spiritual, sun, virgo Comments

Heartache and Self-Discovery

I'm terrified of practicing yoga again. I dabble at home, a few poses here and there, but I have been seriously avoiding attending a class since the death in our family. I know now that I'm afraid of what I might feel. I risk a colossal breakdown in public, at my workplace, in front of strong yogis that know me and will continue to see me at the studio afterwards.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierAugust 10, 2015anxiety, depression, dissociation, expressive therapy, healing, heartache, hope, love, meditation, pain, self-discovery, vulnerable, work, yoga, yogiComment

Unsticking From Commotion

I feel so stuck. My writing is stuck. My life is stuck, and in an out-of-control cyclone at the same time. I'm in a hurry, but to nowhere.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierAugust 3, 2015anxiety, blogging, depression, dissociation, expressive therapy, healing, heartache, love, meditation, perfectionism, stuck, vulnerable, words, writer, writer's block, writing, yoga, yogiComment

The Black Hole of Anxiety

There's something that's beginning to eat away at me. I like spending my time reading, meditating, on my yoga mat, practicing reiki, and with whatever other tools feel right for growing a life of love. But despite following these enlightening practices, there is a black hole that continues to stalk me.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierJuly 27, 2015adventure, anxiety, depression, dissociation, expressive therapy, healing, heartache, living fully, love, meditation, pain, vulnerable, wholehearted, writingComment

Be Happy and Free

I still don't feel like writing about anything else. The recent death in our family has taken over everything. I am constantly thinking about my loved ones, even more than I always have, consumed with thoughts of helplessness, mourning, and guilt.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierJuly 20, 2015blogging, death, depression, expressive therapy, family, healing, heartache, love, mourning, pain, relationships, tragedy, vulnerable, writingComment

When Nothing Feels Good Enough And There's Nothing To Be Done

When something unbelievable happens, something tragic and heartbreaking and unexpected, there are no words that exist to describe how shattered we feel.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierJuly 13, 2015blogging, dissociation, expressive therapy, family, grief, healing, heartache, heartbroken, love, relationships, vulnerable, words, write, writerComment

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

E. E. Cummings really nailed it with this line, because being a writer terrifies me.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierJuly 6, 2015adventure, blogging, courage, creative therapy, dream career, expressive therapy, following dreams, healing, heartache, job, writer, writingComment

Finding Everything You Need In A Broken Heart

I felt a sting of selfishness stab into me for a long time, knowing that I'm not satisfied with merely being "happy" in life. What kind of ungrateful being was I, to be blessed with a job I love, a caring family, supportive friends, and still feel like something so dark and empty hid within me?

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierJune 8, 2015anxiety, full life, happiness, healing, heartache, honest, joy, loss, processing, real life, selfish, sorrow, suffering, unsatisfied, vulnerable Comment

If You Do One Thing All Day, Make It This

I've been hit over the head with some emotional sledgehammers this week, and while I felt all of the stress zooming around my brain like a passenger to Earnhardt Jr., I didn't know how to deal with it. Thankfully I've learned that distracting myself and pretending all is hunky-dory will get my healing nowhere.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierMay 18, 2015balance, Gremlin, healing, love, self love, slowing down, vulnerableComment

Always Uncomfortable: Finding Peace With Existential Anxiety

What is the purpose of life? What is my own life's purpose? Aren't we all just a bunch of dirt piled together that's just, for better or worse, become aware of our own existence?

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierMay 11, 2015anxiety, depression, dissociation, expressive therapy, following dreams, healing, nature, vulnerable Comments

Making Space: How Losing Those Habits Can Give You Everything

We can often become so wrapped up in obtaining the things we want, that we forget to take a step back and remember to appreciate what we already have.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierMay 4, 2015anxiety, following dreams, healing, meditation, minimalism, opportunities, space, vulnerable, yoga, yogi Comment

6 Simple Ways to Begin Your Natural Lifestyle

My whole life I was blessed with what we all thought was a natural lifestyle. The reality is that many of the seemingly harmless products and habits we grew up with are now being exposed as toxic, unsafe, or even deadly.

Navigating Anxiety, Other StuffNiki NapierApril 27, 2015healing, healthylifestyle, homemade, humanitarian, meditation, naturalhealth, naturaljourney, nature, wholefoods Comments

Talking About My Body...

Talking about my body makes my skin crawl. It's crippling to spiel about my physical traits and the seemingly endless battles I had with them. I think the word I am looking for here is vulnerable.

I Am F*cking Sad

Most of the time I at least attempt to find the silver lining, the laughter in the darkest moments to remind me that even though it hurts right now, this darkness will pass and there is sure to be a light up ahead.

Navigating AnxietyNiki NapierMarch 29, 2015anxiety, blogging, broken hearted, depression, dissociation, expressive therapy, following dreams, healing, heartache, love, photography, relationships, vulnerable, writing Comments

"Yes, I Am a Hippie"

“Hippie is a state of mind...”

PoetryNiki NapierMarch 22, 2015adventure, expressive therapy, following dreams, fun, healing, hippie, humanitarian, love, nature, poem, poetry, stereotypes, treehugger, vulnerable, words, writing, yoga, yogi Comments

REACH OUT