Dr. Christine Hoch LLC

12/07/2025

Hit full screen and turn the sound on. Enjoy!

12/01/2025

THE POWER OF THE HUMMINGBIRD MEDICINE 🕊💗✨
Sometimes we move through life wondering if our efforts truly matter…
If the love we give, the beauty we create, or the prayers we offer actually make a difference.
But then I remember the story of the Heart of the Hummingbird —
the tiny being who pours its whole essence into life with pure devotion.
The Hummingbird doesn’t question its purpose.
It simply follows joy, and in doing so it pollinates thousands of flowers,
weaving entire ecosystems together through its presence alone.
I always ask myself:
What are my most joyful offerings?
What are the needs of my community and family?
Then I connect the dots… and I serve from that place of truth.
This is the quiet truth of Hummingbird Medicine:
✨ Even the smallest acts of love have a ripple.
✨ Your joy is not frivolous — it is holy.
✨ Your purpose unfolds when you follow what lights your heart.
✨ Beauty is created by simply being who you are.
If Hummingbird teaches us anything, it is this:
Live in your joy, and you will make a difference.
Your light touches more than you will ever know.
Your presence is medicine.
You matter — more than words can say.

Art & words by Amma Sophia Rose 🌹

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving! 🍗

11/27/2025

Here’s one I’ve read- take a 👀

There is a way certain books come into your life quietly, almost like they were waiting for the right moment to speak. The Untethered Soul reached me that way, arriving at a time when my heart felt full yet unsettled. The gentle rhythm of Peter Berkrot’s narration, carrying Michael A. Singer’s calm wisdom, drew me in with a softness that felt like someone opening a window in a stuffy room. As I listened, it was as if the author himself was sitting with me, guiding me page by page into the deeper layers of myself. The insights came with a kind of simplicity that pierces through noise, and the lessons stayed with me long after each chapter ended. Here are seven lessons that shaped me deeply, formed from the richness of the author’s words and the tenderness of the audiobook experience,

1. The voice in my head is not “me”, it is simply a constant commentator. Listening to Singer explain this in that calm storytelling tone made me realize how many years I had spent identifying with mental chatter that was never truly mine. The book teaches that real freedom begins the moment I step back as the observer, watching thoughts come and go without wrestling with every word they bring. That shift, from being the voice to witnessing the voice, is the foundation of inner peace.

2. My heart is designed to stay open, not to shut down whenever something triggers me. The narration made this lesson feel almost like a gentle warning and an invitation at the same time. Singer explains that every time I close my heart because of pain or discomfort, I trap that energy inside me. But when I allow experiences to flow through without resistance, my heart becomes a place of openness and joy. I learned that openness is not weakness, it is spiritual strength.

3. Letting go is not a dramatic event, it is a daily practice. Singer says the way to freedom is to relax into life instead of gripping everything tightly. Hearing this in the audiobook gave it a soothing effect, almost like someone whispering a reminder whenever I felt tension rise. I learned that letting go means releasing old patterns, surrendering emotional blockages, and allowing life to unfold without forcing my own version of how things should be.

4. My inner energy flows naturally when I stop resisting life. Singer uses simple examples to explain how emotional energy gets stuck, and the narrator’s pacing made the lesson feel like meditation. When something bothers me, I can feel where the energy locks up inside. The book teaches me to breathe, relax, and let that blocked energy pass through, creating space for clarity and lightness. This one lesson alone has changed the way I experience difficult moments.

5. True freedom comes from challenging the part of me that constantly seeks comfort and avoids discomfort. Singer calls this the “fear-based self”, the one that builds walls around every aspect of life. Listening to the audiobook, I could almost hear the compassion behind the words as he explained that growth happens when I stop protecting myself and start living fully. I learned that living freely means stepping beyond the edges of my comfort zone and refusing to shrink because of fear.

6. Life is always unfolding perfectly and the problem is not life, it is my resistance to it. This lesson touched me deeply because of how gently it was delivered in the narration. Singer’s message is that peace comes when I let go of the constant need to control everything. Life presents experiences so I can grow and expand, and the more I fight them, the more I suffer. I learned to trust the flow of life with a calmer heart, understanding that every moment carries a spiritual opportunity.

7. My highest self is the one that watches, not the one that reacts. Throughout the audiobook, Singer repeatedly returns to the concept of the inner witness. It became clear to me that freedom is not about changing the world outside but about awakening the awareness within. The more I stay in the seat of the observer, the less I get entangled in emotions, drama, and mental storms. This awareness is where clarity, peace, and true spiritual strength live.

Book/Audiobook: https://amzn.to/4p91CHg

You can access the audiobook when you register on the Audible platform using the l!nk above.

11/24/2025

🙏🏻

Some books arrive in my life like a gentle tap on the shoulder, not loud, not dramatic, but with a quiet insistence that there is something inside them I need to hear. That was exactly how Be Water, My Friend found me. The title alone whispered a kind of softness and strength that I felt drawn to, and once I pressed play on the audiobook, Shannon Lee’s voice carried me straight into the heart of Bruce Lee’s philosophy. Her tone has this calm and intimate clarity, as though she is guiding you through her father’s teachings while letting you feel their weight and simplicity. The experience became more than a listen, it became a form of quiet training. Below are the seven lessons that stayed with me the most, each shaped by Shannon’s soothing yet powerful narration and by the depth of Bruce Lee’s wisdom.

1. The idea of being like water is not just a metaphor, it is a lifestyle of adaptability, openness, and transformation. Water takes the shape of whatever holds it, yet it never loses its essence, and Shannon explains this in a way that makes it feel deeply practical. Listening to her, I realized that rigidity is where suffering begins, while fluidity allows me to respond to life rather than react. The emphasis on being water is really about choosing presence over resistance, movement over stubbornness, and awareness over ego.

2. Shannon’s narration highlights how her father believed that self knowledge is the strongest form of power. Not the type that makes one boast, but the type that helps one stand firm, clear, and grounded. Bruce Lee saw inner work as the true arena of mastery, and hearing Shannon unpack his journals, notes, and private reflections made the point even sharper for me. When I understand myself, my intentions, my fears, and my desires, I become less easily thrown off by the world around me. Self knowledge becomes a stabilizer.

3. I learned that discipline is not punishment, it is alignment with what matters most. Shannon uses her father’s training practices and mental routines to show how discipline becomes a form of love for one’s growth. The audiobook helped me see discipline differently, not as strict rules but as conscious choices that support my long term goals. Bruce Lee trained his mind just as intensely as his body, and that balance is a reminder that true discipline is holistic, meaningful, and purposeful.

4. One lesson that truly resonated with me is that letting go is not weakness, it is wisdom. Shannon’s voice carries a certain softness when she talks about her father’s understanding of release, whether it is releasing tension, outdated beliefs, or stories we cling to. Water never struggles to leave past places, it simply flows on. The teaching helped me realize that holding onto what no longer fits me only slows down my journey, while letting go allows space for something new to enter.

5. Shannon beautifully explains that mastery comes from continuous practice, not from the desire to prove oneself. Bruce Lee believed in constant refinement, simple movements perfected over time, and small improvements that accumulate into excellence. Hearing Shannon share this from her family history made it feel intimate, almost like a father whispering reminders through his daughter’s voice. The lesson for me is that growth requires curiosity, patience, and willingness to fail forward.

6. I felt deeply moved by the emphasis on honesty, both with oneself and others. Bruce Lee saw authenticity as the truest expression of human freedom. In the narration, Shannon shares how her father refused to live in contradiction, preferring instead to align his inner truth with his outer actions. This pushed me to see how many times I shrink, pretend, or hesitate. The teaching encouraged me to show up as myself, without unnecessary masks, without bending to please or impress.

7. The final lesson is the importance of expressing one’s unique potential without comparing it to anyone else. Shannon explains how her father insisted that each person must not imitate, but create, not copy, but originate. Listening to her emphasize this made me feel personally invited to honor my individuality. Bruce Lee’s life was a testimony to the courage to break molds, challenge norms, and trust one’s path. This lesson opened my eyes to the fact that my growth is not measured by another person’s journey, only by my willingness to keep unfolding into myself.

Book/Audiobook: https://amzn.to/4prinNm

You can access the audiobook when you register on the Audible platform using the l!nk above.

11/23/2025

🙏🏻 Thank you

11/22/2025

It’s like he’s reading my mind, he just said it out loud. Thank you Dr. Raymond Nichols for this post. I share it now because I agree and this describes me and my practice…though I also use Acupuncture.

11/18/2025

When I find good videos, I just have to share

11/16/2025

Book…list…getting…super…long.
But why not read instead of the dozens of things we do that take up time and do not engage our minds or warm our souls? We have so much to learn about ourselves.

My life didn't explode. It just quietly came undone, thread by thread, until one morning I woke up and didn't recognize anything—not my marriage, not my body, not the person staring back at me in the mirror. The panic attacks started coming in waves. I'd be grocery shopping and suddenly couldn't breathe, couldn't remember why I was there, couldn't understand how everyone else was just buying milk like the world wasn't ending. I tried everything. Therapy. Meditation apps. Self-help books that promised I could think my way out of suffering. I kept waiting to feel like myself again, kept believing that if I just tried hard enough, I could put all the pieces back together the way they used to be.

Then someone handed me this book—Pema Chödrön's "When Things Fall Apart", narrated by Cassandra Campbell with such tenderness it felt like being wrapped in a blanket—and I almost didn't read. Another book about acceptance when what I needed was someone to make the pain stop. But I was desperate enough, broken enough, to press play. And Pema said something that made me pull over and cry: we spend our lives running from the very feelings that could set us free. She wasn't going to teach me how to stop falling apart. She was going to teach me how to fall apart beautifully.

1. The Groundlessness Is the Ground
We're all trying to stand on something solid—a relationship, a job, a version of ourselves that makes sense. But Pema reveals the truth we're terrified of: there is no solid ground. Everything changes. Everything ends. And our suffering comes not from the groundlessness itself but from our desperate, exhausting attempt to find stability in a world that refuses to stay still. What if the falling itself is where we learn to fly? What if we stopped trying to land and just let ourselves free-fall into the truth of this moment?

2. Your Broken Heart Is Your Superpower
This destroyed me: moving toward painful situations and becoming intimate with them can open up our hearts in ways we never imagined. Every instinct screams to armor up, to protect, to never feel this vulnerable again. But Pema shows how those walls don't just keep pain out—they keep love out, keep connection out, keep every beautiful thing out. Our broken-open hearts aren't weakness. They're the crack where the light gets in. She teaches us to stop treating our pain like an enemy and start treating it like a teacher.

3. Breathe In the Suffering You're Running From
She introduces Tonglen—a practice where you breathe in your own suffering and breathe out compassion. It sounds impossible, even cruel. Why would you deliberately inhale pain? But something miraculous happens when you stop fighting your fear and instead breathe it in, feel it fully, let it move through you. The monster you've been running from becomes smaller, softer, almost manageable. You discover you're strong enough to hold your own pain. And then you can hold someone else's too.

4. You Were Never Broken
The most revolutionary thing Pema offers: there is fundamental happiness readily available to each one of us, right now, no matter how shattered we feel. Not happiness we have to earn or fix ourselves enough to deserve—happiness that exists underneath all the chaos, waiting. She's not asking us to be positive or perfect or healed. She's asking us to stop treating ourselves like problems and start treating ourselves with the same tenderness we'd offer anyone else who's suffering this much. What if you're not broken at all? What if you're just finally, beautifully, terrifyingly awake?

I've listened to this audiobook four times now. Each time it finds me differently—meets me in whatever new way I'm breaking and says "yes, this too." Cassandra Campbell's narration makes Pema's wisdom feel like someone sitting beside you in the dark, not rushing you to feel better, just breathing with you while you fall apart. The audiobook has become a companion for my worst days, the voice I return to when I forget that groundlessness isn't death—it's freedom.

This book won't fix you. It will teach you that maybe you never needed fixing. That falling apart isn't failure—it's the beginning of becoming whole in a way you never imagined possible. That your pain has purpose. That your fear is a doorway. That groundlessness can become the most solid thing you've ever stood on.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/3K7k0kl
You can find and listen to the audiobook narration using the link above.

11/09/2025

Ok. My reading list is getting longer

One afternoon I caught myself rehearsing arguments in my head before they even happened, prepping defensiveness like armor. That’s when this book landed in my hands, and it felt like a mirror held up not just to my thinking, but to my ego. Mark Epstein doesn’t promise a quick fix; he invites you to grow out of your old self-centered patterns and step into something calmer, more open, more real.

Epstein, a psychiatrist and Buddhist practitioner, blends Western psychotherapy with the timeless wisdom of Eastern traditions. The result is neither preachy nor purely academic, it’s accessible, personal, and challenging in the best way. He uses the Buddhist Eightfold Path as his structural spine but fills each chapter with stories of real people, real struggle, and real possibility.

Key Lessons from Advice Not Given:

1. The ego isn’t just the problem, it’s a mechanism that needs guidance.
Epstein writes, “Our ego is at once our biggest obstacle and our greatest hope.” He argues that the goal isn’t to annihilate the ego, but to change our relationship with it—to shift from being driven by it, to being aware of it.

2. The Eightfold Path isn’t spiritual fluff, it’s practical therapy.
The book lays out each pillar, Right View, Right Motivation, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration and shows how they translate into everyday life. For example: “Right Speech” applies to the internal dialogue you carry about yourself, not just how you talk to others.

3. Mindfulness isn’t about being always peaceful, it’s about seeing what’s going on.
Epstein challenges the myth that meditation is purely for calm. Instead, he emphasizes awareness, recognizing the messy, noisy, ego-driven thoughts and making choices in relation to them.

4. Letting go doesn’t mean giving up, it means loosening control.
By accepting impermanence and uncertainty, we stop barricading ourselves against life. “Letting go even when you know you’re right,” Epstein says, is part of the path.

5. Healing isn’t about fixing you, it’s about freeing your attention.
Instead of simply eliminating problems, Epstein focuses on freeing us from being obsessed with ourselves. The shift is from self-improvement to self-awareness.

Advice Not Given doesn’t tell you what to do, as much as how to see. And once you see differently, see your ego, see your habits, see your internal conversations, change becomes less about effort and more about attention. If you’ve ever felt stuck in your thinking, or trapped by your own mind’s noise, this is a guide not just to better living, but to freer living.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/3XbVukT

Enjoy the audio book with FREE trial using the link above. Use the link to register on audible and start enjoying!

11/07/2025

Watch this: https://youtu.be/0oJvVMdXT8U?feature=shared

11/06/2025

Come get connected.