Gentle Discipline
Our focus in this series is:
- laying a foundation with simple nervous system practices like orienting and grounding
- befriending the inner critic
- learning how to recognize a yes and a no in your body
- and then using these new tools to build a routine you truly love vs. one that feels like a drag
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Gentle Discipline - Week 1
In this first class we start with a short introduction - so we're all on the same page when it comes to this course. Then we'll be getting into our nervous system basics: orienting and grounding. We will end this class discussing when and how you'll be able to practice these nervous system basics...
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Orienting - 10 Minutes
Orientation is the natural response of animals to scan the environment to assess for safety. The body engages with the environment to register and map, is it safe? Can I settle here to eat, sleep, or hang out?
Orienting is a practice that can be done almost anywhere. It's the simple act of look...
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Grounding - 10 Minutes
Grounding refers to our ability to experience ourselves as embodied with the help of a floor, couch or other surface. You'll typically use your feet to sense the ground, your sit bones to sense the surface you're sitting on, or your back to sense what you lie on. As a result of sensing your body ...
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Gentle Discipline - Week 2
In this second class we'll look at the difference of sensations, feelings, emotions and thoughts. Logically we might know that it's safe to build the routines we desire but it turns out we can't THINK our way there. What we can do? Teach our nervous system to accurately perceive cues of safety, w...
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Embodied Decisions - 2 minutes
Learn to sense what a yes and no feel like in your body. Pick something that is really simple and accessible. For instance: Which pair of socks feels like a yes today? Which mug feels like a yes today? Try and build a routine with one simple decision you make every day.
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Your favorite place - 5 minutes
Your favorite place is an exercise where we imagine our favorite place, person, animal, object, show or sound. We use this safe memory to tune into our senses and feelings and practice being in our bodies.
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5 Minute Dance Party - Explanation
In this 2 minute video I explain how 5 minute dance parties work. Turns out your teenage heart was right and blasting loud music according to how you feel does wonders for feeling alive. You can find my playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4rTD4nwgWYt2C2Ruk5IlqU?si=9447ccf36b4f4691
I...
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Gentle Discipline - Week 3
In our third class, we will tackle boundaries. What are they? And how can we start noticing when we override our bodies' needs? Truth is, if we've been measuring our value by how useful we can be to other people, we will experience discomfort when we start setting boundaries. Our inability to dif...
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Rocking boundaries - 3 minutes
Sometimes it's easier to sense your boundaries when your are using a wall or a back rest to push into. It's the idea that we can feel ourselves more easily when we sense what is not us. In this case we use a chair, wall, exercise bench, car seat,... whatever works. Come back into your body and se...
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Boundary circle - 10 minutes
Building a strong relationship with ourselves starts with knowing where we begin and others end. Your boundaries are your sense of self. In this exercise we are noticing your boundaries, how rigid or permeable they feel and how you feel when you are experiencing your boundaries. Only add the imag...
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Gentle Discipline - Week 4
What if, shaming yourself for unwanted behavior doesn't work? What if understanding the function of unwanted behavior were the key to changing said behavior? In this class we'll explore that under most annoying behaviors is a reward. And this reward is why you keep doing what you supposedly do no...
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Gentle Discipline - Week 5
Research suggests that conventional goal setting activates the "rational part" of our brain.This leads to short term fixes but it rarely motivates us long term. An embodied vision - a possible future that motivates us long term - is created when we learn how to be in the present moment and we ask...
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Gentle Discipline - Week 6
In week 6 we build on all the work we've done so far and turn our live session into a practice session. Through orienting and grounding we'll play with our week 4 topic: alternative approaches to shaming ourselves for seemingly unwanted behavior. Get ready to explore and maybe befriend the inner ...
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Gentle Discipline - Week 7
In our second to last class we're getting into the planning phase. What are you looking to implement over the next weeks? And how can you do it in a way so it's nervous system friendly? You'll have time to go over all of the tools we've been working on and come up with a mind map or algorithm tha...
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Gentle Discipline - Week 8
Most of us get stuck because we don't allow ourselves to celebrate - or even validate - small wins. For instance finishing an 8-week course. If the thought of celebrating immediately makes you go: "yes, but how" or "celebrate what? I still have such a long way to go." this class is for you. Habit...