Dr. Janice Di Luzio

12/11/2025

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory of human motivation created by psychologist Abraham Maslow in the 1940s. It outlines what we need to become our best selves.

It’s a framework that describes what motivates people and when. It explains that we have needs and that we typically seek to meet them in a certain order.

Order is a big thing in the hierarchy of needs. That’s why you’ll usually see it represented as a pyramid.

In the strictest interpretation, each level in the pyramid has to be met to successfully pursue the next.

Physiological
Safety
Connection and love
Esteem
Self-actualization

Maslow’s theory says that only after your physical (physiological) needs, like food and water, are met can you then set your sights on your next-level need for safety. And if your physical needs are met and you’re safe and secure, you then address your need to develop close relationships with others. And so on, up to the top of the pyramid.

The first four steps are sometimes called “deficiency needs.” They’re the ones that are outside of yourself. The top of the pyramid, self-actualization, is called a growth need. It’s about the drive that comes from within you and compels you to be your fullest self.

In many interpretations of the hierarchy, people can skip steps. But trying to leapfrog the order can often lead to stress or friction. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs gives us a way to think about what drives us — from finding food and safety to seeking love, respect and purpose. While life isn’t always a perfect journey from A to Z, the framework can help us understand why we feel stuck at times or why certain goals may feel out of reach.

10/11/2025

“The heart is not merely a pump; it’s a sophisticated intelligence system with its own neural network, hormonal production, and electromagnetic field.”

Let me share something that might fundamentally change how you think about love.

05/10/2025

Sometimes there are no immediate revelations.
sometimes there are no immediate solutions.
sometimes there is no immediate movement.

sometimes we have to sit
in the cocoon of ourselves.
sometimes we have to trust the process.
sometimes, even with the help
of guides or teachers
we still are where we are
inside of where we do not want to be.

yes, you are outgrowing the container
but sometimes you still have to sit inside of it.
sometimes, that’s just how it goes.
and then you grow
and unfold
and emerge
and still, you must wait
to dry off those new wings.
still you must wait patiently
before you fly into your now clear vision.

sometimes...
we are cocooning and becoming
for quite sometime...

but from inside the cocoon,
the caterpillar
while dissolving whispered,
‘trust the process.
trust the process..✨

~ Stasha Ginsburg
The Wild Matryoshka
Image Sarah Greenman

21/09/2025

Mel Robbin’s, “Let it go.”

16/09/2025

27/08/2025

22/08/2025

🎶 Music doesn’t just move us — it reshapes the brain.

Groundbreaking studies from USC’s Brain and Creativity Institute reveal that just two years of structured music training can literally rewire children’s brains, boosting decision-making, attention, and self-control.

MRI scans showed that children who participated in music instruction with the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles developed stronger white matter (improving communication between brain regions) and more mature gray matter (enhancing information processing). These structural changes were linked to better sound processing, language skills, impulse control, and focus.

Even more striking, young musicians displayed heightened activation in brain networks tied to executive function — the system responsible for planning, focus, and making decisions. In attention and self-control tests, they outperformed peers in sports programs or without structured after-school activities.

Researchers believe that music programs, particularly in underserved communities, could be powerful tools for supporting healthy brain development and offsetting the negative effects of poverty. Beyond nurturing creativity, music may be one of the most effective ways to foster emotional resilience and intellectual growth in children.

19/08/2025

The research is a transformative step toward understanding the condition's genetic underpinnings and potential for personalized care.

03/08/2025

The Enneagram is a profound tool for observing the ways in which you unconsciously disconnect from what is real and true and magnificent within you, that is, from your inherent True Nature. It is a map and a guide to deepened and satisfying self awareness, self-expression and connection with others. Now, it doesn’t get much better than that. Of course, the work is difficult and painful but staying asleep and unconscious is actually more difficult and painful, and takes more energy to maintain. Such a paradox. And yet when we begin to step into painful parts of ourselves that are doorways to true freedom, our inner critic screams “You’ll die if you go there.” The truth is, “You’ll wake up” and begin to savor your life. So, the choice of direction is in your hands. I wonder how you will play your ‘life’ cards.

18/07/2025

Why we’re more exhausted than ever…

Emily Ballesteros explains the three root causes of 'The Great Exhaustion.'