Category: Self-Compassion

Free to be the fearless wildness that you are

In your willingness to take the risk of love, to feel it all, to truly allow another to matter, and to expose yourself to the joy and heartbreak of this life, you come face to face with the most devastating fear that you’ve ever known, but have never been able to articulate: that you are loved.

For when you are truly loved, when you are entirely seen, when you are fully held, it is the end of your world as you know it. Things will never be the same. You will never again be able to pretend that you are other than precious and whole as you are. The implications of this are dizzying if you let them all the way in.

It is so exhilarating to be seen and held in this way, but it is also terrifying as you are fully naked now, utterly raw, and achingly wide open. Your life is no longer your own in a sense, and it has been given to your raw, shaky tenderness. This is your refuge now, the golden bridge through which you will connect with hearts everywhere. Give everything to know this bridge!

Even the soft spring breeze feels as if it might be too much, for it goes right through your skin to touch your heart. A sunrise, the longing of a little baby to be held, the spring wildflowers, the honey-infused ice coffee you just spilled on your laptop, the blue eyes of your sweet lover—you may never be protected again. Ah, that’s fine—it isn’t what you really wanted anyway.

The particles of love are interpenetrating your entire sensory world and you are just not sure your heart and nervous system can take it. Oh, friend, you are on the right track.

You are free to be who and what you are now—no longer tied to a past you thought you wanted, no longer bound by the limited and that which is less than whole—willing to risk it all for love, and free to be the fearless wildness that you are.

Gorgeous photography by Robert Maschke - http://www.robertmaschke.de/

Gorgeous photography by Robert Maschke – http://www.robertmaschke.de/

Compassion for the Self-Critic – with Kristin Ne...

As part of The Self-Acceptance Project, Tami spoke with Dr. Kristin Neff, pioneering researcher in the area of self-compassion, from the University of Texas-Austin. Kristin is the author of the Sounds True audio learning series, “Self-Compassion Step by Step: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself,” a six-hour course on transforming self-criticism into genuine compassion.

Enjoy this video dialogue with Kristin and Tami, which opened the Self-Acceptance Project, a free, multi-week video series featuring psychotherapists, authors, neuroscientists, and spiritual teachers, exploring the importance of bringing kindness and compassion to ourselves in service of others.

Beyond Body Image – with Sil & Eliza Reynol...

Concerns about body image and physical appearance weigh heavily in the consciousness of our culture and, left unexamined, have a way of generating a tremendous amount of suffering for young women (as well as humans of all ages and genders). Enjoy this short video from mother-daughter team Sil & Eliza Reynolds as they speak about the discoveries they’ve made and the healing they’ve experienced in this area.

Sil & Eliza are the authors of the inspirational book Mothering and Daughtering: Keeping Your Bond Strong Through the Teen Years.

 

A gift of pure rest

No matter how things are unfolding for you at this time, you can receive the secret transmission of the stars, the sun, and the moon: everything here is path, nothing is out of place, and no mistake has been made.

Though it may appear otherwise, you are not broken and are not in need of fixing. Your heart is being polished, your body is being washed clean, and waves of wholeness and integration are re-ordering your world.

Let go of the weary path of needing to change, to transform, to heal, to awaken, to be more spiritual, to be a better person, to accept everything, and to hold it all together. For just one moment, give yourself the gift of pure rest.

As you sink into the core of what you are, open to the breath as it moves in and out of your lungs. Allow your entire being to be infused with your commitment to self-kindness and to no longer abandon the wisdom-field of your immediate embodied experience, exactly as it is.

As things settle inside and around you, you may start to sense the movement of another substance within you, passing in and out of your heart. But, friend, this is no ordinary air. It is love. Come to end one world and to begin another. Please stay close.

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Living from the Inside Out: The Importance of the Thir...

In a special Insights at the Edge sponsored by Spirituality & Health magazine, Tami Simon interviews the founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington. They converse about Arianna’s recently published book, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder, and what it means to truly incorporate the principles of the Third Metric into one’s life. They also speak about the increasing visibility of devotion to the inner life in modern culture, as well as how women can take charge of institutions to create a better future. Finally, Tami and Arianna discuss periods of suffering and how cultivating gratitude can help us move through them. (55 minutes)

Perfect in Our Imperfection, with Colin Tipping

In this video teaching from the free Self-Acceptance Project, Tami Simon speaks with Colin Tipping, founder of the Institute for Radical Forgiveness Therapy and Coaching and author of the international bestseller Radical Forgiveness: Making Room for the Miracle. Colin cofounded the Georgia Cancer Help Program and Together-We-Heal, Inc. with his wife, JoAnn.

His titles with Sounds True include the book Radical Self-Forgiveness: The Direct Path to True Self-Acceptance and the audio program The Power of Radical Forgiveness: An Experience of Deep Emotional and Spiritual Healing.

 

 

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