Hello!
Yesterday I was driving my daughter and her friend to see the Royal Ballet. It was a two hour drive, and they were happily playing word games in the back, so I used that time to go through some Willingness Practices.
As I was doing a Willingness Practice, we drove under a sign that said, “Your story changes lives.”
And it was so apt, because in the last couple of days, over on my FB page, I’ve been called to share snippets of my journey.
For example, how I went from crying the whole way through the first women’s group I went to, 25 years ago, to 10 years ago wanting to run groups but thinking I’d never be able to, to 5 years ago running groups but always having a headache afterwards because I was tensing up during it, to nowadays, where I am LOVING the groups I run, being TOTALLY myself, free from all self-judgment, and I feel relaxed and energised during and after them!
I also went from being a teenager who was terrified to speak, and who believed that I didn’t know how to connect with people, to being told by two people in consecutive sessions on Saturday that they experienced never been judged by me, and have never had that with anyone else, and another person telling me that their Inner Loving Mother has my voice (I hear that a lot!)
In my early twenties I thought I had too much emotional pain to ever become a parent. Ten years later, I gave birth to my daughter, and was able to be the parent I really wanted to be for the first 8 years of her life (until her Dad and I separated).
I had been terrified of giving birth. And I did so much inner work and preparation that I ended up having two incredibly empowering, mostly unassisted births.
And you’ve probably heard me talk about going from being the most self-judgmental, guilt and shame-ridden person I know, to nowadays never feeling guilty, setting loving limits with any shaming thoughts, and having a deeply compassionate inner dialogue.
I share these in case you are wanting to run groups, offer sessions to people, be the mother you want to be, have an empowering birth, get free from guilt, shame and self-judgment, and want to be deeply compassionate with yourself, and would like some encouragement.
As a teenager, I would have never believed that I could end up being the person I am now.
And that is why I am PASSIONATE about supporting, encouraging, inspiring other mothers in these directions – to respond more lovingly to yourself, your child and your calling.
As you’re reading this, I wonder if you are noticing the changes you’ve made over the years? And if so, I invite you to celebrate the journey you’ve taken.
And if you’re wanting to keep walking forward, especially in the direction of sharing your own unique gifts, then you might be interested in my Inner Loving Presence Process Course for Entrepreneurs, which I am launching later this week.
I thought you might like to hear about the different elements, and what they are there for. I have found all four of these elements really helpful for ALL areas of my life, not just the calling part!
There are four different practices/processes in the Course:
1. Connecting with your Inner Loving Crew;
2. The Willingness Practice;
3. The Inner Loving Presence Practice;
4. The Conversation with Life.
Connecting with your Inner Loving Crew
Connecting with your Inner Loving Mother, Inner Loving Father, Inner Best Friend and Inner Beloved can help you differentiate between your own inner voice and what you internalised. They can be with you when you are scared, listen to your compassionately, and give you unconditional love, support and encouragement.
A couple of days ago, one of the mamas in our local Aware Parenting group shared this video with our group, after we’d been talking about the Inner Loving Crew.
I found it heartbreaking to see these women’s inner dialogue. And what they say at the end, about them changing their inner dialogue to how they support each other, is SO similar to what happens with our Inner Best Friend.
(Click on the video to watch it)
I find having my Inner Bestie is really helpful at times when I’d like more comments on a post I’ve written, or more likes, or more sign ups. My Inner Best Friends gives me recognition, celebration and appreciation, and as I’ve found with all my Inner Loving Crew, the more I receive from my Inner Loving Crew, the more I’m willing to receive from my Outer Loving Crew!
2. The Willingness Practice
This is like a bridge between our internal world and the outside world.
I do this every morning, and I find that the willingness generates such incredible energy and enthusiasm to get things done.
I also use it a lot when there are outer events happening that aren’t going how I want, like technical glitches (since in this model, inner unacknowledged fears show up as outer events that stop us from moving forward, thus protecting us from what it is we fear.)
I’ve found it to be incredibly powerful.
3. The Inner Loving Presence Process
This is for when old thoughts and feelings come up in the here and now and we want to heal them so that they don’t stop us from doing what we want to do. What we fear has already happened in some form, and the more we can heal those old feelings, the more free we are to do what we’re here to do.
4. The Conversation with Life
This is all about listening to, and understanding, the messages that Life gives us, so that we can respond. There are different types of messages. Some are what seem to be blockages, stopping us from moving forward, but from this way of seeing things, they’re either protecting us from what we fear, or are old feelings and experiences coming up to be heard and healed. The second type of messages are when we’re not listening to ourselves, so Life tries to help us see by showing us things on the outside. There are a couple more types too!
I’ve found that the combination of these four practices and processes is such a powerful combination which help me keep moving forward, enjoying life more and more, doing what I love, being increasingly willing to be, do and have what I really want.
If you’re interested in finding out more, keep an eye out over the next few days, for when I launch the Inner Loving Presence Process for Entrepreneurs Course – as the doors will only be open for a short while….
Love,
Marion
xxx