UNCAGED: THE SELF-IMAGE EDITION

DO YOU FEEL LIKE WHO YOU ARE ISN'T ENOUGH FOR THE LIFE YOU WANT TO BE LIVING?

 

Are you someone who . . .

 

• sets a high bar for yourself & feels like you're failing (in your personal life or @work)

• feels overwhelmed by life & dealing with burnout

• wants more from life & feels like something is missing

• struggles with anxiety, low self-esteem or feels inadequate in some way

• is struggling to feel empowered (+ maybe "imposter syndrome") & longs to reconnect with yourself & your sense of power

• wants more meaningful relationships & work that doesn't make the world feel impossible

 

If you can relate to this, rest assured I understand all of this on a deep level. Because this is me.

 

I grew up over-achieving (academically, athletically and even artistically) but as an adult I've struggled to achieve, or, to feel that I've been achieving. Everywhere I looked appeared like a failure to me.

 

Despite having become a single, full-time mom when my daughter was 12 months old, and then going on to get my PhD & becoming a professor while she was still young, I struggled to feel adequate & capable as a scholar ...

 

... and as a mom. (My daughter came into this world with significant health issues that shook me to my core and challenged what I thought I could handle.)

 

I felt overwhelmed and deeply anxious all of the time. I didn't think I could manage it all on my own. Even just the bare minimum of it. Not the fear and not the managing her health and not the demands of my job nor making money to support us both.

 

In a word, it all felt impossible. I felt slammed by life as though it were a giant wave tossing me to the ocean floor and holding me under.

 

I was trying my best to follow the inner guidance that I'd trusted all my life to lead me to my next steps, but now any path to success & peace seemed hopeless.

 

With the benefit of hindsight, I'm so grateful for the way my life turned out. This set of seemingly impossible (for me) circumstances expedited me through Earth School ....

 

I had already been asking to understand who I am -- and what life is -- on the deepest possible level, and, well, through walking this journey, I've been living into the answers.

 

My lack of self-understanding and clarity (hello, I was conditioned into the I-know mind as much as the next person!) led me to deep asking ... which is what led me to discover Byron Katie's work.

 

While I had studied many spiritual teachers & masters for myself & for my PhD dissertation by this point (whom I continue to be guided by), in The Work I finally had a way to experience for myself what they were talking about.

 

This is what I invite you to, too. Use your greatest struggles as the fuel for unearthing your true nature. Move beyond any cages you've unwittingly put yourself in into a free, expanded, empowered, authentic you.

~

​

If you've read any of my previous emails, then you've heard of The Work of Byron Katie. But if you've wanted to learn more about it and actually try it, this is a really good chance.

 

If you've never heard of it, well, this is likely what you've been searching & waiting for (I know it was for me) ...

 

It's a game-changer .... Life-changer.

 

Here's what Harvard-trained psychologist (& world's most famous life coach) Martha Beck said about it ...

 

"Byron Katie's The Work is the single most powerful psychological

and spiritual tool I've ever encountered."

 

And writer Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love & Big Magic fame):

 

"Byron Katie has rocked my world and shaken loose my mind more thoroughly

than any other spiritual teacher I’ve ever encountered, living or dead.

Using her simple process called The Work, I have managed to liberate myself

from thoughts and beliefs that had brought me years of suffering,

and that I had honestly feared would never leave me.”

​

 

Who we believe ourselves to be -- that picture we carry around in our heads of ourselves ... our self-image -- keeps us locked into a way of being & living in the world that fits that image.

 

We hold to that image unwaveringly. The ego-mind is very loyal to the beliefs that formed our identity.

 

Whether they are true or not.

 

The upshot is ... our self-image keeps us from realizing our true potential. Even if we have a mostly positive self-concept, there are definitely ways that you are holding yourself back.

 

We need a way to transform these limiting beliefs.

 

Enter ... self-inquiry.

 

Self-inquiry is a 2-part process that unearths these beliefs and then takes you deep to uproot the beliefs at their core. Just through noticing them. Turns out, "the truth will set you free" is accurate. This is good news. Beliefs evaporate in the presence of the truth.

​

I can't wait to introduce this tool to you for you to use to transform your life. Or, if you know the tool, then you know how profound it is (if you're actually doing inquiry!) and you're welcome to join to take a look at areas where you've been keeping yourself in a box and feeling the inner push to expand.

 

YOUR OWN WISDOM IS WHAT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR.

 

I hope you'll join me ... I'd really love to spend some time with you, sharing this process. Please email me with any questions you might have. Or direct message me if you follow me on social media! 

 

with love, Kathryn

​