New! Online Course Series
A Journey Inward
A Journey Inward is a series of online courses that explore the Self-Abandonment Wound and how to support yourself in healing the wound of unworthiness and embracing life—mind, body, and spirit.
Introduction
Many of us carry wounds from childhood. When we speak about trauma, what we mean is that the natural rhythm of our nervous system was in a state of overwhelm, and our innate survival mechanism (our limbic system) was activated in order to keep us safe. Where this becomes difficult in adulthood is when this survival mode becomes locked in the body as memory. This happens because the support just wasn’t there in childhood to process it. The survival pattern becomes deeply ingrained, keeping us stuck in anxiety and fear, and patterns of behavior that are not in support of our growth. This impacts how we engage with the world and how we remain disconnected from our authentic self.
To self-abandon is one such survival mechanism or coping strategy. This is where we place the needs of others before our own to try to maintain connection, acceptance and validation in order to feel safe. This is a survival mechanism practiced and perfected since childhood and can often be outside of our awareness. This is problematic because it leads us to abandon the heart of ourselves, our authentic selves. When we over-value the needs of others before our own we are eroding a sense of self and our sense of worth. This is because at the core of this wound is the unconscious belief that “I am not worthy of love and care”.
What is Self Abandonment?
We self-abandon when we ignore our inner voice, are highly self-critical, find it difficult to set boundaries, and say ‘no’. We self-abandon when we minimize our feelings and avoid asking for what we need. We are hyper-vigilant of others, watching for any change in mood, feeling that another person’s moods are our fault and our job to fix. We are frequently in states of anxiety and not at ease.
We imagine we will be abandoned in close, intimate relationships. When we deny our needs in relationships, we can feel (sometimes unconsciously) very resentful and hurt, and this is communicated indirectly in a myriad of ways that can erode trust and safety in relationships. We can also feel shame for having needs, which also leads to resentment. There is a shame about feeling ‘too much’ and ‘not enough’. This erodes relationships and basic self-trust.
This is highly stressful on a day-to-day basis. There is no capacity to feel at ease or to relax. There is no space to drop down into our creative heart centre in the body, to ‘play’ and feel the flow of life through us. There is no space to feel contentment and the fullness of life around us. We are locked instead in fear, self-doubt, hypervigilance, and shame.
These courses can be taken as stand-alone courses or as a series. A Journey Inward was developed to help you understand the patterns of self-abandonment and find ways to support and resource yourself to begin to heal.
All workshops, courses, programs and products are designed to support your personal development. They are not intended to diagnose, prescribe or recommend any specific psychological, psychiatric or physical health interventions. Anyone engaging in this work agrees to take responsibility for their well-being, and should they need to consult an individual licensed, qualified healthcare professional, they will do so at their discretion.
A Journey Inward
Complete Course Package
✓ Embodiment, Soul and the Celtic Spirit
✓ The Cailleach's Descent to the Underworld
✓ Resting Under Brigid's Mantle
✓ Awakening Bealtaine
✓ Celebrating the Harvest at Lúnasa
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Embodiment, Soul and the Celtic Spirit
Healing the Wounds of the Abandoning Self
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The Cailleach's Descent to the Underworld
Crossing the Dark Seas of Loss into Strange Country
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Resting Under Brigid’s Mantle
Cultivating Sanctuary and Self Compassion in Daily Life
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Awakening Bealtaine
Embracing Our Authentic Power
A Celebration of Granuaile -
Celebrating the Harvest at Lúnasa
Taking Your Seat at the Banquet of Life
When we listen to myths, we step into a timeless world, out of the rational concrete, into the symbolic life. This is the world of soul, the world of metaphor and imagination. Listening to myths makes us more receptive to our inner environment, the energies of life, and the archetypal patterns living through us. This series is cultivated with great care to create an experience for you to engage your heart, mind, body, and soul self.
Embodiment, Soul and the Celtic Spirit
Healing the Wounds of the Abandoning Self
We will focus on remembering the language of the body. We will explore our feelings and senses and how returning to our bodies helps cultivate our inner ground. This will allow us to begin the journey inward, where we will create a touchstone, an anchor, that supports us in feeling safe while we explore our inner world.
The Cailleach’s Descent to the Underworld
Crossing the Dark Seas of Loss into Strange Country
This course will explore the grief we experience during transition periods. Grief is a constant companion with change. So, to change and heal the patterns that no longer serve us, we need to meet the grief inherent in that transition. We can acknowledge that those old patterns kept us safe when needed, but it is time to make space for a new way of life. Together, we will cross the thresholds of change and learn, through the wisdom of the ancient Crone - The Cailleach, how we can come to support ourselves in the liminal places.
Resting Under
Brigid’s Mantle
Cultivating Sanctuary and Self Compassion in Daily Life
Through this course, we will explore what sanctuary means to us and how we can begin cultivating spaces of intentional support and self-compassion to grow and embrace life as our authentic selves. We will explore the growth that comes at this Imbolc time and how the light returning brings the energy of growth and renewal. We will draw on the healing power of Brigid’s Cloak to support us on this path.
Awakening
Bealtaine
Embracing Our Authentic Power - A Celebration of Granuaile
We explore the transformative power of anger and how the energy produced from anger can support us in finding and discovering our boundaries, guide us in taking up space in the world and begin to stand in our Authentic Power. We will introduce the concept of inner marriage and the uniting power of our inner feminine and masculine sides.
Celebrating the Harvest at Lúnasa
Taking Your Seat at the Banquet of Life
We explore what it might be like to allow the life force of eros, joy, and abundance into our lives, where we can begin to live again, rejoice, experience, and feel beauty in life. We will make space for ourselves to be free from self-sabotaging patterns and the fear of joy. We will reap our own “harvest” and celebrate our growth with gratitude, however large or small.
What A Journey Inward Participants have said...