Status Updates From How to Do the Work: Recogni...

One of the criticisms I saw for this book was the author didn’t talk about systemic issues when talking about “doing the work”. Not only has she, but the page I’m on, she specifically states that you cannot ego work your way out of systemic oppression and doesn’t expect people to. I don’t know if people are being willfully ignorant or if they didn’t pay attention.

Agree with: People have to actively participate in their own healing, that it’s the most essential component.

I don’t like how medication is framed, though. Medication can be a very helpful and valid part of a healing process. It works for a lot of people and their life is better for it. No need to make them feel ashamed for that.

Page xxiv, I really don’t agree with this sentiment that healing work always has to be hard and uncomfortable. It can be, but it doesn’t have to be and sometimes it isn’t. Those parts are just as valid and important to the whole journey as the hard parts.

What she calls „traditional Western medicine“ = medicine. Everything else = not medicine.

Chapter 5: mind body healing practices

40

Fucking therapy homework

100

Practices like yoga and meditation are powerful in restructuring the brain. When new neural pathways are created we are able to break free of default patterns and live in a conscious state.

“Everytime we make a choice that is outside our default programming, our subconscious mind will attempt to pull us back to the familiar by creating mental resistance… “I can just do this later.””

Obsessed with how much psychology I’m learning about

cycles of human emotions can be addicting too. Emotional addiction is particularly powerful when we habitually seek or avoid certain emotional states as a way to cope with trauma.

When we change our relationship with our thoughts, we change the cascade of emotions that floods our bodies and persuades us to act in certain ways,

To truly actualize change, you have to engage in the work of making new choices every day. In order to achieve mental wellness, you must begin by being an active daily participant in your own healing. ✨

Often my clients who were more self-aware could identify their problematic behaviors and could even visualize a clear path to change. But few were able to take that first step from knowing to doing. The ones who could see a way out expressed feelings of shame about their instinctual falling back into patterns of unwanted behavior. They felt ashamed that they knew better and still could not do better

Almost all of them worried about how this “stuckness” was perceived by others and often obsessed about the many ways everyone in their lives perceived them. Most shared a deep-rooted belief that their consistent inability to sustain change reflected evidence of deeper, intrinsic damage or “unworthiness”—a description used by many.

Healing rarely comes without difficulty. It’s painful at times and terrifying, too. It means letting go of narratives that hold you back and harm you. It means letting a part of yourself die so that another part of you can be reborn.

Truly comprehending your past, listening to it, witnessing it, learning from it, is a process that enables deep change. Change that lasts. It enables true transformation.

daily practice of creating your own wellness by breaking negative patterns, healing from your past, and creating your conscious Self. Holistic psychology focuses on the mind, body, and soul in the service of rebalancing the body and nervous system and healing unresolved emotional wounds. This work gives you the power to transform yourself into the person you’ve always been at your core.

With your awareness awakened, anything is possible.

I write to you today from a place of continued healing. My symptoms of anxiety and panic have largely disappeared. I no longer relate to the world from a reactive place, and I am able to access more awareness and compassion. I feel connected to and present with my loved ones—and I am able to set boundaries with those who are not active participants in my journey.

I discovered that our genes are not destiny and that in order to change, we have to become consciously aware of our thought patterns and habits, which have been shaped by the people we care for, and have been cared for by, the most.

Hitting rock bottom is like a death, and for some of us, it can literally bring us close to death. Death, of course, enables rebirth, and I emerged determined to figure out what was wrong. That painful moment brought the light in, revealing so much of myself that I buried. Suddenly, clarity hit: I need to find change.

After years of being in relationships yet feeling emotionally alone, I had finally met a person who felt right because she was so different from me. Whereas I was hesitant and often disengaged, Lolly was passionate and headstrong. She often challenged me in ways that I felt were exciting.

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

This is kinda a re-read since I listened to half the audio but I knew it would be better as a physical read

“Most shared a deep rooted belief that their consistent inability to sustain change reflected evidence of deeper, intrinsic damage or “unworthiness” - a description used by many.”

this book is genuinely changing my life i really don’t know that there’s anything else to say right now

This book is so fascinating to me. I’ve learned so much already, even about my personal trauma responses.