tag:dyslexicselfesteem.com,2005:/blogs/come-home-to-your-true-self
Come Home To Your True Self
2021-04-10T11:24:47-07:00
Dyslexic Self Esteem
false
tag:dyslexicselfesteem.com,2005:Post/6600306
2021-04-10T11:23:36-07:00
2021-04-10T11:24:47-07:00
Shaman's Stone
<p><strong>Shaman’s Stone </strong><br><strong>by Kathleen Dunbar </strong></p>
<p>At the heart of your experience is You. <br>And though your Essence may not be weighed, <br>is not palpable or seen, <br>that Mystery makes you all the more Sacred. <br>Seek for yourself, and love the seeking. <br>Hold what is unholdable. <br>Feel more than you think you can bear. <br>Love everything. <br>Work and play <br>and do the dishes and pray and sing. <br>The empty hole at the center of the shaman's stone <br>tells you everything you need to know. <br>Everything you do <br>points you home. </p>
<p>© Kathleen Dunbar 2020</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/502702/bd23226d415e3ca3757bc65d73218fce0e14e9b7/original/9ae9879f-6b08-4cf2-8309-477a0be269ed-4-5005-c.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpeg" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="" /></p>
Dyslexic Self Esteem
tag:dyslexicselfesteem.com,2005:Post/6596257
2021-04-06T17:22:53-07:00
2021-04-06T17:25:29-07:00
Dogs Don't Care
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/502702/ce1b72dcbfb1977086c387ffee92421c48234740/original/98f4cf04-685e-46e2-876f-55d3cf6d9cf0.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p><strong>Dogs Don’t Care</strong></p>
<p>Dogs as a whole <br>don't care what they look like <br>(except perhaps for poodles). <br>Let yourself find that dignity <br>and freedom <br>that creatures know <br>—let the sense of you being you <br>in the moment <br>just as you are <br>become a little fuller. <br>Your body will thank you <br>(it already knows how <br>and will be glad you listened). <br>Your heart will <br>relax—finally! <br>The miracle is You— <br>beauteous, unique, <br>sometimes with fleas, <br>alive and <em>here</em>. <br>Don’t let the thoughts <br>that compare and criticize you <br>be the only show in town. <br>They never took into account <br>the mystery that is you. <br>Be as dog, or horse, <br>mouse <br>or walrus— <br>trust yourself <br>howl wildly, run, snort <br>play and growl <br>taste and smell <br>sing and dance <br>and most of all be here. <br>The body that you were given <br>is exquisite. <br>Your mind is a gem <br>unique unto itself. <br>Your heart is waiting for you <br>to love yourself. <br>You are amazing. </p>
<p>© Kathleen Dunbar 2020</p>
Dyslexic Self Esteem
tag:dyslexicselfesteem.com,2005:Post/6543879
2021-02-08T16:00:00-08:00
2021-02-09T10:50:33-08:00
Accepting Yourself—You Are A Gem!
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/502702/b9237a20ab9ec37e18c41a505b0603650b915578/original/3a79552d-825b-4c11-a9b3-2aff3489c3f6-1-201-a.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpeg" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="" style="margin-right: 30px;" />"When you love you fall under the waves, <br>if you never fall you can never be saved— <br>sometimes it’s grace, sometimes luck <br>when a hand reaches out and you take it up." <br>—Kathleen Dunbar, from my album <a contents="The Storm in Our Head" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://kathleendunbar.bandcamp.com/track/the-storm-in-our-head" target="_blank">The Storm in Our Head</a> </strong></p>
<p>There is a wonderful therapist who was a leader in his field many years ago named Carl Rogers. When he was a boy he grew up on a farm. All winter the potatoes lay in bins in the cold basement, and there was only a small window far up on the wall in that basement. He was fascinated that even though the potatoes were given so little nourishment, that they nevertheless sprouted and sent their long tendrils upwards towards the light. He believed that the thirst for life in people is the same, that there is an inherent wholeness that seeks to grow and express itself. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>“From the acorn, the mighty oak tree grows.” —Folk Saying</strong> </p>
<p>They might begin small, but seeds are powerful and grow into great things, the things they were always destined to be. When a client first arrives for sessions, I let them know I hear their greatest ache, and understand their greatest longing, and through the somatic work I do I give them an experience of their longing being met so that they can walk out the door with more of a sense of who they truly are. Then we continue to build on that. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change." —Carl Rogers </strong></p>
<p>People want to know how they can “fix themselves” and often have a whole gallery of internal critics telling them what is wrong with them. The problem with critics is that they are so toxic that they stop any growth. Our critics and “voices” miss the main point, that just as we are, we are a gem. As we grow to realize and accept our own unique and valuable nature, and that we are precious just as we are, then we become freer to express, learn, grow and thrive. When we recognize the amazing seed of our unique nature, then we can care for ourselves, and help ourselves to grow into our full expression. </p>
<p>The following are our <em><strong>birthrights.</strong></em> Which ones speak most potently to you? Likely you may find yourself believing the opposite. For example, you may have learned to believe that you have to do everything yourself, and you took on this belief because of experiences growing up where exactly that was the case. But if you sit quietly and go all the way under the belief, you will find a longing for just the opposite—that you don’t have to do it alone, that it’s okay to need. And—you made it this far! <em><strong>It’s your time now, your season right now</strong></em>—and just as you learned the limiting belief, you can learn to return to your birthright belief and experience. It may take a therapist or mentor or new community, and it will take some work on your part to let go of the old voices and the old belief, but <em><strong>you can learn to reach out, and you will be able to learn who are the very people who will reach back and give you a hand up.</strong></em> Healing and growth are possible! </p>
<p>So tell your critic to take ten steps back for two minutes, and then take a look at the following from your sense of longing. That longing is key. <strong>Longing <em>is </em>the seed of you calling out.</strong> It is a direct line into your essential nature. Your amazing self is awaiting you. Yeah you! </p>
<ul> <li><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/502702/e27e94a12167f116bd323121c9c6bb0246876dc7/original/369f4b00-dbda-4f47-b882-8c44eeca9617-1-201-a.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpeg" class="size_m justify_right border_none" alt="" />You matter. </li> <li>You are loveable. </li> <li>You are welcome—there is a place for you. </li> <li>All your feelings are natural. </li> <li>It is possible to be safe. </li> <li>It’s okay to be powerful. </li> <li>It’s okay to have needs, and it’s possible to find others who will meet them. </li> <li>It’s okay to ask for help. </li> <li>You don’t have to be alone—there are others who will help. </li> <li>You can learn to ask. </li> <li>It’s okay to be real. </li> <li>Being vulnerable and authentic is a strength others will appreciate. </li> <li>You can say no and do it your way, and you’ll still be loved. </li> <li>There’s nothing you have to do to be loved—you are already loveable just as you are. </li> <li>There are people who will be willing to see you and hear you. </li> <li>You are a gem!</li>
</ul>
Dyslexic Self Esteem
tag:dyslexicselfesteem.com,2005:Post/6535757
2021-01-31T12:18:35-08:00
2021-01-31T12:20:51-08:00
Take-Anywhere, Awesome Reset Practice
<p><span style="color:#330099;"><span class="font_large"><strong>The Body says: <br>I am a fiesta. </strong></span><br><strong>—<span class="font_regular">Eduardo Galeano </span></strong></span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Here's an easy practice to press your reset button. It quickly gets your brain and body producing harmony-hormones instead of stress-hormones. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><span style="color:#330099;"><strong>Take-Anywhere, Awesome Reset Practice: </strong></span></span></p>
<ul> <li><span class="font_regular">Big stretch </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular">Yawn </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular">Sigh out loud with a sound, Ahhh </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular">Follow the warmth, release, flow </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular">Three breaths, in nose, out mouth with a sigh. </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular">Enjoy the stillness </span></li>
</ul>
<p><span class="font_regular"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/502702/5bc6ab38502e25b70a22ca38da022989e8ec0959/original/d0559b32-31b6-4942-b87f-5e33eb0bff46.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpeg" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="" style="margin-right: 30px;" />Say you've been slumped over looking at your computer for several hours. Did you know that the brain reads posture like opening a software program! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">When you are slumped or hunched over, you literally can’t get a full breath: your lungs can’t fully expand because your ribs are contracted. The result is that blood flow—and thus the amount of oxygen delivered to your brain—is noticeably less. Here comes the software program part: </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Because there is less blood delivered to the brain, and thus less oxygen to the brain, the brain reads "less oxygen" as "threat." The brain doesn’t know you are just sitting too long staring at a screen. Instead, it reads the less oxygen as threat and signals your organs to produce hormones that deal with threat, and you start to feel a vague background sense of unease. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><span style="color:#330099;"><strong>In order to wash the stress hormones out of your system and bring a brighter view of life back online try the following. </strong></span>You can do this seated at your desk: </span></p>
<ul> <li><span class="font_regular"><span style="color:#330099;"><strong>Stretch</strong></span> your arms up and arch your back </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><span style="color:#330099;"><strong>Yawn</strong></span>—a big one—show your fillings! </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular">Make <span style="color:#330099;"><strong>an audible sigh</strong></span> while you sigh, a sound, ahhhhhh. Making this kind of actual sound signals to your nervous system the you are safe. </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><span style="color:#330099;"><strong>Follow</strong></span> the warmth, flow, release from the stretch and yawn. Savor these feelings, like you'd savor a bit of biscotti dipped in a latte. Sit with the pleasure a few moments. </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular">Now slowly <span style="color:#330099;"><strong>breathe in your nose and out your mouth three times with an audible sigh </strong></span>on the out breath. </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular"><span style="color:#330099;"><strong>Lengthen </strong></span>yourself by "finding your sits bones”— wiggle your sits bones a few times, then let your spine rise from your pelvis, and sense your head floating naturally on top of your spine. It’s fine to use the back of the chair for light support. Don’t “sit up straight” as that is effortful. Instead find your sits bones and your body will naturally find peace with gravity. </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular">Finally, <span style="color:#330099;"><strong>visualize</strong></span> something beautiful or remember a kind act you witnessed. </span></li> <li><span class="font_regular">Then "take the elevator down" into your chest and<span style="color:#330099;"><strong> let the felt sense of this fill you for a moment.</strong></span></span></li>
</ul>
Dyslexic Self Esteem
tag:dyslexicselfesteem.com,2005:Post/6463072
2020-10-25T15:06:53-07:00
2020-11-20T18:44:25-08:00
"At the Beach"—A Short, Easy and Refreshing Grounding Exercise You Can Do Anywhere!
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/502702/7c2a647dd8708cc9b6b04ec9e7aa14ec3c99afd2/original/360cb109-804f-4e16-a5a3-de3ac8a9dea0.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpeg" class="size_m justify_right border_none" alt="" /><strong>At The Beach</strong></p>
<p><em>*A variation is to go into the forest where a river is flowing nearby. </em></p>
<ul> <li>Sit or lie comfortably in a quiet room. </li> <li>Let yourself softly breathe in and out several times. On the outbreath make a sighing sound. </li> <li>Now imagine yourself at your favorite beach. It could be a real beach you’ve visited, or an imaginary one. </li> <li>For this exercise, this is a beach where only you may go, so you have a lot of privacy. </li> <li>Begin to fill in the details of your experience: Feel the warm sand under your feet, or the cool pebbles if it is a shingle beach. See the immense sweep of the beach. What trees are there? What birds? What color is the water? Smell the salt air. Fill in all the details. </li> <li>Now especially listen for the pounding as the waves fall upon the beach and feel the reverberation in your bones. Hear the ssssst as the waves withdraw. Be with that rhythm, ever constant and ever varying. </li> <li>Now, give one layer of anything that you’d like to let go of to the outgoing tide. It could be a tension, an ache, a worry, a tightness. Just one little layer at a time. Don’t worry about trying to give it all away. Just give a little bit to the outgoing tide, knowing that the tide will take care of it. If a thought or worry returns, just give that next layer away also to the tide. Notice your experience as the layer leaves out, out, out to sea. </li> <li>As you let go of little layers, allow yourself to begin to notice yourself feeling more space for yourself or perhaps it is yummy softening. You might notice you are taking a bigger breath—savor the bigger breath and the spaciousness in your chest. You might notice the pleasant weight of your bones, the warmth of your breath, your feet on the ground. As you feel yourself slowing down and your mind empties, savor the quiet and the slowing pace. Let yourself take time with any relief, peace, spaciousness, weight of your bones, calmness, slowness. </li> <li>Notice in a playful way who is noticing—this is your True Self, your Home Base You. </li> <li>Thank the world for it’s beauty, and notice what that thanking brings. </li> <li>Thank yourself for allowing yourself to be with the beauty, and noticing what that thanking brings.</li>
</ul>
Dyslexic Self Esteem
tag:dyslexicselfesteem.com,2005:Post/6463065
2020-10-25T14:56:29-07:00
2020-11-20T18:45:11-08:00
Stop and Smell The Roses
<p><span class="font_regular"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/502702/afc734c51c4059b0a2e662dce8e21d55d319a8e3/original/064a407c-78ee-4135-afc8-e948a21a2078.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="" style="margin-right: 30px;" />When you literally stop and smell the roses, your heart lifts, and your brain and body give you feel-good signals that help shift the rest of your day. Where are the roses for you? Here's a photo of my neighbors' roses taken last spring! Right now as we are inside our homes, it's so important to take time to stop and hear a bird singing outside, to smell a favorite meal cooking, to savor the first mouthful, to hold a loved one's hand and look in their eyes, to feel moved by listening to a favorite song. Using the senses of the body—touch, taste, vision, scent, sound—help us ground in the moment. Better yet—go a step further and "take the elevator down" into your chest because when you stay for a moment or two with the appreciation of what you are sensing, your system swaps out stress hormones for feel-good hormones, your nervous system calms, and you ground.</span></p>
Dyslexic Self Esteem
tag:dyslexicselfesteem.com,2005:Post/6463063
2020-10-25T14:50:37-07:00
2020-11-20T18:48:03-08:00
Coming Home to Your Untarnishable Golden Self
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/502702/5da9686c26393b32c30f42c757ba25b984ce5fd8/original/2851eba8-c93b-4759-bad0-c51097c4a981-1-201-a.jpeg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpeg" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="" style="margin-right: 30px;" />All your choices have brought you to this moment. You did the best you could. Thank the voices that criticize you by telling them “I know you’re only trying to help.” I mean it—really do this—thank them! That's an audacious and sophisticated act that results in a healing shift in the following way: When you thank your critics, you are actually adding some needed separation between yourself and them and you're doing something very healing. The self that has the ability to thank your critics is your True Self, so capable and amazing, and untarnishable as gold. Because after all, the critics are the valiant security team you hired as a kid to make sense of a disrupted and hurtful world. They just go into overdrive and that's the problem. But here's one way to begin to change the channel. Give it a try, tell them thanks. Feel for the little bit of space and calm that comes. Breathe. Congratulations, you've just come back home!</p>
Dyslexic Self Esteem