Faith and the Empire of Happiness “When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” - Lao Tzu

The sacred has been repurposed to serve the economy. substack.com/home/post/p-...

How to Deal with and Respond to Microaggressions Tips to increase your awareness and compassion when dealing with microaggressions "I don't see color." "You look so exotic!" "You don't act gay." These are examples of microaggressions. Microaggressio...

I was contacted by wikiHow to coauthor some articles. Here is one on the impact of microagressions and how to respond. www.wikihow.com/Microaggress...

Yellowstone is basically Brokeback Mountain with emotional repression. #yellowstone #review #toxicmasculinity #loveislove TikTok video by Dr. Thomas Tijerina

Yellowstone is the best gay romance on television. Prove me wrong. www.tiktok.com/t/ZThvPXFx6/

The Making of Me Transformative People, Places, Things

New post about transformative things! thomastijerina.substack.com/p/the-making...

Dr. Thomas Tijerina (@thotij) Therapy helped me but empire also taught me to measure my worth by output. I don’t think I really want progress because I’d rather have peace. I don’t want to perform anymore. I now prefer belonging. ...

Therapy helped me but empire also taught me to measure my worth by output. I don’t think I really want progress because I’d rather have peace. I don’t want to perform anymore. I now prefer belonging.

Trauma, Healing, and the Decolonial Mind “Trauma decontextualized in a person looks like personality.

New post is up. If you’re carrying something heavy, you’re not alone. If you’re healing, that’s resistance. #Healing #Wellness #Decolonize

The Fall That Becomes a Beginning “Transformation more often happens not when something new begins, but when something old falls apart.”

Sometimes transformation starts when something old falls apart. Sobriety has been that for me. It has basically been a quiet beginning I didn’t expect. #writing #booksky substack.com/home/post/p-...

The Economics of Enough Capitalism teaches us that happiness grows with acquisition, but the nervous system knows better.

Capitalism teaches us that happiness grows with more. The body knows it grows through rhythm, rest, and relationship. This piece is about enough and what becomes possible when we stop trying to buy our way to wellness. #writingsky substack.com/home/post/p-...

A lot of people are exhausted while doing everything right. #mentalhealth #wellness YouTube video by Dr. Thomas Tijerina

In the process of condensing my manuscript. Meanwhile I am heading back to Youtube to release content from my original manuscript, one short video at a time. Take a look if healing and liberation under empire interests you. #Wellness #MentalHealth #AcademicSky

Buffalo Traffic Jam - Fool's Gold (The Bonfire Sessions) YouTube video by The Sticks Music

Today's jam! www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-vG... #newmusic #musicsky

All Flourishing Is Mutual A Decolonial Approach to Wellness

The wellness industry sells escape. Most of us are longing for connection. In this essay, I write about collective care, the economics of enough, and what it means to build wellness that liberates rather than exhausts.

The Wellness Industry: Colonialism in Disguise? “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

The wellness industry tells us we’re tired because we’re not trying hard enough but many of us are exhausted because the systems around us are exhausting. When healing becomes a product, rest becomes performance, and calm gets sold back to us at a markup. I wrote about this here. #Wellness #Health

Intellect does not heal trauma.

Colonialism and the Bodymind If the brain learns through experience, then history lives in our nervous systems.

Colonialism trained nervous systems. Fear, vigilance, silence, and muscular tension are learned adaptations to power. History lives in the body. To decolonize the bodymind is to teach the nervous system that safety is possible again. #writing substack.com/home/post/p-...

Some days I don’t want to run, lift, write, meditate, or teach. Some days I feel like I’m made of fatigue and grief. But discipline reminds me that movement is medicine, community is medicine, presence is medicine. Keep showing up gently.

Your ancestors didn’t survive colonization for you to numb yourself to death. Healing is not an aesthetic, it’s a responsibility. Every moment you choose presence over escape, you honor people who never had that choice.

Most people aren’t burned out. They’re spiritually underfed.They’ve been living on noise, distraction, and survival mode. I see it every day in the gym, the classroom, and the people I love.

Slow down. Breathe. Your spirit is starving for something quieter than hustle culture.

a man wearing glasses and a hawaiian shirt says `` see , nobody cares '' ALT: a man wearing glasses and a hawaiian shirt says `` see , nobody cares ''

In solidarity with Notre Dame, I decided I will boycott and not watch any bowl games.

Applying Positive Psychology to Daily Liberation The principles of positive psychology become most alive when they leave the classroom and enter ordinary life.

What happens when ideas like gratitude, flow, and resilience move off the page and into real life?

Lifehack: Seriously, when you see a post in all caps, you can just assume it's stupid.

The Roots of Positive Psychology Psychology did not begin as the study of flourishing.

Positive psychology measures happiness.Liberation asks who has access to it. Without history and context, even the science of joy can mistake privilege for wellness. #writing #writer substack.com/home/post/p-...

Progress belongs to those who begin, stumble, and begin again.

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

We often talk about health as a matter of willpower, discipline, or individual choice. But sociology reveals something far more important: health is shaped by the conditions we live in long before it ... TikTok video by Dr. Thomas Tijerina

A ZIP code shouldn’t predict a person’s lifespan but it does. #Health #Wellness www.tiktok.com/t/ZTrNMfdbA/

500 days of sobriety flew by fast! Didn't expect that.

Truth! What they’re defending is racial hierarchy, not national borders.

A compass that spins for convenience was never meant to point toward justice.

Every era of U.S. history used “order” as cover for racial exclusion. Wonder who is next?

Healing is not becoming a different person. It’s remembering who you were before the world colonized you.

Colonialism and the Invention of Modern Happiness When European philosophers of the Enlightenment began to speak of happiness, they turned it into proof of progress.

Ever notice how happiness feels like work? Like something you have to earn? That’s because colonialism claimed our definitions of joy. Here’s me beginning to unpack that. #writing #writer #blog #substack