Feeling compassion for ourselves in no way releases us from responsibility for our actions. Rather, it releases us from the self-hatred that prevents us from responding to our life with clarity and balance.

If I'm judging the attachment, myself, or another person, then I create separation.

Our kids go to school and they come out feeling not intelligent, not desirable, not attractive or appealing to others.

As I noticed feelings and thoughts appear and disappear, it became increasingly clear that they were just coming and going on their own. . . . There was no sense of a self owning them.

The emotion of fear often works overtime. Even when there is no immediate threat, our body may remain tight and on guard, our mind narrowed to focus on what might go wrong. When this happens, fear is no longer functioning to secure our survival. We are caught in the trance of fear and our moment-to-moment experience becomes bound in reactivity. We spend our time and energy defending our life rather than living it fully.

When you are in touch with your body and heart, it allows you to then be in the world and act with intention and clarity and kindness.

By taking the time to explore charged memories in therapy we might uncover feelings that have been buried for decades.