Today's Episode is all about the power of being with all that my body asks for,.. especially when she is bleeding.. my body has been teaching me over the last week, that she holds a deep intelligence and wisdom which seems to pull me inwards more keenly at this time of the month, especially when i try and ignore her call for attention. 

I have been harbouring and holding onto "patriarchal" stories and beliefs that I should "woman up" at these times of the month - "half of the planet bleeds girl - get over it and get back to work... its not that bad.. you have no choice.. you will be seen as a crazy feminist.. or over the top.. or too much or asking for attention". uuuurrrggghh I am exhausted as I write these thoughts down, knowing that they come from a deep longing for acceptance, consideration, care and community support...  I want  change and my dream would be to live in a world where women could take 1-3 days off each month to connect with the wisdom of the red tent within themselves. 

And with the simplicity of making a small but meaningful request (aided by the empathy and suggestion of my friend Sonja) I celebrate that through tiny steps and making small requests of ourselves and those around us,  big changes will happen

Today's show is another unedited Bonus episode on self love and self connection, whilst feeling the intensity and overwhelm of difficult emotions as they come up.

A moment of self connection and sharing with you how I so want to live in a world where all humans are welcome to show themselves just as they are..

Empathy flows from that moment when we make a choice, we chose to stop, connect and listen to the heart of the other person. 

Today's Episode is our 9th episode in our series on introducing and exploring compassionate communication and it is all about how to start listening with empathy by simply doing nothing - isn't that a relief? It's an invitation to sit back relax, listen and start noticing yourself, your own thoughts, noticing the other person and their body language.

Christina and I talk about our own experiences with silent listening as a base, as a place we both come back to when we are not sure, when we want to return to our center when we want to understand the other person without having to say or do something. 

We also touch upon those painful moments when we have tried to listen to someone without really having the space to do so, when we are in pain ourselves, and how this can create a tennis game of triggers meeting triggers between two people who both need empathy in order to be able to truly meet each other and listen with presence and curiosity rather than self defense and anger.

Links:

For more info about Compassionate Communication (or Nonviolent communication / NVC) please visit my website:

www.empathart.com

For a free trial empathy session with me, where I will listen to you deeply and we will work together to find out what your heart is longing for rite now visit:

https://www.empathart.com/connect

For Feelings and Needs Lists:

https://www.connecting2life.net/feelings-and-needs-lists/

Marry Mckenzie (Trainer who uses the WAIT acronym)

https://nvctraining.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=user&id=90:marymackenzie

Listening from the heart, we talk with Christina about how our listening can effect how much someone will feel comfortable to open up to us

Beneath our desires and longings there are beautiful energies that we can tap into. The energy of needs invites empowerment, and agency in helping us to meet our needs from a place of fullness rather than lack.

When we want something to happen or change in our relationships we can sometimes get stuck on the "how" rather than the "why" , in this episode we will look into the why we want something and we start to get creative around how we can get those needs met

On today's show in our series on "Exploring and Introducing Compasssionate Communication", we have Tracy seed. A certified NVC trainer (trained by Marshal Rosenberg himself), and coach working in human development, using movement and embodiment practices, and NLP in her work with individuals and organisations 

Together we talk about our inner world of emotions. We unwrap and discover how we can learn to recognise and understand our emotional responses and how or why we get triggered with the aim of integrating and making sense of our emotions, through developing our emotional radar and intelect with a descriptive vocabulary of physical and emotive sensations to aid us. 

Tracy then talks us through and demonstartates the difference between those emotions that we have when we say I feel.. and the thoughts that we have when we say I feel.....Sometimes getting our thoughts and our feelings mixed up which can distract us from what is really happening internally rather than what we perceive to be happening externaly.  

We finish our talk with a small activity you can try at home to help you distinguish between your thoughts that pretend to be feelings and actual feelings you are experiencing. So have a paper and pen handy at the end! 

To learn more about Tracy and her workshops visit her website: 

https://tracyseed.com/

For more information about my work, working with me 121 or to learn more about Compassionate / Nonviolent Communication visit my website www.empathart.com

With Elaine - a mindfulness practitioner and trainer, we will be approaching our thought', our bodies and breath with mindfulness and moving from judgment into observing the facts in front us as the first step in compassionate communication

A chat with Pauline about what it means to invite compassion and honesty into our lives and what changes and challenges and celebrations it brings into our worlds and relationships