22 Jul My jaw dropped when I read this. I still need to practice!
I finally turned in my manuscript to Norton Publishing. Yes, a year late. After I turned it in, I was worried that the editor would tell me I needed to re-write it, I hadn’t done what they wanted. You name it, I worried about it.
Well, above is an excerpt from the note he wrote me when he read the manuscript.
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe it. But there it was on paper. I double checked with him. “Really?” Yes, really, he said.
Here’s the thing. Pretty quickly I realized I had more practice to do on myself. I had to navigate new turbulence — the turbulence that comes from taking in good things. All turbulence comes when we step outside our comfort zone. If you’re anything like me, you have a few (okay, many….) parts that are self-deprecating, insecure, scared, terrified of being exposed. Those parts keep us in our comfort zone even when that comfort zone no longer nourishes us.
Usually, we think about turbulence in regard to shifting gears and getting away from the painful, negative triggers. Well, with my editor’s praise I had a new level of turbulence to deal with — how to welcome in and befriend even more positive. Those of you who are familiar with the Becoming Safely Embodied Skills may see the skills showing up here: dealing with turbulence, reaching for more nourishing ways of being, filling up the skin with positive experiences, carving out a new path, telling and re-telling a new, more satisfying story.
The book Attachment-Based Yoga & Meditation for Trauma Recovery is a positive, compassionate approach to healing trauma. It’s built on the foundation of the Becoming Safely Embodied Skills, incorporating the profound teachings of yogic philosophy with the most important theoretical approaches to healing trauma and attachment. At the core is a psychological understanding of yogic philosophy, offering a way to heal our deepest wounds. The models that provide positive, nourishing approaches, especially Mindful Self-Compassion, Compassion Focused Therapy, and Internal Family Systems, are integrated with yoga.
The practices in the book are ways to simply and gently help the body shift, the mind to calm, and the heart to open. They’re the practices that helped me receive the amazing words my editor wrote. I have had to build an internal secure base to be able to receive good things like this. Years ago, one of the first times I led a national workshop I cringed when I got positive feedback. In fact, (it’s amazing to remember this) when I got the first flyer for the workshop, I turned it upside down and put it under a lot of other papers. I never looked at it again. That’s how hard it was to receive good things at that point.
I’ve had to do a lot of work since then. It’s been a lot of practice learning to receive good things. It’s been a lot of practice learning to turn toward nourishment instead of living in a negative story. It’s taken me a lot of practice to share this good news with you.
I do it because I want the same for you — which is the purpose of the book and all the courses I teach. I want all of us to shed the distressing self-stories and live the lives we want to live, nourished and content. And truly…. If I can do it, we can all do it. I’m no different than anyone else. Hopefully we’ll do it together.
Each time I lead a course I am inspired by the commitment each person shows to their own healing. I’m moved to tears by the courage that it takes to explore new paths to healing. That’s part of the reason I teach what I do – to hear the stories of your lives as you become more of who you are. Knowing you’re out there, taking each step you do, shows me how the world is changing, one step at a time.
If it feels right to you, please consider ordering a copy of the book through Norton Publishing’s website or through Amazon.com. Either way, all the orders help the book. Help me share the healing that’s possible. Thank you for that!