Chris Lakin

> Mentor: “…and how do you feel in your body about that?” > > Me: “Wait, feelings are supposed to be IN THE BODY?” For the first few months after this exchange, I thought, “Maybe I’m just different and don’t have feelings in my body. Maybe that’s just a weird...

Some people get destabilized by ‘inner work’: Here’s why: * Awareness := How aware someone is of sensations in their body/conscious experience. How perceptive, sensitive, and feely they are. How much beauty they perceive, how much pain they feel. * Equanimity := How equanimous someone is with situations and emotions....

Expanding on Humans are not automatically strategic, I've noticed similar patterns for people who are working on improving their own and others' mental/emotional states. We do not automatically… * Wonder “Who like me has successfully solved this problem — and what did they do?”, then copy the most successful plans....

Imagine you’re looking for a personal trainer. You open one trainer’s webpage and read their testimonials: “I had an experience tied for the most intense experiences of my life”; “They do it all with fun, care, and a sense of humour.” You notice that none of the testimonials mention improved...

I read The Courage to be Disliked 7+ times in four years. The book has excellent philosophy but lacks clear explanations and practical guidance. Here’s how it can be fixed. As I see it, the book has 7 main claims: * Claim #1: Emotional issues often have hidden functions *...

2026 Feb 10: This post has been updated for accuracy. Has someone you know ever had a “breakthrough”… only to be no different a few weeks later? Just as “flaky breakthroughs” are pervasive with psychedelics, they’re also pervasive with coaching, retreats, and meditation. Flaky breakthroughs have set people back years....

There’s this popular idea that socially anxious folks are dying to be liked. Why else would someone be so anxious about how others perceive them? And yet, being socially anxious tends to make you less likeable… so they must be behaving really irrationally, right? example Maybe not. What if social...