What's possible when you learn the signs and befriend your body
Hello there,
Today I'm sending a quick note with three things:
1) An inspired client story: From lost to returning to the essence of who I am
2) A little more on Befriend Your Body Program
3) Some love and care sent your way.
CLIENT STORY: FROM LOST TO RETURNING TO THE ESSENCE OF WHO I AM
One of my beloved clients recently reflected to me how much had changed since we began working together.
This extraordinary leader, a devoted, highly capable, super intelligent, extremely hard-working Director in the Humanitarian Aid field who cares deeply about the work and her teams, shared how deeply disconcerted she felt when we began our work together, saying,
“When we began, I was concerned I’d lost the true essence of who I am.
I’ve come a long way since the beginning of the journey. I can sleep now. I don’t come home and cry anymore.
I still think about how I can make things better for people, but it’s not obsessive. I’m at peace not being able to meet everyone’s demands.”
She shared about the value of our process in helping her understand the importance of self-care and resilience-building as a leadership priority.
And how deepening in and exploring her own resistance to self-care, resilience-building and befriending her body (because work has always been the priority) has allowed her to prioritize her own personal well-being, something that helps her lead in more potent ways.
She spoke of how attuning to her body and nervous system to listen to the signs, understanding how they were "speaking" to her, has helped her relate to her body and her work in new ways.
And discovering HOW she can successfully create the rhythms that support well-being - even while doing intensive and demanding work - has been life-changing.
She described how much inner peace she feels now, about her personal and professional life, and added,
“I no longer have that dread of the future or that terrible feeling of being lost.
Most importantly, I’ve come back to the heart and essence of who I am, something I wasn’t sure I’d ever get back.”
THIS OLD WAY OF CHANGEMAKING DOESN'T WORK
In changemaking, so often there’s this sense that we can’t do the work we’re passionate about and serve at the level we want to serve, while also taking care of ourselves – body, mind, heart, and spirit.
It's easy to get stuck in the old ways of working tirelessly, around the clock, feeling there’s just no space - or justification - to rest.
However, what happened with my client is what can happen when you unwind old survival patterns from your nervous system, and learn to work with your body instead of against it.
When you commit to a healing journey and learn to read the signs of your body, you can see that it’s communicating with you.
You can see that your body's not the enemy, as it might appear when you're struggling with challenging physical and emotional symptoms.
When you learn to pause and take time for your own healing and care, establishing rhythms that shift the way you work, lead, and live, so that you can be well as you help the world be well, you can change the way you work.
You can do leadership and changemaking better than before.
You can keep from spinning, or paralysis, and make decisions with greater ease and clarity.
And as you deepen in and translate your body's signs, you can discover how the lost feeling you're having may actually be helping to direct you back to your right path, and the heart and essence of who you are.
INVITING YOU TO BEFRIEND YOUR BODY
Working from a full cup and a resilient body and nervous system helps you work better, lead better, model better for your people, and ripple out more powerful change.
If you're feeling ready to release overwhelm, overwork, and overgiving, and lead with energy, clarity, and ease, so you can make change in a more powerful way, join me for Befriend Your Body.
When you learn to partner with your body, you can find your way back to loving your work - and loving your life.
You can reconnect to the part of you who began this journey clear, purposeful, and filled with hope about the change you can make in the world.
A LITTLE LOVE AND CARE...
And whether you join or not, I'm sending this note of love and care.
These are extraordinary times, in which so many of us are feeling the intensity and turbulence.
We're being called to a different level of intentional resilience-building, self-care in meaningful ways, healing on the individual and collective levels, and real-life connection that calls upon the best of us, by de-activating our nervous systems and re-activating our hearts.
It's why I've designed this program and why I'm passionate about sharing it.
And I hope to be able to share space together soon, either in Befriend Your Body, another workshop, or somewhere on our beautiful planet.
For now, many blessings to you, and this loving (and urgent) reminder...
When you show up well, in all the ways, you help ripple that out into the world.
The world needs you well.
With love and many blessings,
Kelly
P.S. If you know a changemaker or leader who needs this invitation, who could benefit from some befriending their body so they can lead and make change in new ways, who could use some transformational shifts and healing for the changemaker, please share by forwarding this email or using this link - thanks so much!