The Inner Practice
Honest reflections on what it means to feel off, get clear, and find our way forward..
Written by Anna Scott.
The Hope Chest
My mother taught me not to feel. It took a lifetime — and my daughter — to unlearn it.
My father died when I was two.
My mother was left with six children. Five boys and one girl. Me. The youngest.
She did what she had to do. She kept the house running. She kept us fed. She kept moving forward.
Her motto was simple.
No one likes a whiner.
She Got on a Plane
This morning I spoke to a friend who is in Amsterdam.
After we hung up the phone, I noticed a strong feeling move through me. I checked in with my heart and stayed with what was there.
First came resentment. That she could travel. That she could get up and go while I feel stuck here. I recognized it immediately — that is a story, not a truth about my friend.
Underneath the resentment was jealousy. And the jealousy was useful — because it showed me what I actually wanted. To travel. That was real information.
But there was still no peace. Something else was underneath. So I stayed. Present with the feeling. Not following the story. Not making my friend wrong. Just staying.
When Someone Finally Says What They Want
The Moment
The bees in the flower pear trees were buzzing.
Tiny insects moved through the blossoms, the branches trembling with life. Behind us, the scent of jasmine drifted through the warm air. In the grass, sky-blue crocus pushed through the ground.
Danielle and I were sitting on a bench in Piedmont Park.
Spring had just begun.
The Relationship With Yourself Changes Everything
The real work begins within.
When I was younger, I was married to a man who was verbally abusive.
One day I came home and found my teddy bear with its head ripped off. A note was pinned to it.
Next is yours.
That was the day I left.
For years, I thought the story was about him.
After decades of inner work, I saw something deeper.
It wasn’t only him who was belittling me.
Futile
I found myself inside an emotion I didn’t recognize. It wasn’t despair. It wasn’t fear. It was something new.
I wasn’t in touch with it. I had been avoiding it. My business has been in a season I didn’t expect — a long, humbling one. For a year and a half, I’ve been telling myself to stay open, stay trusting, stay generous. And still, nothing had shifted the way I thought it would.
The effort tasted thin in my mouth.
Living From Love
I was working on my new website when I felt it.
A tightening in my chest.
My breath went shallow.
Fear
The fear of not getting it right.
The fear of being judged.
The fear of wasting my time.
As if there is a right.
As if love needs permission.
Burnout Before It Breaks You: One Lawyer's Story
She came to me because she was exhausted. A high-performing woman. A lawyer. Always on. Nights. Weekends. A nervous system that never shut down. On the outside, she was capable and respected. On the inside, everything felt loud and urgent. She told me she wanted to do work in a new way — though she didn't yet know how. She only knew the current pace wasn't sustainable. This is what burnout looks like before it breaks you.
Understanding How We Have Our Experience
It Wasn’t Complicated After All
My son is spending Christmas away for the first time.
Twenty-nine years of shared rituals, and now a quiet change.
I didn’t have an issue with him going. That part felt clean.
What hurt was something else.
I wasn’t held in mind.
Plans were made — with friends, with travel, with what came next — and somehow I wasn’t part of the orientation. When dates were offered later, they landed flat. January 25 didn’t feel like a celebration. It felt like a placeholder.
The meaning that came immediately was familiar:
I don’t matter. I’m not a priority.
The Moment I Crossed the Finish Line
The cold Thanksgiving air stung my cheeks as I rounded the final corner, breath sharp, legs trembling. My orange shoes slapped the pavement, steady as a heartbeat. When the finish line came into view, something in me cracked open.
The Quiet Transmission Between Two People at Work
The silence in his story felt charged, like the moment right before a wave breaks.
He sat across from me describing a meeting with his boss, and I could feel it — that invisible shift in the air when something unspoken enters the room.
He told me about the conversation — nothing dramatic, nothing explosive.
Just a simple exchange where his boss said one thing, but the space between them said something else entirely.
He had felt it immediately: a tightening across his chest, a flicker in his stomach, the swift rise of an emotion he didn’t yet have language for.
Listening Begins Within
I never meant to become a deep listener.
It wasn’t a skill I set out to master.
It happened because I became curious — I wanted to understand what I was really feeling inside myself.
To do that, I had to slow down and begin noticing.
My automatic thoughts.
My emotions.
The sensations and constrictions moving through my body.
I wanted to know what was true for me — beneath all the noise.
What Changes When You Bring Universal Love to Work
When we bring love, presence, and consciousness into the workplace, everything changes.
Work becomes more meaningful, relationships soften, and leadership feels natural instead of forced. This piece explores how the wisdom of Aikido and the 25th Gene Key—Universal Love—can transform how we work, lead, and connect with one another.
Why Do Certain People Always Trigger Me? Understanding the Mirror Effect.
He was standing in front of me, yelling. My chest tightened. I wanted to disappear. For years, I called him abusive. I said he made me small. But the truth I couldn't see then? I was already small—long before he ever raised his voice.
I used to collect evidence against certain people—my first husband, a demanding boss, a client who questioned everything. Each one seemed to have power over me. My stomach would twist. My voice would go tight. I'd replay their words for days, building an airtight case for why they were the problem.
When Life Cracks You Open: Finding What You Love in the Breaking
She came to me looking for stability.
Two curve balls had landed in rapid succession: her best friend died suddenly, and she lost her job. The ground beneath her—the ground she thought was solid—had given way.
She wanted help finding a new position. She was tired of the instability, the uncertainty, the feeling that life was against her.
I understood. Of course she felt that way.
But I also saw something else.
Life Isn't Against You—It's Breaking You Open
My Relationship with Myself
I used to hate myself. I used to think I was ugly, fat, and stupid. I was cruel to myself.
I don’t know where I learned this, but it was how my thoughts and behavior treated me. I called myself names, berated myself, and told myself how horrible I was.
My first marriage was an out-picturing of my inner world. My husband, in his own way, showed me how I was treating myself. I left him because of the abuse—only to discover that I was the source.
From Clutter to Clarity: Books That Transformed My Career and Money
I remember the drive home from Tahoe — the book Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui sitting on the seat beside me. By the time I pulled into my driveway, I couldn’t wait. I dropped my bags, opened closets, and started pulling things out: sweaters that never fit, a painting I’d never loved, my grandmother’s china that felt more like duty than delight. Box after box filled, each trip to Goodwill leaving the house lighter, as if the walls themselves were exhaling.
That practice never left me. In my dining room sits an “outbox” — always ready for the next thing that no longer belongs. Everything around me now feels useful or beautiful. (Okay, except for one microwave, my partner insists on keeping. But love is a package deal, and I’ll take him over a clear counter any day.)
Bring Your Truth to Work
I worked in corporate sales for 20 years. At Polycom, it was the end of the quarter, and what mattered more than anything was meeting my number — even at the cost of the client’s well-being. I felt dirty. Numbers mattered. Image mattered. But inside, I felt hollow — like a puppet going through the motions.
Daring the Career Change
Today, I sat across from a woman who told me she was looking for a new job. Her voice dropped when she said it, like she was confessing something forbidden. Then, almost in the same breath, the reasons tumbled out—why it was impossible, why it was too late, why it would never work. Her hands twisted in her lap as though she was holding on for dear life.
What’s Your Intention?
My son called the other day, his voice tight with frustration.
“They never wrote me back,” he said.
“Send me the email,” I told him.
When it landed in my inbox, I could see it. Polite words, thoughtful details, a closing line that sounded like a soft wave goodbye. But no arrow. No request that gave his boss something to respond to.
When I asked him what his intention was, he paused. “I didn’t want to sound pushy. I just…wanted them to respond.”