Embody Your Power

In Episode 8, I will explore the wisdom of anger as a boundary bodyguard and how to work with anger to embody your power.

Many of us have been on the receiving end of anger. We know how painful it is when someone else’s pain, discomfort, disgust, or even hatred is aimed at us. Anger is generally seen as a bad or destructive emotion, because of how much suffering it can cause. 

Rarely, do we learn that anger has wisdom and how to work with anger in healthy ways. 

Anger can be utilized to create healthy boundaries and restore our power.  When we are able to create boundaries with others and others respect our boundaries, we feel a greater sense of safety and relaxation navigating relationships and the world. Anger is what will let us know if anyone or anything threatens or violates our boundaries. It’s like a boundary bodyguard. Anger looks out to the world for any threats to our boundaries. Anger also looks inward and sees our core self and knows that we are worthy of respect and protection and that our boundaries are essential for us to be true to ourselves and thrive.

What do YOU do when you feel angry? 

Some of us vow to never express anger. Others may feel more comfortable expressing anger even if it’s destructive to our relationships. We can also turn our anger inward on ourselves.

Many of us will experience all of these ways of relating to anger and will express anger in various ways depending on the situation. However, If we are suppressing our anger, turning it inwards, or allowing it to take us over and drive us around we haven’t found a healthy relationship to it.

I explore how anger is a personal bodyguard and help you understand it’s wisdom. Anger orients around what needs be protected? And...what needs be restored? Boundaries are an important part of embodying your power. We'll look at how anger is asking us to assert our boundaries and repair our boundaries. We may have parts of ourselves that are allowing our boundaries to be overridden. Speaking up for your boundaries and not overriding them is essential for your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. When we assert our boundaries we Embody Our Power. We stand in our truth. We are sovereign. We’re not giving our power away nor are we trying to have power over others with our boundaries.

At the end of this episode I offer some things to reflect upon.

1. Take some time to see if your anger is in response to someone crossing or attempting to cross a boundary. See if you can identify the boundary that was threatened or crossed.
2. Work on separating from the anger part so that you can respond from your core self with integrity.
3. Speak for the angry part rather than from it. Meaning, instead of saying I’m angry at you… Practice saying I have a part of me that’s angry. That helps you stay connected to your core self.
4. Listen to and assert your boundaries. Practice respecting your boundaries as well as the boundaries of others.

Thank you for listening!
With gratitude, Danielle

In this episode, I will help you have greater clarity and understanding for the protectors parts of your psyche which can transform an internal war into internal peace.

When you go to war with yourself, you strengthen the protector parts of your psyche that you don’t like or that are causing you problems in your life. When the protector parts are more present and active, you have less access to your core self. This can cause all sorts of challenges including: stress, tension, mental health issues, barriers to connection and intimacy, feeling disconnected from your self, your body, others, and Source.

How would you feel if you could have greater clarity and compassion for your most challenging parts such as your anxious part, your inner critic, or your depressed part?

When you connect with your parts from your core resilient self which is open, curious and compassionate you will start to see that all your protector parts have a positive intention to help you or protect you. Now that’s different than how they go about it, so it’s important that you make that distinction. Protectors are trying to do their best and use what they know to try to help and often the way they go about trying to help or protect actually isn’t helpful and can even be destructive.

In this Episode I explore the following protector parts of your psyche: Depressed, Perfectionist, Anxious, Inner Critic, Intellectualizing, Dissociation, People Pleasing, Narcissistic, Avoidant, Guilt, Addict, Suicidal.

Once you start to understand the intentions behind your parts you can have greater self compassion and inner peace.

At the end of this episode I offer some things to reflect upon:

1. Start to notice whether the voice in your head is coming from your core self or a protector part.
2. Notice when you are going to war with yourself and you have protector parts that are in conflict with each other. Unhook from the internal tug of war and step back to access your core self.
3. See if you can understand the intention of your protector parts to help or protect you and then communicate that understanding to the part see how it responds.
4. As you do this check in to see if you are expereincing greater compassion for yourself and more internal peace.

Thanks for listening!

With gratitude,
Danielle Carron
Daniellecarron.com

Do you ever feel like fear, anxiety, loneliness, stress or overwhelm is driving you around? Many people reach out to me because they have parts of themselves jumping into the drivers seat that they don’t know how to get out and as a result they don’t feel like themselves. Knowing how to work with our parts is an essential skill to feeling in control of our own mind, being sovereign and embodying our power. 

Unfortunately, most of us haven’t been taught how to work with the parts of our psyche. And when we don’t know how to work with these parts, our psyche can remain an elusive thing that can feel like it’s out of our grasp. If you don’t know which part of you is currently in the drivers seat, you’re not in control of who is driving you around and where you are going. You can easily get lost in life. You can end up living most of your life from parts instead of your core essence, your authenticity, your true self. You could be driven around by your fear and emotional pain as those are the common emotions of the parts. You might have a dominant part that’s in the drivers seat so often that you think that is who you are.

In this episode I will explore step by step how to work with the protector parts of your psyche.

At the end of this episode, I’d like to offer some exercises for you to try:

1. Start to identify your parts, give them names, see if you can visualize them and see them as separate so that you can externalize the part. 
2. Say hello and welcome to your parts.
3. Once you’ve identified the part and are able to visualize or sense it. Pause the part and ask yourself, who am I in this present moment when I separate from the part? Bring this core self energy to the part. 
4. Be curious and get to know your parts. Ask the protectors, what is your intention to help me or protect me? And what are you afraid would happen if you didn’t do that?
5. If you notice that you’re judging the part, you don’t like the part, or have any ill feelings toward it then you’re not accessing your core self, you are relating to the part from another part. Keep asking parts to step back until you can access your core self.

Thank you for listening.
With gratitude, Danielle Carron
For more information visit daniellecarron.com

In this episode I’ll teach you how to map your psyche and make the elusive mind tangible for greater mental power.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by intense feelings, emotions, flashbacks, or nightmares? Do you experience anxiety, depression, anger, addiction, avoidance or perfectionism?

The mind is such an elusive thing, We can’t see it or locate it. It’s hard to discern where our thoughts are coming from. Are we thinking our own thoughts or something we were taught or exposed to? Some thoughts can bring us peace and joy while others bring stress, anxiety, and pain. Our thoughts can take us for a ride and we can feel completely powerless. 

When you take the mind which feels so elusive and make it tangible it is a game changer in your ability to work with the mind and direct it in a way that supports your health and wellbeing. You have more control of your thoughts and can create the changes and life you desire.

I draw from Richard Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) model to map the psyche. Have you seen the movie Inside Out? This is a kids movie that depicts different parts of the mind that have access to a control panel or circuit board in the brain. The various parts use the hardware of the brain to flip switches which results in the main character having different feelings and emotions. In the movie the parts were called Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust. Those are just a few of many parts that can really impact us. Richard Schwartz was consulted for the production of this movie. I’m going to guide you to know how to work with your own mind. The image of the characters from the movie can be a helpful one to keep in mind. 

If you have a piece of paper in front of you, you can follow along and learn a simple way to map your psyche.

At the end of this episode, I’d like to offer some exercises for you to try:

1. Map your psyche by writing and drawing out the parts of your psyche. If you are someone who journals, see if you can start to identify these different parts when you are journaling. Which part of you is present and speaking right now? Notice if your inner dialogue is between two parts. Name and identify your parts.
2. If you meditate see if you can notice which parts are present and when your core self is present. 
3. Shift away from identifying with your parts. If you are anxious, you can say I have an anxious part, instead of I’m anxious. If you’re angry, you can say I have a part of me that’s angry instead of saying I’m angry. 
4. Finally - to access your core self, ask yourself who am I in this present moment when I separate from all my parts.

Thank you for listening!
With gratitude, Danielle Carron

In this episode I’ll guide you to feel more at home in your body. Our body is our vessel or vehicle for our spirit in this life, so let’s look at how you can feel at home in it. 

Has anyone taught you how to regulate your internal state so that you can shift gears between feeling too revved up and too sluggish, to cruising at a good pace, where life feels manageable? I’d venture to say most people haven’t been taught how to use their awareness to regulate their Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) which I’m going to refer to as the gas and brake on your car.

Let’s look at the SNS as the GAS on your car which gives you the energy, the drive, the go. This is the system that’s in charge of your fight and flight response as well.  Let's look at the PNS as the BRAKE on your car which allows you to slow down, rest, digest, and relax. 

A regulated nervous system looks like driving your car in an easeful way where you’re easily pressing on the gas and easily pressing on the brake. The ride is smooth. You feel comfortable in the car. There’s no stress. It’s a relaxed enjoyable ride. That’s the experience we want to have in our body!

What does it feel like in your body when you’re pressing on the GAS too much?: You can feel overwhelm, anxiety, panic, insomnia, rage, hyper-vigilance, mania, increased heart rate, cold sweats, difficulty breathing, and muscle tension.

What it feels like in your body when you’re pressing on the BRAKE too much?: overwhelm, depression, stuck, apathetic, fatigue, lack of motivation, lack of energy, disconnection, low muscle tone, poor digestion, decreased immune system, low heart rate or low blood pressure.

I also explore happens if you have the GAS and BRAKE on full throttle.

I will introduce you to 2 Exercises to learn how to regulate your Nervous System.

There are many benefits of knowing how to regulate your body, being aware of the sensations in our body, and feeling a sense of ease in your body.  Some benefits include: stress reduction, emotional regulation, self awareness, resilience, pain management, calm mind, and spiritual connection.

Knowing how to regulate your body and cultivating presence and ease within it can significantly improve your quality of life and contribute to your overall happiness and well-being. Putting in the time and effort is well worth it as it can have a profound and positive impact on all aspects of your life.

At the end of this episode I offer some exercises to try:

1. Scan your body and notice what sensations are present.
2. Bring your awareness to the sensation in your body that feels the most relaxed. You’re not trying to make anything happen, you’re trying to be curious to see what naturally happens.
3. Recall a time when you felt relaxed. Bring yourself back to that time and include all of your senses (what you can feel, taste, touch, smell, hear…).
4. Find time throughout the day to do this for a minute or two to prevent your nervous system from getting overwhelmed.

Thank you for listening!
With gratitude, Danielle Carron

In this episode, I will explore how to support your innate impulses to heal from trauma. 

Have you ever had a threat to your life, body, or wellbeing? For example, any type of abuse, an attack or assault, a car accident, a fall, or invasive medical procedure.

Have you ever had an experience where you wanted to fight back or run away but weren’t able to? 

In the face of any real or perceived threat to our body and wellbeing, we have instinctual drives that help us survive. There’s no hesitation. Something in us takes action to protect our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. There is inherent wisdom and intelligence in our response to trauma.

I’ll explore how the Somatic Experiencing (SE) method developed by Dr. Peter Levine and the Internal Family Systems (IFS) method developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz can help you reclaim and embody your power after experiencing a threat to your wellbeing or a traumatic experience.

Embody Your Power brings together wisdom from various sources to create a very profound, effective, efficient, and integrative way of working with trauma, neglect, burdens and unmet emotional needs. Embody Your Power returns power as well as connection to our self where it was lost through trauma. 

At the end of this episode:

I invite you to Reflect on whether you default on one of the defenses when faced with a threat. Do you default on fighting, fleeing, or freezing?

Lastly, think of how it would feel if you could help your mind and body have a new corrective exp in relationship to the past, where now you get to exp the power of fighting back or running away when originally you weren’t able to. 

Thank you for listening!
With gratitude, Danielle Carron

In this episode we'll explore how to embody your power through accessing your innate unshakable resilience. I share how you can experience resilience mentally, emotionally, physically, physiologically, relationally, and spiritually.

Did you know there is a place in you that can be with your greatest fear and your greatest pain? 

How would your life be different if you weren’t afraid of your own emotional pain? Emotional pain is at the root of what drives people.

I explore how I draw from the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model developed by Richard Schwartz as a way of access our innate resilience.

Resilience:

• Is not something that needs to be built up or made stronger, it is already wired in. It is a matter of how much access you have to it. Everyone has different degrees of access to their resilience. 
• Is your ability to be open-hearted and present with any pain, fear, or vulnerability. It’s not about trying to fix it or make it go away.
• Is true power and freedom: it is not pushing through, controlling, judging, or avoiding anything.
• Is NOT about going to war with ourselves or others. It is about empathy, compassion, and acceptance.
• Is remembering your connection to Source and that you are a unique expression of it.
• Is an innate state that is fearless. 

At the end of this episode I offer a question to reflect upon:

How would your life be different if someone taught you how to access your resilience from a young age?

Take a minute and try too imagine that you are made up of all types of parts, the parts that are carrying the pain and fear. Now ask yourself:

Who am I, in this present moment, when I ask all my parts give me some space? What am I aware of? How do I feel? What’s different?

Thank you for listening!
With gratitude, Danielle Carron

What power do you have that no one can take from you?

I’ve looked closely at this as I have been helping people heal and experience great freedom and joy by embodying their power as a psychotherapist for over 16 years and now as a coach.

As a trauma specialist, many symptoms we experience from trauma are related to a loss of power. And upon restoring and embodying our power we heal from the traumatic experience. 

I explore how you can embody your power mentally, physiologically, physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. In addition, I share why reclaiming power is important to your health.

The restoration of power has an incredible capacity to heal!

Danielle Carron, MS, MA, SEP
https://daniellecarron.com/podcast/

Mentioned in this podcast:
Byron Katie
Bruce Lipton
Richard Schwartz - Internal Family Systems