It's so easy to just take whatever our brain tells us as absolute truth. In fact, many of us are under the mistaken assumption that our brains are simply offering us observations of all the stimuli we're taking in, when in fact our brains are sorting through all of that stimuli by making it all MEAN something (or nothing).
I speak with women regularly who share with me the beautiful dreams they have of creating or building something, like a business or something better for themselves or their families.
However, do you want to know how many of them are actually acting each day in alignment with creating what they want? Probably 1% (at most).
The majority of women I encounter are holding themselves back, waiting for the "right" time, wishing they had more support, and letting life get fully in the way of actually doing the thing they're dreaming of doing.
But why?
Because our brains are messing with us...
in the name of trying to protect us.
Instead of questioning what our brains are telling us about ourselves and life, we just go along with all of the B.S. ideas our brain throws at us about the limitations and the reasons why it can't/won't work. This leaves us feeling exhausted and unfulfilled... waiting and hoping for life to someday, somehow get better, rather than being consistent about creating the life we want to live.
*Enter the work of Kara Loewentheil*
Kara Loewentheil, host of the Unf*ck Your Brain Podcast and creator of The Clutch (https://unfuckyourbrain.com/), has done extensive work in this arena. As a lawyer who spent much of her professional career working on the front lines of womens health, feminism and equal rights, she has determined that the feminist movement that really needs to happen (that could make the world a better place for every human) is the revolution inside our brains.
Inside this episode I share more about the 4 mindf*cks of patriarchy that Kara teaches -- people pleasing, imposter syndrome, perfectionism & validation seeking.
Now, I've done a LOT of "belief breakthrough" and "change your beliefs to change your life" types of work over the past 16+ years. However, I have really appreciated this fresh, super-logical approach to understanding what is actually sane ways to think vs. what are the ways I've been subconsciously undermining myself and getting in my own way without realizing it (and feeling pretty crappy and anxious a lot of the time as a result).
This isn't about getting the law of attraction on your side, which can be a fun rabbit hole to go down for a little while, but ultimately feels MUCH harder to try to manage. It's about understanding how our thoughts create our feelings and our feelings lead us to action/inaction, which then create the results we experience in our everyday lives. It's simply a natural consequence. So if we want to change our lives, we have to understand what thoughts we're believing so we can question them and see if we may want to practice and integrate more helpful thoughts.
I am so grateful for Britt Hartley helping me identify some areas where I've still be so stuck in unhelpful patterns and thought habits. She recommended Kara to me as a really solid, research-based, logical approach to reprogramming our brains (especially after religious deconstruction).
This podcast is the end of a 3-part series where I've been sharing my story and the most helpful aspects that have helped me in my journey to find more sanity, peace and wellness overall.
Nov 22 202340 mins