Access Inner Resources

05/06/2022

10/10/2021

I saw the very moving film the Wisdom of Trauma featuring Tabor Mate'. See it if you can. I am like minded. and want to see the cultural, medical and individual shifts toward real healing.. also.

Watch The Wisdom of Trauma Movie on October 4-10, Featuring DR. GABOR MATÉ Plus The Trauma Talks Series, Part II, a 5-day teaching series on trauma with leading experts!

05/29/2021

How is the transition going for you as 'things are opening up' ?
How are you dealing with re-entry? Many of us are thinking about how to incorporate lessons learned about ourselves during the pandemic and how to adjust to new expectations as we enter into this next phase. What will we want to support our optimal wellbeing?

05/29/2021

Listening to Your Body Can Lead to Effective Change and Growth

Have you found that merely talking about a problem, like a relationship problem or anxiety and fear doesn't change it or help you cope any better?

The fact is that trying to think your way out of problems leaves out much of your wisdom-- your body's wisdom. When working through an emotional difficulty, talking is just the tip of the iceberg. The information you need for healing is accessible through a deeper process… it happens in the body and emotions.

Acknowledge the Physical Level
For example, suppose you are dealing with a relationship problem. Maybe you are feeling a lot of tension about the relationship. If you have tried to figure it out mentally and control it, has that changed it? The tension that's there in your gut about the unresolved situation is physical. To change it, it needs to go through a process that is physical. you will need to work with it in your body.

Attend to Your Sensations
When you feel a physical reaction to an issue, this is a feeling that exists in your body. The reaction could come as heaviness in your chest, tightness in your throat or fluttering in your stomach. If a sensory reaction isn't immediately apparent, when you sense into your body, your bodily feel of the problem can show up. The feelings exist in your body, not in words. At this point, when sensory reactions occur, continuing to just talk or think about the problem, might distract you from noticing the physical experience. Acknowledging these experiences of bodily felt sensations, and attending to them/paying attention to them, offer moments of opportunity. These are events where your body and mind feel the whole issue in it's full complexity.

Be Curious About the Sensations
Let's return to the “tension” in your difficulty with a relationship. The best approach to take at this moment of bodily experiencing is to completely sense it with no judgements. Be curious. There's more in the experience that can open up and shift and judging it would close it down. You can also short-circuit healing if you try to make the feelings logical right away. Just sit with your felt sense. The key is to listen to the bodily experience and ask questions.

With the support of a good listener or therapist you may more easily access this attitude toward yourself. When you spend enough time while your body is actively feeling the sense of the whole issue, you can open up awareness of more of your experience. You will feel better and stronger emotionally. Insights can come and steps that you can take to resolve the situation will become clear.

Adapted from the work of James Iberg,Ph.D. Marsha Smith, LCSW, is a psychotherapist with twenty years experience helping adults, children and couples. Body-centered psychotherapy is described in the classic guide,Focusing by Eugene Gendlin, Ph.D.

12/21/2020

Is it time for your big shift? some ways to expand and draw on your inner resources, from my esteemed colleague...

THE YEAR OF THE BIG SHIFT An on-demand video course with Ann Weiser CornellDo you long to reinvent yourself in this changed world? Has life thrown you some big curves so you’re not sure of your direction any more? Or you still know your direction—but you’re not sure how to get there? You can f...

09/12/2020

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/64SPugOrUt9FWiPayJH1oX?si=ezCgjQcTSSe487jhfVO93Q
I Will Make Room For You... this is the anthem

A playlist featuring Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

08/23/2020

"...the 2020 virtual DNC hung on a theme that could be summed up in one word: Empathy. The empathy and ability to relate to everyday folks (during covid or any other time)... the empathy that was beamed into your living room Tuesday night from a windswept Montana prairie and a Mississippi HBCU. " Will Bunch

08/07/2020

Take it from someone whose openness is refreshing and real: "The idea that what this country is going through shouldn’t have any effect on us—that we all should just feel OK all the time—that just doesn’t feel real to me. So I hope you all are allowing yourselves to feel whatever it is you’re feeling. I hope you’re listening to yourselves and taking a moment to reflect on everything that’s coming at us, and what you might be able to do about it. And to all of you who’ve reached out—thank you. I hope you’re also reaching out to all those you’re closest with, not just with a text, but maybe with a call or a video chat. Don’t be afraid to offer them a shoulder to lean on, or to ask for one yourself." Michelle Obama.

08/02/2020

sometimes you might want to just refresh

06/09/2020

Ann shows how pausing, being aware of what youre feeling moment to moment is powerful, revolutionary self-care

This is a 30-minute webinar (with Ann Weiser Cornell) with warm, positive tips for emotional self-care in these challenging times. Please note, this is a rec...