Learning to Listen to Yourself

woman

You know that nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach? The one that says something’s not right?

Or the ease and comfort you have when you’re with someone you really trust? The feeling that says, “This person is safe. I can let down my guard.”

Or maybe you’ve noticed how energized and excited you feel about certain aspects of your work and how drained you feel by others.

These feelings have important messages to tell us if we only listen. But too often, we don’t tune in enough to hear what they have to say. Or if we do, we don’t trust them.

Maybe we did trust them once upon a time — but we’ve been burned.

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Befriending Our Emotions

white-envelop-on-a-fence-1216383Emotions can seem very inconvenient sometimes. They can be distressing and overwhelming, and they often appear to get in our way.

Of course, it feels wonderful to experience happiness or excitement or love – so called, ‘positive’ emotions – but other emotions like sadness, anger, or fear are quite unpleasant. We often think of them as bad or frightening. They seem to cloud our judgment or just make us feel bad. No wonder we often want to run away from them or find ways to make them go away as quickly as possible!

However, what many people don’t realize is that the meaning we assign to our emotions (that they are bad or scary) and the reactions we have to them (trying to resist or escape from them) are actually responsible for much of our distress. We tell ourselves that we can’t handle these feelings or that they will never go away – or that they mean something terrible about us or about other people.

On the other hand, if we try to approach our emotions as helpful, (albeit sometimes unpleasant) messengers giving us important information about our own needs, we can begin to have a different relationship with our own internal experience. Read More


Welcome to Inner Journeys — A Blog for Those on a Quest for Both Inner & Outer Adventures!

hikerDid you move abroad full of excitement and a spirit of adventure but now find that you’re feeling a bit lost and disconnected from yourself?

Or were you a reluctant adventurer, coming along with your parter — and now your relationship is feeling strained from the stresses of life abroad and your shifting roles?

Or perhaps you’re generally doing well and enjoying this expat adventure, but you’d like to make more space for balance, authenticity, and groundedness — and to deepen the sense of meaning in your life.

Wherever you are in your journey, I’m glad you found your way here. I hope you will find this blog to be a source of both information and inspiration as you navigate your own inner and outer journeys! Read More