lara simmons

"TRUST YOUR EQUIPMENT. "  -- Cat Saunders, PhD Today I want to talk more about one of the quotes I posted earlier in the week for #inspireMEMonday  because it was a breakthrough for me in terms of understanding why I sometimes struggle more than I need to in difficult relationships. As I explained in Monday's post, what this quote means to me is something along the lines of, "listen to yourself, listen to your body." In other words, if - after an interaction with another human being - you feel angry or hurt or yucky, don't just dismiss that, listen to it. That feeling is trying to tell you something. What I realized in my latest session with my counselor (Dr Cat) is that I have not been listening, for YEARS. When someone does something that hurts me or makes me angry I feel the feeling, but almost immediately I turn it around on myself and start berating myself: "Don't take it personally." "Let it go." "If you were a big...

This is the first week I chose quotes without a theme in mind - and the quotes reflect this to some degree - but as I read over them I hear whispers of an underlying theme....relationships, interactions with others, communication. I hope these eight gems will help you move in the direction of more awareness, more understanding, and more compassion (for yourself as well as others). ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~ "May I know what it is to feel the weight on another's shoulders. May I know forgiveness in my heart. May I be given strength to extend my hand across the divide to pull another from the abyss, though that person has wounded me." --Maisie Dobbs, quoting her teacher Maurice in "Journey to Munich" by Jacqueline Winspear "Dogen-zenji said, 'When you say something to someone, he may not accept it, but do not try to make him understand it intellectually. Do not argue with him; just listen to his objections until he himself finds something wrong with th...

 "I forgive __________ for everything and __________ forgives me.    I forgive __________ for everything and __________ forgives me.    I forgive __________ for everything and __________ forgives me. "  -- Dr Cat's favorite forgiveness process This forgiveness exercise requires as much - if not more - writing than The Forgiveness Letter , so its a great one if you process things through writing. In it, Dr Cat takes the principles of Ho'oponopono, combines them with some Biblical wisdom, and adds just a dash of your fourth grade teacher (I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class). Click the link above for the full explanation and to give it a try. If you do, let me know how it works for you. [Thanks, once again, to Dr Cat Saunders for this forgiveness exercise as well as for the graphic for today's post. It is from a series entitled Images for Women in Recovery , which can be purchased as a card deck on ...

I love you. I forgive you. Please forgive me. Thank You. --A prayer for forgiveness based on the principles of Ho'oponopono Ho'oponopono, which means "to make right," is an ancient Hawaiian ritual of reconciliation and forgiveness . Traditionally it was practiced by a priest or among family members of someone who was physically ill. Today it is practiced by a family elder or by the person themselves. There are many modern teachers of this process including Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona and Dr Ihaleakalá Hew Len , who used this process on his psychiatric patients when nothing else seemed to work. One of the key principles of this practice is 100% responsibility. You recognize that you have created this situation - whatever it is - and you are asking the other person for forgiveness as well as offering it to them. All forgiveness is self-forgiveness in this process. To practice Ho'oponopono using this prayer, simply bring to mind the person or situati...

"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you." -- John Paul Sartre via Dr Cat Saunders from her book Dr Cat's Helping Handbook