Any spiritual teacher or healer is going to encounter immense sadness, anger, trauma, and stress, because that’s who gets drawn to this path. And it’s absolutely vital to be able to hold space for those emotions without absorbing them.

The same way I dealt with my own pain is how I help others transmute theirs. Because if I take on their stress, I become useless. I lose my ability to serve. So I have to meet those emotions with conscious awareness. Whether pain comes from within or outside, the method remains the same: don’t take on more stress, and release the stress you do carry.

One of the most powerful shifts is seeing these difficult emotions as our greatest teachers. So when I encounter someone in deep struggle, in breakdown, in anger, in sorrow, I ask myself, how can I help? And I go into a state of deep presence and compassion. I see it as an opportunity to grow, to deepen my own capacity to serve.