Prefer to listen to today's blog post? You can do that HERE.
I want to share with you something that’s been on my heart for a few days now. In my line of work, I notice that one of the key similarities that I find most people struggle with - across all walks of life - is this core belief that somehow, we are wounded… we’re broken… we are unworthy or not good enough. Brené Brown would call these shame tapes. We all have these stories that we tell ourselves that diminish our own inherent worthiness and our inherent wholeness.
I recently had an accident where I likely broke my toe. The following morning during one of my meditation and very gentle yoga practices, some insight came to me...
"even with a broken toe, I am not broken"
And so, even if (or rather when...) we experience breaks or bruises in our life. We are not broken.
A fundamental aspect of my work is acknowledging that trauma is a part of life.
Trauma is a life experience, but it doesn’t have to be a life sentence.
Throughout our time on this planet, we have various life events and traumas that we experience. We have moments where we feel abandoned or betrayed. We have coaches, teachers, parents, siblings, friends, partners, religious figures, and society tell us that we’re not good enough or worthy as we are… that we don’t belong because of X, Y, or Z. And that our worthiness will only come when we lose that or gain this or experience that or make this particular milestone.
And the truth of the matter is… that is the farthest thing from the truth!
We are whole and we are worthy exactly as we are!
Independent from our different breaks, bruises, traumas, or difficult life experiences that we may have experienced, lived through, and survived...
We are resilient beings.
And even though we may have experienced breaks, we are not broken.
Even though we have been wounded that doesn’t mean we can’t heal.
Just because we have known trauma does not mean trauma has to be a life sentence.
The hard and difficult truth that I believe is that often we end up becoming the ones that keep the shackles of our past attached to us in various ways dragging us down and keeping us stuck in our past. We keep re-living, re-thinking, re-feeling, and re-believing that our past dictates our present. Those particular narratives live on in our body, mind, heart, and spirit if we don't change that story. Just because we may have various experiences in our past - it does not mean that you are not worthy!
There may be patterns that you begin to recognize... that you typically struggle in this relationship because you didn’t have a healthy relationship to witness or have modeled for you. You may believe that you don’t know what it’s like to be in a healthy relationship because you have never experienced secure attachment, which then leads you to believe that you don’t know how to experience secure attachment, right?
We have these "if this… then that" beliefs in our mind that we tell ourselves over and over and over again.
And the question is, if we’re wanting to create change…
What stories or narratives or beliefs are we willing to let go of?
What are we willing to rewrite in order to create new neural pathways in our brain so that we truly can experience inner peace and inner freedom? We must become the authors of our lives…
And so, I invite you to be mindful of the stories you tell yourself.
Do those stories you keep re-telling still serve you? Do they support you? Do they encourage you? Are they in alignment with the life that you want to live?
And if you find yourself in this moment thinking… yeah, that sounds great, but I have no idea how to do it.
I hear you. I was there too… which is why I created Rising Strong™ Through the Chakras - an online program that teaches how to transform trauma and create a life of inner freedom in 90 days. It weaves together Dr. Brené Brown’s Rising Strong™ process and Chakra Yoga theory so we can explore different pathways into our body, mind, heart, and spirit.
How do we rewrite those narratives that aren't serving you any more? Not in the sense where your lived experience is invalidated, but rather your lived experience is acknowledged and witnessed. The key is to validate them. And by doing so, we explore…
What are the lessons?
What are the learnings?
What are the teachings here?
And how to let go of the pain of the story, the beliefs that diminish our inherent worthiness.
I’ll be sharing more about this program very soon and I look forward to hearing how this idea... even though we’ve experienced breaks and bruises, we are not broken resonates with you.
How does that land for you?
How does that show up?
What are those core beliefs… those core tapes that keep you stuck?
And are you ready to let go of them?
I look forward to hearing how this lands for you.
Wholeheartedly,
Keri
