And the the giveaway winner is: Laura.
Hugs to all who didn’t win this time, more chances coming soon.
This post is dedicated to my beloved #ppdchat friends. I’ve been so consumed with creating events and classes here in Ithaca, that I’ve been rather absent on twitter. I miss you all, I’ll be back soon.
And of course, to all the Ithaca mamas I was so fortunate to get to know in my , and the and , I love you more than words can tell! And to all the local mamas who are thinking of coming to these classes, I can’t wait to meet you!
And to all the far away mamas who wish you could come to these classes — oh, how I wish I could beam you over. And until then, I hope you can join the next PPD SpeakEasy Call on Tuesday Jan.17 at 8:30pm EST.
Just one day before the end of 2011, let me ask you this:
Did your December harbor a setback?
Anxiety, overwhelm, depression?
December is the hardest month of the year for most people, and if you take care of a family, it gets even harder. If all the guests, and the traveling, and the gifts, and the cooking, and the family, and the friends, and the parties, and the lists, and the resolutions, if all of these made you feel like you’ve been swallowed by a boa constrictor, please remember that you are not alone. (If you actually happen to be alone this holiday season and you are drowning in loneliness, that can feel like a boa constrictor, too). The overall too much/not enough nature of this month depletes us and feeds the PPDemons. No wonder December is hard on me; it’s hard on everybody (even those who look good doing it are probably struggling). Especially if you are recovering from a mood disorder, please remember that December is one big setback waiting to happen, which totally sucks. The only upside of slipping is that every setback is an opportunity to practice self-kindness and
I’ve said before that setbacks and slipping are an integral part of recovery, darn it! At least help me do my homework your admission tutor will find you an interesting personality.You begin to get better, have a good day here and there, then some good days in a row. But then good days are inevitably followed by bad ones, and when a bad day comes, the difference between a setback and crushing back into the abyss is in how you treat yourself when you fall.
Having a Permission Slip to Slip can make getting back up a whole lot easier.
When you have a setback, instead of believing your PPDemons that the improvement is just an illusion and the abyss is where you truly belong, I invite you to try something else:
Give yourself permission to struggle. Dare to give yourself permission to lick your wounds compassionately, and instead of fighting and judging yourself for your weaknesses, take a moment to recognize your strengths. We both know you have some in spades, (strengths, that is), but it’s so easy to ignore them, even easier to discount them. So how about shining the light of your attention on what you are doing right? When you slip, you only notice what you are doing wrong, so for a minute now, would you play with me?
I’d like you to imagine yourself literally holding the torch which is the light of your attention. Got it? Now move it around your awareness to find the treasures hiding in the dark: take a look at the past month and tell me what have you been rocking despite all the hard? Who have you been amazing with? When did you prevail against the odds? Where did the power of your love shine? No moment is too simple, no accomplishment too small. I can’t wait to hear what you find. Would you be willing to share what you find in the comments below?
A confession: I’m noticing that a part of me is feeling guilty for not writing this post at the beginning of the month. Oh, how I wish I had shared this idea with you before we had to jump through all the hoops of the holidays. But the idea just showed up today, one day before New Year’s Eve. It’s fascinating to behold this reaction; I can feel this in my heart and in the pit of my stomach. It’s oh so tempting to dwell on this deficiency and believe the monsters that say that I should just scratch this blog post.
But I will walk my talk and shine the light of my attention on the upside: that a permission slip to slip is useful no matter when, and that despite not always being “on time”, my penchant for wordplay is helpful in my healing, and hopefully in yours, too. So here I am giving you one big fat Permission Slip to Slip (or a shiny tiny one, you pick) and I trust that you’ll make the best of it, today, tomorrow the last day of this year, and in 2012, and maybe for the rest of your life.
And speaking of the end of the year, I’m not about to make resolutions. Instead I’m consciously invoking the qualities that I want to have in my life:
Let 2012 be resplendent with self-kindness, nourishment, trust, and play.
A permission slip to slip makes so much sense in this context.
Self-Kindness, Nourishment, Trust, and Play.
Which qualities will you invoke for yourself?
Self-kindness, nourishment, trust, and play are the guiding principles in the UnGuilt Trip Class. The 2nd Ithaca UnGuilt Trip will take off on January 31, which is a month from New Year’s eve. I’ll be teaching this class online (for the very first time) in late February. Details and testimonials
Comment magic, and my first giveaway ever:
If you share the strengths that you discovered while holding the torch of your awareness, I will dance for joy. If you share the qualities you are invoking for 2012, I will blow bubbles and kisses in your direction. If you dare to share your thoughts here and then share this post with your peeps on twitter and/or facebook, you will enter to win a self-kindness coaching session with me: just the two of us on the phone for one hour, UnGuilting, disarming your PPDemons, sowing seeds for internal support structures. One winner will be selected via a drawing from a hat (a hot-pink hat with ears!). I’ll pick a winner next Thursday, that’s January 5, 2012.
This is the first time I’m offering a giveaway of any kind, and I’m noticing all kinds of resistances here. What if people don’t like this? What if nobody comments? What if a ton of people comment, and I’ll feel bad about having to pick just one? What if, what if, what if? But I’m going to stretch my comfort zone and experiment with this. If we get a lot of responses, well, we’ll just have to offer this again, maybe monthly, maybe every other week for a couple of months, we’ll try and learn.
As always, but especially on the eve of a new year, oceans of love to all who read.
Whether you comment or not, happy new year to you, my dear.
I am so grateful to you for choosing to spend your precious time reading my words and walking this path with me.
May the joy be with you.
– – – – – – – – –
Will I see you soon?
These are the PPD to Joy January events:
:
Tuesday mornings: January 10, 17, 24, 31, 10:30 to noon (no class Jan. 3rd).
Sunday Afternoon: January 22, 4:00-5:30pm.
Tuesday January 10 12:30-1:30pm
This month’s meeting will include a taste of the UnGuilt Trip Class.
Tuesday January 17, 8:30pm Eastern
Free and loving, mothers from near and far.
Subscribe on the right to get the call numbers.
The 6 weeks adventure begins
on Tuesday Jan 31, 12:30-2:00pm.