Practical ways to help yourself during hard times

[Intro] Hello and welcome to my podcast, Empowered to Thrive. I'm your host, Corinne Powell. I'm an intuitive guide and I absolutely love helping people to heal from within so that they can create a life that they love, a life that they enjoy.

We weren't meant to just tolerate and get through life. We were meant to thrive and enjoy the life we're living. Of course, we will have seasons and moments that are difficult and challenging.

And the beauty of it is that we can be supported in those moments. I am here to be an aid and a guide to support you. And I hope that you will enjoy not only today's episode, but some of the past episodes if you haven't heard them yet.

On this podcast, I talk about all things inner wellness. We also sprinkle in some spirituality and parenting because as a mom to three kids, parenting is a big part of my life. I hope that you enjoy the episode and that there's at least one thing you'll pull from it and start to implement into your own life.

If you want to follow me in other ways, you can find me on Instagram, ⁠@corinne_changeradically⁠ or on Facebook Change Radically. Would you do me a favor and share this podcast with your friends if you hear an episode that resonates with you? And would you also go ahead and give me a rating and review my podcast? It would mean so much to me and I would appreciate it. I hope that you enjoy the episode and that we connect.

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You know how life can feel challenging and then there's times when it just feels even more challenging. And those are difficult times and I know I've just been in one, hopefully coming out of one. I want to share with you what to do when that's your reality because whatever's going on internally affects you externally.

And then because it's external, it affects everyone else as well. So first thing, have compassion towards yourself. Be kind, patient, full of love.

Think about how much love makes life better. Whether it's the universe or an individual affecting you, love changes everything. There are moments when I will step out into nature and everything shifts for me because I just can feel loved.

And I encourage you, go outdoors. Even if you can't be out for long, you can step outside for a moment. It makes a difference.

Let it affect you. Let the sunshine, let the birds chirping, whatever it is, feeling the ground underneath your feet, let it affect you. And allow other people to love you as well.

I know that there are reasons why we push away kindness and love. I know that sometimes it stems from the rejection we experienced in childhood. You open yourself up as a child very easily to love.

And when you experience rejection, you may unconsciously have stopped allowing love in because you just don't want to get hurt again. And I understand that. But I want to encourage you to let the kindness in.

There are people that want to be kind towards you and it's going to help. It's going to change the trajectory of how your life is going. Letting people help you in times when you need the help makes a difference.

And this is something that we practice to learn. I've had to practice this way of living. I've had to allow myself to let people in by sharing how I'm really doing, sharing vulnerably.

And then as they've been there to help me, I've had to receive their help. But in receiving their help, it makes my day better, it makes my life easier, and it makes me feel not so isolated, not so alone anymore. And that is the point of life.

I feel like the point of living is to know that you are not alone and you are very much loved. The universe wants you to know that and I want you to know that. So I encourage you to start helping yourself out in the extra difficult times by being compassionate towards yourself and letting love in.

You don't have to qualify how that will look or what that will be. Just allow it to come. As you open yourself up to it, yes, there's a risk.

There's the potential you could be hurt again. And that's why I'm here. Set up a separate time to speak with me.

We can talk through whatever it is you're experiencing. Again, you're not meant to be walking through life alone. That's why I'm here offering support.

I'm not here looking to help you stay stuck. I'm not here to try to pity you. I am here with compassion and empowerment.

And that's really what we all crave. We don't really want pity. Even the times when sometimes it seems as if someone wants that, I really feel like they just want to know in the deepest part of who they are.

That somebody's going to be there for them. That they're going to love them. When we don't get that, then sometimes it can look like we want people to pity us.

And all of this is the first thing you can do when you're in an extra challenging time. But there's more to it. Pause.

Make sure you're taking space to do some deep breathing. To help your body relax. To help yourself feel safe again within your own body.

I know that I have to practice this. And so, in the moments when I feel out of control, I try to pause and take multiple deep breaths and remind myself, “Hey Corinne, you're safe. Everything feels out of control, but right now you're safe”.

And if you really truly are safe and you're not in an unsafe environment, even if it feels unsafe, if you can look around and nothing is going to hurt you, then I want you to also remind yourself, I'm safe right now. Because again, you may have heard me speak on it already, but there are times when we are emotionally flashing back to earlier points in our life. Especially in our developmental years.

And if you feel out of control or unsafe in your body, just allow yourself in that quietness, in that moment of pause, to see if anything bubbles to the surface. Is there any part of your entire being that is remembering a traumatic experience? And don't say that to invite you to relive the trauma. Why I bring this up is because it is so helpful the more aware and conscious we become to what is going on below the surface.

When we know that, oh, it's not present day that I feel out of control. I feel out of control right now because my inner child is remembering a time in my life that I was out of control. And nobody helps me to understand what was going on and how to feel okay again, to feel calm again.

So now we have the opportunity to help ourselves. So take the moments and pause. Don't be afraid of the stillness.

In the stillness, you are able to receive everything that the universe wants to give to you. In the stillness, you are able to recognize more deeply what is going on within your psyche, within your body. This is the discovery that I encourage you to go on.

Become curious. Question. Explore. And come to understand yourself more fully. I'm going right back to it. You've heard me go back to it many times, and I always will. Who you are is really good. I am so glad that you are alive. You are needed on this earth and who you authentically are is needed. So allow yourself to become that authentic version of you. 

Embrace him or her and allow others in so that they also can embrace you. There are those of us who are just waiting for the invitation to be allowed in not to harm you, but to love you right where you are. I give you the information I give you to empower you and propel you forward, but I am also totally okay with wherever it is that you currently are.

I don't feel any sort of pressure that you perform, that you move forward more quickly, or that you become who I think you should become. That's not why I'm here. I'm here to remind you that you are a really amazing person.

And there are purposes, plans for your life. And I want to see you reach those because I know that you will feel satisfied. You will feel at peace with it.

And you'll experience the euphoric highs that I always talk about because they make the recovery journey worth it. For the moments where you feel the lows and where it's challenging and difficult, those are bearable because you will as you heal more and more, you will experience the intensity of joy that cannot be felt without going in to the dark valleys and doing some of the deep work there. The reward and the gift to those moments and to being willing to go through that process is the euphoric highs.

And you get to deserve those. You should get to experience those. You were born to enjoy life.

Let's stop just muscling through it and surviving. Let's start enjoying life together. 

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[Ending] We've come to the end. What did you think about what you heard? I hope that there's something you pull from today's episode and start implementing it into your life. Create the change that you want to see, the change that you hear about. You have the opportunity to transform your life, and I'm ready to link arms with you and to help and guide you to the life that you want to live.

If you resonated with what you heard today and it touched you, would you share it with your friends? Would you also go ahead and rate my podcast and write a written review? It would mean so much to me. 

I hope that we'll connect, whether it's for a session or just to connect because I enjoy meeting new people. You can find me on Instagram, ⁠@corinne_changeradically⁠, or on Facebook, Change Radically. You can also always email me, corinne@changeradically.com. If you have thoughts, questions, or anything that you just want to talk about, send me an email. 

I hope that you have a wonderful week. But no matter what your week is like, in the moments that are quiet, maybe it's when you pillow your head at night or when you're driving in the car or taking a walk, or maybe it's going to be in the midst of the chaos with your children or the craziness of work, I hope that you'll remember how significant you are, that there is meaning and value to your life, and that I, for one, am so glad that you're alive.

Catch you again next week.