Hi!
Welcome to week four of Rewire to Love.
When you're thinking about how we
Digest the world around us,
There are many ways that we can kind of get in our
Own way.
We can move ourselves away from a heart-space connection or we can also
Kind of boomerang.
You know,
We'll try to throw it out there to someone else or
Put it on someone else even though it comes back to us because it's really our
Stuff to begin with.
One of those areas has to do with shadow work.
You might
Have heard about this before.
It goes all the way back to Carl Jung who's a
Psychoanalyst from a while ago who has a lot of different concepts and theories
But this particular one,
Shadow work,
Has a lot of other language that has come to
Understand the concept around it.
So you might have heard it to be called
Something else as well but this is when we will have a reaction to someone else
But it's really about something within ourselves that we might need to spend
Some time with,
Work through,
Or break apart in a cycle.
Sometimes we're kind of
Aware and sometimes we're not so aware because of the busyness.
We go through
Life very busy and it's not really the way to be living.
The slowing down is
When we get to see,
Understand,
And hear ourselves.
But often sometimes these,
The
Boomerang or the shadow,
It can even be a subconscious thing until we slow down
And recognize and we're like,
Oh okay,
Hold on,
I do that too.
Now I see what's going on
There.
And this boomerang or this shadow part goes two different directions.
What
Will stir us up from someone else?
So say,
I'll just kind of try to stick with a
Theme,
You know,
That I used before last week.
Say,
For example,
Someone is being
Passive-aggressive in their language.
Yes,
There's the boundaries around it,
Right?
Like we have,
We don't want someone,
You know,
To speak to us a certain way,
Especially aggressive communication,
Even passive-aggressive.
But where it sits
Within us and how much it stirs us up or the reaction cycle it might create
Within us is about where we're at in our own healing of those aspects.
So before I
Had mentioned last week that I,
You know,
Used to be a bit more passive-aggressive
In my communication style,
Just what I was used to and what I absorbed growing
Up.
And before,
Back then,
When I was kind of in the cusps of trying to transition
Away from that type of communication style,
It would really stir me up if
Someone else was speaking that way.
Because it was still something within me
That I was working through and needed to be healed.
And I was aware of it,
But
Also not so aware initially of how I was getting this,
This kind of secondary stir
Up,
Where I was getting stirred up by something I was seeing or experiencing
Within someone else or by someone else or in their behaviors or communication
That was impacting me because it was something I also had to be working
Through and working on.
And that can go in a multitude of different directions.
It's when we slow down that we get to understand and see.
It's that mirror
Impact that we can have.
The other,
How I said,
It can kind of go two different
Directions.
The other thing to keep in mind here is when you notice that you
Really admire something within someone else,
Quality,
A strength,
A
Characteristic,
It's the same thing.
You also have that within you.
You know that
Somewhere,
Maybe not consciously,
Kind of how I was talking about the affirmations
And how,
You know,
Start with I am.
Even if you don't believe it to be true right
Now,
Inside your awareness of self,
It knows it to be true.
Even if up here is
Trying to tell you something totally different.
So when you are noticing that
You really admire a quality or characteristic in someone else,
That is
Also something within yourself.
So the things that stir you,
Slowing down,
Hmm,
Do
I notice that within me?
What's that about within me that's really kind of
Activating me or really making me experience something here in this moment?
And that's when we get to understand ourselves.
Otherwise,
We'll throw those
Daggers.
The pointer is ego.
If I didn't mention that last week,
The pointer is
Ego.
So if we're pointing,
Pointing,
Pointing,
You,
You,
You,
Just slow down and see
What's going on here.
It's all under that judgment category,
If you think about it.
Judging the other person or we're avoiding inner awareness and instead
Judging ourselves,
Which creates avoidance of looking within.
Oftentimes,
We avoid the awareness or looking within because it's difficult.
It's not always
Easy.
It's where the growth happens.
It's where the work happens.
But,
You know,
It's
Really easy to sometimes put it somewhere else initially until you get
To really experience,
Which we're,
You know,
In week four,
You're priority
Experiencing what it feels like in the heart to really start embracing your
Heart.
The other area to open up some awareness around in terms of judgment,
This is about our connection to our own worth and value.
So this is how we kind
Of judge ourselves and where we hold our worth and value.
And this goes in the
Category of self-sabotage.
We can get into auto patterns and cycles that we
Will actually sabotage our own happiness.
We will sabotage our joy,
Even sabotage
Love,
And we can do it in some kind of calculated ways towards ourselves.
I know,
Right?
We can be so confusing.
Sometimes people will sign themselves up for a
Course or exercise class or something like that.
And they'll get even in it for
A bit and then they won't complete it.
And sometimes people will not complete
It all the way up to like they'll have like two classes left and they will not
Finish it.
And they'll notice that they keep doing this.
They keep like repeating
That pattern but doesn't slow down enough to notice like,
Oh wait,
What am I
Denying myself here?
I'm gonna give a couple other examples and I'll expand on
That.
Another example would be,
Which is really common for a lot of people,
We
Won't clean our house.
I mean,
We'll clean our house,
But like clean,
Clean our
House until someone's coming over.
And then suddenly,
You know,
You do like some
Magazine shots in your house,
Like it's the cleanest,
Cleanest ever.
And we live
In the house every day.
Yeah,
So you know,
Things get cluttered and things like
That.
But just the everyday keeping our house clean makes us feel good too.
It's
Not just making a visitor feel good.
We feel good when it's done,
But we kind of
Deny ourselves that.
We don't let ourselves do or create the space or
Environment that's going to make us feel good in our every day.
It's even when
People are going to sell their home,
They'll do the projects that they were
Waiting on forever.
And then they sell their home for the next person to enjoy
All the things they had on their list for a long time.
And these ways that we
Can deny ourselves our own worth and value,
Because those things will also
Feel good to us.
But we just don't hold ourselves to the same same caliber,
Like
The same level of worth and value.
And again,
It comes even to that happiness,
The joy or the love.
And sometimes that has to do with the worth and value and
Also the fear element that can come in there.
People at times will fear joy and
Happiness because it's with,
As with all emotions,
It's impermanent.
All emotions
Are impermanent,
Including joy and happiness.
But people will almost get a
Bit of attachment to joy and happiness,
Like they want that to be their baseline.
It's an emotion that's going to fluctuate.
It's going to come and it's
Going to go.
And so there's fear around the experience of it because,
Well,
What
Happens when it goes?
You know,
Then what?
Then I'm gonna be sad or I'm gonna be
Anxious again.
So they will,
Again,
Sometimes consciously,
Sometimes it's
Subconscious stuff until we work through it,
But get in their own way of
Experiencing joy and happiness as well as love.
We talked last,
Or I shared last
Week about love languages.
Also love,
We can sabotage ourselves in love due to
Fear.
And sometimes that might be fear of what we've experienced in love or fear
Of how we learned what love looked like.
Maybe not even about how we were loved,
Maybe just how we witnessed love being.
And so we kind of get like walls up
Around there.
And it can come in then to self-sabotage,
Where we'll get in our own
Way,
We'll create obstacles,
Or like we go into this joy and happiness and love
With like a sledgehammer instead of,
You know,
A warm embrace.
Self-sabotage,
Where
Do you potentially get in your own way of emotions that you want to experience,
Life that you want to experience,
Goals that you want to complete,
And then the
Ways that maybe,
You know,
You can slow down and notice that will allow you then
To rework and do a different system.
We have to see before we can change.
One
Other area to point out or be aware of is environment.
Think of the environment
That you absorb.
And the environment you absorb would include things like your
Space,
Kind of how I said a little bit ago about cleanliness,
Clutter,
How we
Keep our environment impacts how we feel.
How you wake up and what you look at
First thing is going to impact how you're going to want to move forward in
The day.
So thinking about the environment around you in terms of what
You're absorbing in your space,
Also what you're absorbing in the information that
You're bringing in to your mind.
Are you watching a bunch of news?
What kind of
Music even are you listening to?
You can even use that opposite to emotion.
Music
Is a great tool there.
If you're feeling sad,
Sadness is a great emotion.
All
Emotions are important and it's important to experience and feel those
Emotions.
But for regulation,
You might not want to go in for hours and listen
To sad songs unless you're wanting to really kind of embrace,
Which again,
Super
Important to embrace our sadness.
But if you're wanting to balance a bit,
You
Might listen to a different type of music.
Or if you're listening to rage
Music and you're already feeling like all pumped up and angry,
Well,
It might,
You know,
Get you going.
If you're starting and ending your day with the
News,
Think about it.
So think about the environment,
What you're absorbing,
And that goes like with so many different areas.
I'm trying,
As you're
Probably getting to know me a bit through this,
I'm really trying to stay
Focused.
There's just so much I want to share with you guys,
But I just have to
Piece it out.
Because,
You know,
Environment and even with our heart
Space has to do with like the food we bring in to our body,
How we're
Digesting,
All that stuff.
So think about your environment.
I won't go off on a
Tangent there,
But just think about your environment.
Think about what you're
Absorbing through your environment,
How it looks.
Is it cluttered?
Is it clean?
Are
You presenting yourself and your space like you would for someone you love?
Remember,
You love yourself and the people that you keep around you.
It's
Another thing about your environment.
We absorb,
And I won't go,
See,
I'm about to
Go on another side tangent here.
I won't.
But we,
It impacts us,
The company that we
Keep around us.
Just keep in mind how it can impact you personally and the time
And space you keep around you and what that means in terms of your own heart
Space,
Your own mental health,
And your own well-being.
Which leads me to the
Next tool,
And that is your felt sense.
We've been exploring and understanding
And learning about the ways that we might be judging ourselves or judging
Others,
The ego versus the soul.
And our soul,
Our body,
Our being,
Our intuition,
And we're vibrational beings,
We absorb.
But it guides us in this felt sense.
The
More we pay attention to it and we recognize it,
The more it can also be our
Guide.
Your felt sense can feel like a lot of different things.
It can feel like
Warmth when something is really feeling connected to you.
It could feel like even
The bit of butterfly and excitability.
But you also want to be cautious about
Butterflies,
Kind of,
You know,
In that love part.
Sometimes butterflies can mean,
Let's see,
It's a whole nother topic.
But sometimes butterflies in our connection
With others can mean more actually about trauma bonding and bonding through an
Experience of anxiety.
And it's not about like,
Oh,
I've got butterflies.
And
It can be,
That can be confusing for people too.
This felt sense,
It could feel
Like the butterflies,
But notice what the butterflies mean for you.
Sometimes
Butterflies can be about something we're excited about,
Anxiety about something of
Excitement.
It was like a music event,
You were gonna go see one of your favorite
Artists,
Or you were going to go to an art museum,
Or you're going to go see a
Friend you haven't seen in a long time.
And that can give us butterflies,
Excitable energy.
But maybe also you notice anytime you go around someone,
It
Feels similar to butterflies,
But it's more of like a gut anxious feeling of
Discomfort underneath,
Or how I said slowing down and noticing how you feel
When you hear certain things,
You might notice that when you slow down,
When
You're watching the news,
And you notice how you feel that there's like a trickle
Effect that you feel a little bit anxious or short,
More frustration.
And
That might come in as muscle tension,
Even in your shoulders or your neck,
But
Also internal.
So you might notice just like a different feeling around your
Heart space,
Felt sense is a little different for each person.
And the more
You sit in a bit of stillness and awareness with yourself,
You're going to
Get to tune in and and see and feel what it is for you.
For example,
In those
Environmental things I talked about,
You can start to pay attention to how you
Feel inside when you slow down and hear if you hear someone who is judging
Someone else absorb it,
Observe it,
Notice it,
The non verbals,
The energy,
The
Experience way it impacts the receiver and see how that feels for you.
Change
And awareness can be challenging not only in the process,
But also it elevates
Our feeling.
The more we become aware of judgment,
The more the awareness expands
Beyond self.
And it can feel a little prickly for a bit.
And sometimes it also
Means establishing deeper boundaries and even changing dynamics of relationships.
And I understand completely personally,
But also as a therapist,
How challenging
That can be.
The more we tap in,
The more we notice our felt sense,
It can guide us
More in to what is in alignment with our genuine self.
And that lets us create
Something new.
The last thing I will say is about the book ends of your day.
Think
About creating bookends of your day that create balance and connection to your
Heart.
A very simple practice,
Something I mentioned last week,
Is just bookending
With gratitude.
Doing it for more than a minute.
Thinking about,
I know this might
Sound like a lot,
But the 30 minutes of thinking about the bookends of your day,
How you start and how you end the day,
And designing that in a way that is a
Balance,
Self care and self love that is filled with compassion and heart space
Energy.
Starting your day with gratitude and excitement and appreciation for the
Day ahead of you,
Even if it's busy and maybe full of things that can be a
Little overwhelming.
Trying to start with gratitude,
Trying not to watch the news
Right as you open your eyes or jump right on to social media.
And same with
The end of your day.
I know I sound strange when I say this to many,
But
Trying to fall asleep and having at least 30 minutes before you go to bed
With no TV,
No music,
Just silence.
If you have to read,
Maybe reading,
I would
Encourage maybe journaling instead.
Because even reading,
It's getting our
Mind busy.
And we want to be slowing down.
So bookends of your day.
And again,
Try to incorporate and keep building the tools that you have that you've been
Building.
Know that you want to be embracing yourself with lots of love,
Kindness and compassion so that you can more move forward into that space with
Yourself.
Because change and awareness is not always easy.
The more we become
Aware of judgment,
The more challenging it can be initially until we start
Reworking that hamster wheel like we've been doing.
Thank you so much for being
Part of this process with me.
And in the process,
I hope that you are finding
Much more connection to your heart space,
Which will allow it to go out to
The collective and help all change into wellness.
Thank you,
My friends.
I will
See you again soon.