Tender Revolution

In this conversation episode, Catherine talks with award-winning writer and book coach, Joelle Hann, about the intimate and challenging process of birthing our creative expressions into the world. As sensitive people who often struggle with mental health and self-doubt, putting our heart creations in front of the public or gate-keepers like agents can feel insurmountable. Alongside the inspirational stories of several clients, Joelle shares her own path to cultivating creative courage and resilience, and the practices that help her stay rooted in her own worth. (The conversation gets particularly juicy near the end.)

You can learn more about Joelle's program that Catherine's took, Book Proposal Academy, at https://brooklynbookdoctor.com/bpa. 

And about Catherine's program, Becoming Bold, at https://catherineliggett.com/becomingbold.

Original music by Jamiel Conlon.

In this raw and intimate episode, Catherine shares a powerful realization about the origins of her anxiety and what truly helps. In relating to her anxiety as childhood feelings projected onto present-moment situations, Catherine discovers (with the help of her therapist and IFS) a beautiful and highly effective way to return to center. She also offers a guided practice for listeners to gently help their own anxious child parts back into the adult present.

Original music by Jamiel Conlon.

In this episode, Catherine shares how we make the shift internally from toxic hyperindividualism to healthy interdependence. In order to create sustainable and lasting change in our outer world, we must first seed it within ourselves. With this in mind, Catherine guides two gentle practices to help you soften toward your own needs and open to receiving loving support from others, paving the way for true interdependence. 

Original music for practices by Jamiel Conlon.

In this extra special conversation episode, Catherine and her husband, Carlos, share how they uphold boundaries in their marriage, and feel even closer because of it. Like many highly sensitive people, Catherine has struggled with finding self-definition while in intimate partnerships. Meeting Carlos was a game-changer. A cheerleader of her boundaries, Carlos has always encouraged Catherine to keep expressing her own authentic feelings, needs, and  desires, especially when they differ from his. Catherine and Carlos also (tearfully) read their wedding vows, anchoring their deep commitment to being differentiated, and all the more intimate for it. 

In this talk and practice, Catherine shares why we tend to brace against that which we most need, and guides a gentle Empathic Witnessing exploration into the roots of your frozenness toward receiving. We as an American / americanized Western culture experience great shame around needing one another. However, it is the warmth of each other's hearts that we most desperately crave. This episode hints at how we can soften within to begin shifting our cultural dysfunction. 

In this conversation episode, Catherine speaks with Catherine Gray, creator of the acclaimed Unsilenced Woman blog, where she writes about modern motherhood, sexuality, and healing after trauma. As the two mothers share intimate and powerful stories of their own personal initiations into motherhood, a portal to a new way of being is opened for mothers and all those on the healing path. Where desire, the voice of our undivided heart, beckons us to wholeness amidst the deepest of struggles.

You can find Catherine Gray's writings on Facebook under Unsilenced Woman, and Catherine Liggett's poetic chronicling of her early motherhood experience under the Facebook page Resplendent Mother.

We find ourselves in a time of cultural and personal death. On every level, what has masked the truth is dissolving before our eyes. In this episode, Catherine shares the importance of grief in this time, and how it is the only portal to rebirth, both as a collective and as individuals. To grow into our fullness, we must stand face to face with the Unknown, and surrender to it. Catherine leads a practice in radical presence with the Unknown, allowing that release of certainty  to open us to what is truly ours.

Saying "no" when we genuinely feel a "no" in our bodies is the greatest act of self-love we can give ourselves. So why is it so excruciatingly guilt-inducing? In this episode, Catherine shares a few of her most pivotal "no's," and explains the reasons why we face barriers to self-differentiation in our relationships, especially as sensitives and empaths. She then guides a powerful shadow work exploration that identifies where you most need to say "no," and gently heals the roots of your resistance to expressing it. 

Long ago, each and every one of us built walls within to protect our most tender parts. Many of us feel pressure to "open" these walls in order to grow spiritually and emotionally, and we tend to judge ourselves if we feel "closed" despite our efforts at healing. In this episode, Catherine shares a new perspective on inner walls that reveals their true purpose, and even their great beauty. She then leads a gentle exploration into the ways that you brace against life, and guides you in loving acceptance of those places.

In this gentle and powerful experience, Catherine guides you into intimacy with yourself in relation to racism. So often as people in white bodies, we are blocked by paralysis and defensiveness when it comes to showing up as antiracist in the world. One way to begin unfreezing ourselves is to connect sincerely to the vulnerability behind these reactions. Offered with gratitude to the Somatic Abolitionism work of Resmaa Menakem for inspiring much of what is shared here.

(Note: This shadow work experience is intended for people with white bodies, though all are welcome to listen and practice.)