Tag: empowerment (Page 8 of 15)
In this age of technology, we have the ability to instantly find information on virtually anything and anyone. Although we need to exercise discretion in what we choose to believe of what we see and read online, there’s no doubt that there are all kinds of self-help resources to be found with a simple search.
So, have you checked out the new, free course that is available here at Natural Clarity Coaching? On the main page, open the menu (three white lines below the header) and select ‘Free Mini-Courses’. The current freebie is about the basics of narcissistic personality disorder, and there are more to come on a variety of topics.
How about the new course under the ‘Shop Online Courses’ tab? That one’s on intuition and red flag awareness. It’s $19.99 (U.S.) but I feel a sale coming on! And there are more courses coming in the near future.
What I can tell you about the courses at Natural Clarity Coaching is that they are created with a backing of not only personal experience and ongoing post-secondary education in psychology and trauma, but with genuine empathy and a desire to help others in difficult times. And the focus of these courses isn’t “what’s wrong with this person who hurt me” (although this is touched on for understanding of the topic), but, rather, a roadmap that moves from learning to healing, growing, and thriving.
That’s all for now! If you check out any of the courses, enjoy! And check back often because there’s plenty more to come. Oh, and these blogs are always available 24/7!!
Until next time,
~Heather~ Natural Clarity Coaching
www.naturalclaritycoaching.com na********************@***il.com
Natural Clarity Coaching on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok
*Let’s all take care of this planet of ours
This free mini-course touches on the basics of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Optimal viewing is full screen (button in bottom right-hand corner of slideshow below).
Click on each slide to move to the next or use left-right arrow keys . Use ‘escape’ to leave the full screen mode.
~Heather~ Natural Clarity Coaching
Check out the Introduction section of my new, self-paced course offering, ‘Using Intuition and Red Flags to Avoid Toxic Behaviour‘. This will give you a bit of a taste of what the course has to offer. Then, if you’re interested in purchasing it, simply click on the ‘Shop Online Courses’ tab on the main menu. That will take you to the course purchase options.
Just a note – to watch the preview, it is recommended that you open it up to full screen by hovering over the box below and selecting the button in the bottom right-hand corner. To move from slide to slide, click on the slide show or use left-right arrow keys.
If you decide to purchase this course, enjoy! There are more on the way in the near future.
Heather
~Natural Clarity Coaching~
na********************@***il.com
Natural Clarity Coaching on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tiktok
*Let’s all take care of this planet of ours
Hi All!
Just posting to let you know that there is a new course available for purchase from Natural Clarity Coaching – Using Intuition and Red Flag Awareness to Avoid Toxic Behaviour. The focus is on intuition – how it works, ways to access it, and the benefits it can create – and how to develop a strong awareness of some of the most common red flags. Next, the course delves into how using intuition and red flag awareness as a dynamic duo can provide empowerment and act as a guide to avoid toxic behaviours in our daily lives.
This affordable course is set out in a dynamic slideshow format that is self-paced and easy to follow.
If you are interested, please follow this link for the shop area of Natural Clarity Coaching: https://naturalclaritycoaching.com/product/course-using-intuition-and-awareness-of-red-flags-to-avoid-toxic-behaviour/ or simply click on the ‘Shop Online Courses’ menu on the home page.
Purchases are safely processed by WooCommerce, and the courses have lifetime availability.
Enjoy!
~Heather~ Natural Clarity Coaching naturalclaritycoaching.com na********************@***il.com Natural Clarity Coaching on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
“Trauma is not what happens to you, it’s what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you.” ~ Gabor Mate
With trauma of any kind, a mark is left not only on the mind, but also on the body. The memory of trauma becomes stored in the body as well as the nervous system. This can then lead to both psychological and physiological symptoms which can be overwhelming and fatiguing, as in PTSD and C-PTSD. In turn, emotional and physical exhaustion are common results.
If we’re looking at some of the specific symptoms, they can manifest as:
- Anxiety, depression, dissociation
- Triggers
- Flashbacks, nightmares, difficulty sleeping
- Paranoia
- Hypervigilance
- Migraines
- Chronic pain
When experiencing a traumatic event, our body is triggered to fight, flee, or fawn (trying to please someone to avoid conflict). This comes from within the sympathetic nervous system (connects internal organs to the brain by spinal nerves), and is considered an acute response to stress. While this reaction is a human survival reaction in the form of heightened arousal, when this happens regularly – even in the form of triggers from past trauma – it becomes challenging to return to a regulated and calm state.
There are many ways to counteract stored trauma and rebalance our nervous system, such as body-based therapies. These include trauma-informed yoga, somatic therapy (connecting mind and body), and other methods to establish calm, regulation, and feelings of safety.
If you are interested in delving further into this topic, here is a link to a page with a great book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., as well as workbooks to complement the reading of the book: https://amzn.to/3Pym8l1
Until next time,
~Heather~ Natural Clarity Coaching naturalclaritycoaching.com na********************@***il.com Natural Clarity Coaching on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
*Let’s all take care of this planet of ours *
Yes, it’s possible for a narcissist to have been, or still be, a scapegoat. This is particularly true when they have been narcissistically abused by a parent or guardian. It isn’t necessarily golden children who may become egotistical and/or narcissistic.
I’ll share a bit about the case of an individual (not a client) who grew up with three siblings. He has two sisters and an older brother. This brother is the golden child of the family, while the person I mentioned was – and still is – the scapegoat. His mother never has a kind or complimentary thing to say about him, and she does her best to control everything in his life, which has led him to many downfalls. And yet she raves about her oldest son while continuing to criticize her other adult son. Of note is the fact that her oldest son is quite a narcissist himself but couldn’t do wrong in her eyes if he tried.
In this particular situation, this narcissistic mother believed herself to have been an outstanding farmer with a huge cattle operation when her children were young, and yet accounts from others – including her scapegoated son – were that they lived on a relatively small hobby farm that never amounted to much. Livestock was not well cared for, plentiful crops evaded her, and veggie gardens were not productive. But the point to be made here is that she has always placed immense importance on farming because, in her narcissistic mind, she felt that she was exceptional at it. And so, her scapegoated son has spent his life to date attempting to become a farmer that his toxic mother would be proud of. He has poured tens of thousands of dollars into creating what he thinks would impress her. He lost his family over the obsession, although his alcoholism and narcissistic abuse were also major contributing factors. Yet, in the end, he has never been successful at farming despite decades of trying. Why? Because it isn’t his dream. It’s his mother’s dream. And the sad fact is that even if he were to be successful, it would never be enough for her. He will never receive the love and validation that he has craved from his mother for his entire life.
This scapegoated narcissist will likely spend all his days attempting to live out someone else’s dreams in the hopes of finally being acknowledged and praised by someone who is incapable of giving that to him. His only release may come about when his mother passes on.
So, yes, narcissists can simultaneously be scapegoats. The hits to the ego that are a part of being a scapegoated child have the potential to turn a person into an ego-protecting and abusive narcissist, seeking out their own scapegoats, while continuing to be narcissistically abused by a disordered parent. Sad mixture, for certain.
Everyone has a story that has brought them to their current chapter. While it’s a challenge to feel sympathy for narcissists, simply trying to put oneself in their shoes for a few moments is often enough to shine a spotlight on their unpleasant existence. If nothing else, it allows for a glimpse into why they behave the way they do. We don’t have to forgive if we don’t choose to, but sometimes it helps to understand why narcissists are they way they are. It allows us to know that it has nothing to do with us but everything to do with their own internal chaos.
Here are some great books on narcissistic families and scapegoats: https://amzn.to/3KYNMVI
Until next time,
~Heather~ Natural Clarity Coaching naturalclaritycoaching.com na********************@***il.com Natural Clarity Coaching on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
*Let’s all take care of this planet of ours *
If you’re interested, here’s a link to a book on the subject of narcissistic personality disorder: https://amzn.to/3PbfsJq
~Heather~ Natural Clarity Coaching naturalclaritycoaching.com na********************@***il.com Natural Clarity Coaching on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
*Let’s all take care of this planet of ours *
As they say, trauma isn’t all about just the bad stuff; it’s also about the good stuff that never happened. And great malice isn’t necessary to do great harm because an absence of both empathy and understanding are sufficient.
Sometimes what is lacking can have as much of a negative impact as what is occurring. So, what happens in our childhoods within dysfunctional families can be obvious – like physical and/or verbal abuse – but it can also be invisible. And, sadly, both play out in our lives as we become adults. All of it can lead to severe insecurity, lack of confidence or self-acceptance, and issues in other relationships, to name just a few. Emotionally immature and unavailable role models often lead their children down the path of deficits in many ways.
How do we repair these emotional wounds that have major influence in our lives? My focus is always on growing an awareness of the dynamics we have experienced in our lives, and then making healing a priority. Once we see where and by whom the damage was done, it’s okay to sit with those feelings that will inevitably arise, like anger, grief, sadness, loss, and regret. Even though we’re often taught not to feel or show emotions, we need to recognize the importance of honouring and validating how we feel.
But once that step feels complete, we need to prioritize ourselves and our healing. That’s what is most important. Some online articles or books will suggest taking revenge on disordered parents or anyone who has caused us harm, but when you really think about it, what good does that do us? It only uses time that we could be putting into healing and thriving. That’s been said in previous blog posts so I won’t go into it again here.
For now, this is simply a reminder that the experiences that create trauma or challenges aren’t always loud and directly observable. They can lay within parental silent treatment, the absence of empathy and understanding from our role models, missing out on good experiences, and so on. And what creates trauma or other issues in each of us is as unique as we are.
Here’s a link to search results for books on the subject of healing trauma: https://amzn.to/44nrV0S
Until next time,
~Heather~ Natural Clarity Coaching naturalclaritycoaching.com na********************@***il.com Natural Clarity Coaching on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
*Let’s all take care of this planet of ours *
From the field of what is known as positive psychology, the theory of ‘flow’ was created in the 1970s after studies were conducted on participants who were doing things for pleasure, without any form of monetary reward or fame. This research project was led by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.
So, what exactly is ‘flow’, you might wonder? A great definition of it is that it is a state of mind in which an individual becomes fully immersed in an activity. It’s one of those times when someone becomes completely absorbed in an experience. It is energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment of the process of the activity or experience. Time flies by and a person has the feeling of being in ‘the zone’. Which means that everyone will have different activities in which they experience ‘flow’. It could be within the arts or sciences, athletics, personal hobbies, time in nature, and so on. Virtually anything that someone derives pleasure from and loses themselves in. For some, it may feel like only moments have passed while it has, in fact, been hours.
And ‘flow’ can be particularly useful as a form of self-help for anyone who is dealing with toxic people and/or challenging situations. It isn’t always possible to access professional help when we feel we need it, so it’s beneficial to have resources in our personal toolbox. And the more we put these into practice, the easier it is to implement self-help methods at any time. Being in a ‘flow’ state can mentally take us away from difficult circumstances and provide a temporary reprieve. Even just a few moments of listening to a favourite musical artist or taking a walk in nature, for instance, can provide someone who loves those things with much-needed self-care and empowerment.
When we’re in difficult circumstances, particularly with narcissists and other disordered people, it can be easy to forget to take care of ourselves and to do things we love. But it is especially important for us to eke out time for these activities when we are in need of inner strength and rejuvenation. It often doesn’t take much immersion into our chosen activity to see significant benefits.
When life gets tough … when difficult and/or toxic people are at their worst … whatever the situation may be, it’s time to dig deep into self-help. And if professional resources are needed, always remember to reach out to those individuals. But in the meantime, find those experiences and activities that are meaningful. A state of ‘flow’ is always waiting there, ready to provide a reprieve and positive energy. Go with your ‘flow’.
*Copy-and-paste link to books on the subject of the state of ‘flow’: https://amzn.to/3s9kvkM
Until next time,
~Heather~ Natural Clarity Coaching naturalclaritycoaching.com na********************@***il.com Natural Clarity Coaching on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
*Let’s all take care of this planet of ours *