Empowered to Thrive Podcast
New episodes each Wednesday.
Personal update: changing the pace
What I certainly don't want is to have my children grow up and for me to consider all the good work I did, but at what cost? What's the trade? I want to have deep connections with my children… I actually want to have a thriving, fun relationship with my husband. I want to be able to connect with new friends and feel that I have the time, the capacity, energy to do all of this.
The apology you might need to hear
Compassion and understanding, acknowledgement with kindness, helps to move us forward. It helps us to get up and feel a little bit more empowered, a little bit more energized to go do the thing we need to do… deep down what we want to do.
What is the meaning of the stories we tell ourselves?
We are free to let whatever we wish go. And we're going to talk specifically today about the stories that we think, the stories that determine our perception of others and of ourselves and of the world at large.
Why is it so important to support ourselves?
If we learn that “Oh, this is natural to feel, I'm allowed to feel it”...then we can naturally move through it and not get stuck.We didn't suppress it, we didn't repress it…we naturally processed through it.
Why do boundaries feel like rejection?
Reflect on the people in your life that have started to set boundaries - and allow yourself to take on a new perspective. Challenge the underlying beliefs, the stories you tell yourself, and offer to other people what you hope to receive in return.
How do you take time for yourself without feeling guilty?
Sometimes we're drawn or pulled to the busier lifestyle because of our own trauma. When we slow down, we actually have to confront more of our inner world. Sometimes we have a hard time falling asleep at night because we've been so busy throughout the day…
How to not pass down trauma to my children
Each one of us as a parent now, as an adult person, has the opportunity to heal ourselves so that we don't keep the patterns ongoing - we can notice the needs of our children and meet their needs alongside of us meeting our own.
Why do I feel like I’m not allowed to rest?
We get to choose whether we're going to live our life and hold a perspective based on the perspective that people around us when we were growing up had, or if we're going to choose a different one.
How an unsupportive family impacts adult life
One reason that some of us hate being misunderstood and why it hurts so deeply is when our earliest experiences, that with our caregivers and our parenteral figures, when those people don't speak to understand us, we learn the pain of not ever really being known.
Reflecting and preparing for change: happy new year!
What is one thing you can celebrate about yourself, about your progress this last year? And as you do that, feel gratitude in your heart. Feel the gratitude that things are able to be different.
Healing past wounds: visualization with the inner teenager
If you’re open to connecting more deeply with your past self, walk through this visualization exercise with me.
How do I get rid of holiday stress?
Knowing the limitations you need to set and having boundaries in place; honoring yourself through this process and evaluating as you go; knowing what you want from this season and what is aligned; that will help you in making your decisions.
Inner child healing, a guided visualization
Do you want to connect more deeply with your inner child? Join me for this visualization exercise.
Witness yourself: how positive self-awareness can empower you
When you look in the mirror, how do you think of that person you see there? Are you kind to them? Or do you belittle them? Start by noticing…
Dealing with conflicts: how to not lose your voice
Let's talk about how you can support yourself when you're actually in the conflict. Perhaps one of the most important things for the parentified child, the one who's learned to people please, is to have boundaries in place.
What is it that you enjoy? Figuring out what lights you up
It can be uncomfortable to relax when you're used to being hypervigilant, when you're used to being the one in charge, the responsible, mature one. It can feel childish, silly, wrong to do these other things. But they are so necessary for survival, for thriving. You deserve to have a good time.
Stop blaming, start taking care of yourself
There's a time when we have to stand up from where we've been sitting, look ourselves in the mirror, literally or figuratively, and say, “I care about you and I'm here to help.”
How does parentification affect relationships?
A parentified child knows more of a give than a take. They know how to offer their support more than they know how to receive support. So when you show up in a relationship with your partner, you might be doing a lot more than you should be doing and you don't even realize it.
Healing the parentified child
The goal is that you're in control of your decisions, that you have autonomy in this relationship, that it's no longer you having to act as the parent to your own parent.
How do I learn to be with myself?
You see, it's up to us to show people the real you, the real me. They won't know if they like you, if they don't know who you are. If we become the chameleon, we say the thing we think other people want us to say, we act in the way that we feel is appropriate or expected, and we never share our opinion. We never do what we would truly want to do - how expect people to like us? They don't even know who we are. It's only up to us if we will show up authentically. Nobody else can do that for us.