Coaching and Energy Healing with Taruna Barber, PhD

04/25/2026

There’s a well-known story, often shared in both Taoist and Zen circles, about a farmer and his horse. An old man lived in a small village with his son. One day, his horse ran away, and the neighbors came by to offer their sympathies.

“What bad luck,” they said.

The old man simply replied, “Maybe.”

A few days later, the horse returned, bringing with it several wild horses from the hills. The neighbors returned, praising the good fortune.

“What good luck," they said.

Again, the old man responded, "Maybe."

Soon after, the man’s son tried to ride one of the wild horses. He was thrown and broke his leg.

“What bad luck,” the neighbors lamented.

Once more, the old man said, "Maybe.”

Not long after, soldiers came through the village, drafting young men into the army. Seeing his son’s injured leg, they passed him by.

“What good luck," said the neighbors.

And again, the old man only replied, "Maybe.”

The story keeps turning like this, over and over.

What seems fortunate can turn out to be unfortunate. What looks like a loss might reveal something different over time.

Nothing remains fixed or certain.

What stands out isn’t the events themselves but our tendency to rush to judge their meaning too quickly.

Most of the time, our minds jump to conclusions—this is good, this is bad—and then everything else follows from there.

But the story suggests something else: that we don’t see the full picture. Time often shows what the moment cannot. What we label as “good” or “bad” might just be a small piece of something still unfolding.

The old man doesn’t deny what happens. He simply leaves it open.

In Zen, this is sometimes called not knowing—not confusion, but a kind of clarity that isn’t in a rush to judge.

It’s about being willing to meet life as it comes before it hardens into certainty.

The story is straightforward. A horse runs away, then returns. A son falls, then heals. A war comes, then goes.

Nothing extraordinary. And yet—the moment we decide what something means might be the very moment we stop seeing it clearly.

01/09/2026

This is very well explained

12/09/2025

This is a great little video that is worth a minute and a half of your time to watch

11/17/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/16i55GMFx2

We often say, “I'm going to treat myself,” and we mean by eating cake with extra icing, by booking a weekend away; by buying a new pair of shoes.

We talk about indulgence as if it’s the only language our tired hearts understand. We throw glitter at the ache, sugar at the silence.

But rarely do we say, “I'm going to treat myself kindly.” With soft mornings and no guilt. With patience when I forget, and grace when I fall short. We forget that gentleness is a gift too; that rest is not earned like a badge, but granted. Not in exchange for doing, but simply for being.

Maybe the real treat is not the cake, but the way we speak to ourselves after a long day. Maybe it's not the getaway, but the way we stand our ground and keep our faith when things get hard.

Maybe kindness is the sweetest thing we keep forgetting to serve ourselves: keep forgetting to treat ourselves to.

Yes, treat yourself to the cake, and the holiday and the shoes.

But make sure they're not a substitute...
for treating yourself with love.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2025
Beautiful artwork by Claudia Tremblay

This is a newer poem, but there are more like this in my collections 'Letters from Life' and 'Words to Remember'

09/11/2025

Most people don’t realize this: your emotions are not the problem—it’s the way you handle them that determines your peace or suffering. When you avoid, suppress, or react impulsively, emotions take control of you. But when you learn to process them mindfully, they become your teachers.

Here’s a simple but life-changing practice:

1️⃣ Pause – Stop running. Take a moment to simply acknowledge, “I am feeling something right now.” Awareness is the first step to healing.

2️⃣ Name It – Identify the emotion. Is it anger? Sadness? Fear? Joy? Naming your feeling takes away half its power. It shifts you from being overwhelmed to being observant.

3️⃣ Feel It – Don’t judge or suppress it. Sit with the emotion. Let it exist without resistance. Remember, what you resist, persists. What you accept, transforms.

4️⃣ Ask Why – Gently explore: “What triggered this? Why does it matter to me?” This step turns pain into insight and helps you understand yourself better.

5️⃣ Release – Breathe deeply. Write it down. Speak it out. Cry if you must. Releasing is not weakness—it’s cleansing. It’s giving your soul permission to breathe again.

6️⃣ Shift – Once released, redirect your energy toward something constructive or calming—walk in nature, meditate, paint, read, or help someone. This step turns wounds into wisdom.

✨ Remember: Emotions are not enemies. They are signals. They are waves passing through you. You are the sky, vast and unshaken. Don’t drown in the storm—learn to let the storm pass.

💭 Master your emotions, and you master your peace.

09/11/2025

07/23/2025

When you don’t know something is supposed to be hard or impossible

In the early 1940s, a graduate student named George Dantzig walked into his statistics class a bit late. On the board were two problems, which he assumed were part of the assigned homework. Without knowing their origin, he took them home and worked on them over the next few days. They were difficult—but not impossible. He turned them in as requested.

Weeks later, Dantzig’s professor, Jerzy Neyman, appeared at his doorstep to deliver unexpected news: the problems he had solved weren’t standard homework—they were two of the most well-known unsolved problems in statistical mathematics. Researchers had been struggling with them for years, and no one had produced valid solutions—until now.

Dantzig's modest approach and unawareness of the problems' fame allowed him to tackle them without the mental barrier of thinking they were impossible. This rare combination of talent and innocence led to one of the most famous academic stories in mathematics. His work was so sound that it was later published and accepted as part of his doctoral thesis.

The story has since become a legend in academic circles, highlighting not just Dantzig’s brilliance, but also how powerful a shift in mindset can be. When problems are approached without the weight of expectation, even the “unsolvable” can sometimes be solved.

05/25/2025

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05/08/2025