 Credit: Style My Soul, www.stylemysoul.com | Spirituality & Karmic Perspectives Good karma isn’t just an abstract concept, it’s a set of intentional practices rooted in sincerity, compassion, and integrity that transcend cultural boundaries. We explore actionable ways to cultivate positive karma in daily life, drawing on insights from cultural experts and spiritual teachers who have studied these principles across traditions.
Offer Selfless Kindness with Sincerity After thousands of hours studying yoga teacher training and yoga philosophy, I understand karma very differently than how it’s often described. I don’t see karma as something we’re earning or paying off from a past life, or as a system of rewards and punishments for “good” or “bad” behavior. To me, karma is about lessons carried forward — patterns, insights, and unfinished learning that continue across lifetimes. It’s not moral bookkeeping. It’s evolution. An action rooted in karma, in my understanding, is one done in good faith and selfless kindness, without expectation of outcome or recognition. One example that stays with me is when I taught yoga for free at a halfway house for newly sober women. Many of them had never been exposed to yoga and likely never would have been. Watching their faces as they realized their bodies could move in ways they didn’t think possible — feeling breath, strength, and presence — was profoundly moving. There was joy, surprise, and a sense of reclaiming something that had felt lost. That experience was fulfilling not because I “earned” good karma, but because it felt aligned. It felt like participating in something larger than myself — offering access, dignity, and embodiment where it hadn’t existed before. For me, developing good karma isn’t about being good. It’s about showing up with sincerity, humility, and service and trusting that the lesson unfolds from there. - Dr. Jo L PsyD, Entrepreneur, Holistic Healer, Yoga & Mindfulness Expert, TulaSoul Make Amends and Keep Promises In my world, “good karma” isn’t mystical points in the sky. It’s what happens when you leave people and places a little better than you found them, especially when nobody is watching. One way I try to build good karma is practicing repair. If I’ve been sharp, distracted, or unfair, I don’t wait for time to soften it. I return and I name it. A simple, clean apology. A changed behavior. I’ve seen over and over that the universe feels less hostile when you stop leaking unfinished business into it. Years ago, I mishandled a conversation with someone I cared about. I didn’t yell, I didn’t explode. I did the more socially acceptable thing. I went cold. I told myself I was “protecting my peace,” but really I was avoiding discomfort. It came back around. Mutual friends felt the tension. Opportunities dried up. The relationships around it got tighter and smaller. That was “bad karma” to me. Not punishment, just consequence. The “good karma” version was when I finally reached out, owned my part without defending it, and asked what repair would actually help. It didn’t fix everything overnight, but it changed something in me. The next months felt oddly lighter. New connections appeared. Old ones softened. The best part was internal. I stopped carrying the weight of my own avoidance. If I could give one practical principle, it’s this: be the kind of person who cleans up after themselves emotionally. Keep your promises. Speak honestly. Make amends quickly. Do one quiet act of kindness each day that you do not announce. That’s how I understand karma, as a lived practice, not a belief. - Jeanette Brown, Personal and career coach; Founder, Jeanettebrown.net Honor Integrity over Convenience I was raised in a mixed Ashkenazi Jewish and Buddhist-influenced household, so conversations around karma came up often but in different ways. One idea that stuck with me was the notion that your intentions carry as much weight as your actions. In my own life, I’ve found that clean, honest intent, especially in moments where it’d be easier to cut corners, has consistently led to better outcomes, even if not immediately. One example was early in our R&D process. We had an opportunity to speed up a formulation by using a cheaper, low-grade ingredient that still technically met legal requirements. It wouldn’t have raised any red flags on a label. But the science didn’t back it, and it didn’t align with our commitment to efficacy. Walking away from that option felt difficult short-term, but it deepened trust with our partners and medical advisors, and ultimately led to a better product. For me, that’s what good karma looks like: the compounding return of choosing integrity over convenience. - Hans Graubard, COO & Cofounder, Happy V Value Fairness Above Shortcuts I was raised with Eastern Orthodox Christian roots, where the idea of “karma” isn’t explicit, but the principle of reaping what you sow is deeply embedded — what you put into the world eventually comes back. One practice I’ve kept is being fair and transparent in team decisions, especially when something goes wrong. I’ve seen this build real trust among engineers, which later pays off when deadlines get tight, they stay committed because they know I’ve got their back. As for personal testimony: I’ve rushed code to meet a deadline before, knowing it wasn’t tested properly, and it came back to haunt me with a production outage. That experience taught me: shortcuts might buy time today, but they cost you tomorrow. Clean code and honest collaboration might not get headlines, but they quietly accumulate good “karma” every sprint. - Igor Golovko, Developer, Founder, TwinCore Lead through Compassion and Generosity Developing positive karma by compassionate activity and deliberate intention is one of the most effective strategies. In many spiritual traditions, especially those with roots in Eastern philosophy, karma is influenced by our intention and energy as much as our actions. We serve society as a whole when we behave honorably, generously, and with genuine regard for other people. I have personally witnessed how even seemingly innocuous gestures of compassion can have unexpected ripple effects, and instances of impatience or ego tend to resurface as opportunities for personal development. - Bir Kaurkhalsa, Acupuncturist, Warrior Spirit Healing Arts
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 Credit: Darlene Killen Meet Our Guest!
Darlene built MoonInMental because astrology alone wasn’t helping her nervous system. She needed mechanisms, not metaphors. Now she publishes weekly emotional transit forecasts with evidence-based fragrance blends — matched to planetary timing, grounded in peer-reviewed research, designed for people who need practical tools, not spiritual bypassing. Her work sits at the intersection of trauma-informed astrology and clinical aromatherapy. Darlene also runs The Visible Practitioner, where she helps beauty and wellness practitioners get found by AI search tools. Support Darlene’s work at mooninmental.substack.com. Tune into Darlene’s Style My Soul appearance here.  Credit: Style My Soul, www.stylemysoul.com | Repurposing Degrees in the Age of AI English and journalism graduates face uncertainty as AI reshapes traditional content roles, but industry experts reveal that liberal arts training unlocks unexpected technical career paths. We present proven pivots based on insights from hiring managers, career advisors, and professionals who successfully repositioned their humanities degrees in tech-driven markets.
Own Competitive Intelligence and Market Signals I started as an in-house copywriter for a national jewelry manufacturer, and here’s what made me valuable even as content tools improved: I became the person who could reverse-engineer competitor strategies and turn data into positioning decisions. When we launched a new line, I wasn’t just writing product descriptions — I was analyzing what keywords our competitors ranked for, what emotional triggers their top-performing content used, and translating that into a content roadmap that our sales team could actually use in conversations. The shift that changed everything for me was when I stopped thinking of myself as someone who produces content and started positioning as someone who interprets market signals. When I work with franchise owners now, they don’t hire me because I can write better than AI — they hire me because I can look at their Google Business Profile data, their competitor’s review patterns, and their local search trends, then tell them exactly what messaging will close more deals in their specific market. I’m translating noise into strategy. The actual opportunity: become a competitive intelligence specialist who happens to use writing as one tool. I’ve seen clients pay premium rates for someone who can sit in on sales calls, analyze why deals are closing or falling apart, then create messaging frameworks that address the actual objections coming up. Your journalism training taught you to ask follow-up questions and spot patterns in what people aren’t saying — that investigative instinct applied to market research and customer interviews is incredibly valuable and completely AI-proof. - Bernadette King, CEO, King Digital Pros Drive Software Content Strategy and Precision I’ve watched a lot of people with English or Journalism degrees find their footing inside software teams by shifting into content strategy. It’s a role that asks for much more than clean prose. You end up shaping how information is organized, working with UX and SEO folks, and translating product decisions into language that actually makes sense to users. On a recent client portal build, for example, our content strategist sat with the Angular and .NET developers to sketch out UI flows and decide where every piece of text belonged. It wasn’t about filling space — it was about guiding someone through a task without tripping them up.That kind of judgment still leans heavily on a human’s ability to read context, sense tone, and understand what people need in the moment. AI can generate a pile of words, but choosing the right message for the right feature or audience is still a very human call, and it can be the difference between a product people adopt and one they quietly abandon. - Igor Golovko, Developer, Founder, TwinCore Orchestrate AI toward Measurable Growth Outcomes I’ve seen English and Journalism graduates thrive by becoming content strategists who understand what AI can’t deliver: strategic thinking and audience psychology. While AI generates content, it doesn’t understand conversion funnels or brand voice nuances. These graduates excel at prompt engineering, directing AI tools to produce better outputs, then refining that content for specific business goals. The real opportunity lies in becoming the strategic layer above AI. You’re not competing with the machine, you’re conducting it. Focus on learning digital marketing fundamentals and analytics. Companies desperately need people who can marry strong writing foundations with performance marketing insights. - Mihai Cirstea, CEO, Site Pixel Media Craft Personal Brand Narratives for Founders Channel an English or Journalism degree into personal brand strategy, helping founders and professionals turn their expertise into clear, consistent narratives. In my Human to Brand case study, growth came from simple habits: clarify the promise, pick sustainable content pillars, show up regularly, and lead with service. These degrees shine here because strong voice, sharp editing, and neighborly engagement build the kind of trust algorithms can’t. Use AI to draft and organize, but keep the tone, examples, and stories distinctly human. - Darcie Cameron, Marketing Director | Co-Founder | Creative Strategist & Podcast Host, The Multi-Passionate Pathway Guard Voice and Humanize Public Scripts Repurpose your English or Journalism degree into a brand voice editor who ensures public content sounds like a real person. AI has made content cheap and similar, so organizations need people who can shape first-person narratives, clear points of view, and especially video scripts that feel authentic. In this role, you keep AI behind the scenes for speed while you set tone, refine drafts, and protect trust. Audiences notice the difference, and brands that sound human come out ahead. - Travis Schreiber, Director of Operations, Erase.com  Credit: Style My Soul, www.stylemysoul.com | Indoors Hobbies & Interests for Cold Seasons Cold weather doesn’t mean giving up on staying active and engaged. We present nine indoor activities that range from physical practices like Tai Chi and yoga to creative pursuits like candle making and woodworking, backed by insights from experts in wellness, recreation, and home hobbies. These options offer practical ways to stay productive, improve skills, and maintain well-being without stepping outside.
Center Yourself and Start Small When the weather keeps you inside, I recommend a simple centering practice I learned from my friend and collaborator Ruda Iande during a season of burnout. Sit in a quiet room, breathe slowly, and name the work you would do quietly even if no one clapped. Then center first and choose the smallest honest step, whether that is drafting a page or sending one thoughtful note. This turns an indoor hour into calm focus and gentle momentum. It is a low-tech way to help settle the nervous system and enjoy being indoors with purpose. - Lachlan Brown, Co-founder, The Considered Man Tee Up Indoor Golf on Simulator Home golf is one of the best indoor activities in cold weather, and it works especially well if you have limited space. It’s an antidote to sitting on the couch that can be a winter-trap pastime. Modern simulators can occupy a spare room in your house with an 8- to 9-foot ceiling, allowing you to hit real balls, play full courses, and even practice wedges for 20 minutes. It is fun, social and convenient to work into your schedule. - Jay Hubbard, Director of Digital Marketing & E-commerce, Ace Indoor Golf Do Slow Yoga for Calm During the cold season, I love practising slow yoga at home. When it’s too cold to go for long walks, slowing down indoors helps me relax and reset. I combine gentle movement with breathing and short meditation, which makes winter feel calmer rather than restrictive. Adding a warm bath or a cup of spiced cocoa afterward turns it into a small self-care ritual I genuinely look forward to. - Silvija Meilunaite, Nutrition and Wellness Coach, Founder, Barefoot Basil Create a Kitchen Science Adventure When the cold months keep everyone indoors, a mini science lab can turn a regular day into an exciting adventure. Using simple items you likely already have at home, such as vinegar, baking soda, and food coloring, you can explore reactions, colors, and textures with your kids. It’s hands-on, fun, and offers a little magic that keeps children engaged, no matter their age. Start with small experiments like creating a fizzy volcano or mixing colors to make rainbows in cups. Even older kids can get involved by measuring ingredients, taking notes, and observing how one change leads to a different reaction. Setting up trays and aprons makes cleanup easy and keeps the focus on fun and discovery. Slime, layered liquids, or simple chemical reactions can become regular projects throughout the winter, keeping curiosity alive while filling the house with laughter and excitement. Parents often notice that these activities spark conversation, teamwork, and problem-solving skills in a natural way. We’ve seen families embrace these indoor experiments as a way to bring learning to life without needing to brave the cold. It’s simple, affordable, and a fantastic way to connect as a family while encouraging creativity and curiosity at home. - Cory Arsic, Founder, Canadian Parent Practice Tai Chi for Steady Balance One indoor activity I often recommend during the cold season is Tai Chi. I don’t suggest this just because I teach it, but because it played a major role in my own recovery after a serious injury I sustained six months ago. I suffered a triple femur fracture that left my muscles badly compromised and my balance significantly affected. While traditional rehab helped rebuild strength, Tai Chi addressed something just as important: retraining balance, coordination, and the body’s sense of where it is in space. (When muscles have been cut and repaired, balance is often the last thing to return, and Tai Chi is especially effective at restoring that.) From a physical standpoint, Tai Chi is particularly valuable as people get older. It builds strength without strain, improves joint stability, and strengthens the smaller stabilizing muscles that help prevent falls. The movements are slow and controlled, which allows people to work safely while still making real progress. It supports mobility, balance, and confidence in the body over time. From a mental standpoint, Tai Chi includes a mindfulness component that helps people slow down and stay present. Each movement is paired with breath and attention, which can calm the nervous system and reduce ongoing tension. Over time, this combination supports greater emotional steadiness and a sense of balance that extends beyond the practice itself. Many people notice they feel more centered and less reactive in daily life. What makes Tai Chi especially well-suited for winter is how simple it is to practice indoors. It requires very little space and no equipment. A living room or a basement is enough. That removes many of the barriers people face during colder months when outdoor movement or gym access is limited. That said, for the brave, Tai Chi isn’t limited to indoor use. Here in Vermont, I lead a Tai Chi group every Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. that practices outdoors year-round. (The average age of the participants is 70, BTW.) People bundle up, shovel snow if needed, and we’ve practiced together in temperatures as low as six degrees below zero. Tai Chi’s adaptability, indoors or out, is part of what makes it such a sustainable practice regardless of season or the weather. - G. Scott Graham, Business & Career Coach, True Azimuth Coaching Cook from Scratch for Comfort One indoor activity I always recommend during the cold season is cooking or baking something completely from scratch that you normally would not make. It turns a long winter afternoon into a hands on, comforting experience, fills the house with great smells, and gives you a real sense of accomplishment at the end. Bonus points if it becomes a seasonal tradition you look forward to each year. - Christopher Farley, Owner, Flippin’ Awesome Adventures Make Candles for Cozy Aroma One activity I recommend for cold days is candle making. Many want to feel cozy during the winter, and candle making is an excellent way to spend weekends inside. Candles not only bring a cozy esthetic into the home, but also provide aromatherapy benefits. Essential oils like woodland campfire, cozy cottage, or cinnamon vanilla can still give one a sense of outdoors or a delicious scent. They make excellent gifts for friends and family any time of the year, but especially the winter holiday months. - Sienna Eve Benton, Alternative Medicine, Soul Science Build Useful Projects for Tangible Payoff One thing I always recommend doing indoors during the cold months is to pick up a skill that actually results in something you can hold. For me, that means building or repairing something. It keeps the mind active and gives the day a sense of accomplishment, which the cold and darkness steal from us. What I like about this is that it’s a feedback loop. You’re not just passing the time; you’re making or improving something you can actually touch. There’s a certain pleasure in seeing your work come into being, especially when the outdoors offers so little. It’s productive enough to feel like you’re getting things done and relaxing enough to feel like you’re taking a break. And that’s more important in the winter than people realize. - John Ceng, Founder, EZRA Play Chess to Sharpen Strategy Chess is a great activity during winter months to stay active mentally. Chess requires you to think strategically about how to allocate resources and plan ahead. To be successful at chess, you must have a disciplined approach to each move, like you do when managing your finances. Playing competitively and solving tactical problems keep your mind sharp, as winter months can be very slow. By maintaining the cognitive capital through these types of activities, you will gain a great deal in terms of clarity and focus. - Brian Chasin, CFO & co-founder, SOBA New Jersey |