Year: 2014

  • Shame is a vicious circle

    The tiniest seed of self-doubt – the smallest implication that you might be flawed – can grow and grow into a whole neurosis over time that could ruin your life. With incredibly destructive consequences.

  • Why shame resilience is useful

    When you learn to notice feelings of shame, you earn a special reward – the option to do something about it. I’ll share some personal examples of how my own shame awareness has made me look at situations completely differently.

  • Find your Shame (the feelings)

    When I feel shame, I feel like I have less energy. I withdraw, rest, and sometimes just dissolve into the background. There’s a specific reason for this, which is why a lot of people feel this way.

  • When People Use Subtle Shaming Behaviour

    These are things you’ll probably be far more willing to notice in other people – those little moments where a sly dig or put-down makes you feel like shit. But make no mistake – when you’re feeling shamed, you’ll be doing some of these too. And therein lies the rub – those annoying people? They…

  • Shame creates denial

    The fear of being flawed and not good enough isn’t something that people are readily able to admit to themselves. Most people never make that breakthrough, for others it can take a lifetime.  Here are four good reasons why shame creates strong feelings of denial:

  • Shame creates tiredness, headaches, pains

    Shame drains energy. Lethargy, apathy, tiredness, not wanting to get up in the morning, headaches, migraines – anxiety, fear and worry take up lots of energy! It doesn’t just stop there – keeping emotional conflicts pushed deep down can result in digestion issues, eating disorders, addictions, skin disorders and many more ailments. I’ll even show…

  • A lifetime of distraction

    When I was in my early twenties, I remember seeing an ad in the Metro newspaper on a train, which I never forgot. It showed something which stuck in my head, like it had some unconscious cosmic significance. Or maybe it just scared the shit out of me.

  • Explore your Shame Effects (the consequences)

    The first task to building shame resilience is becoming aware, as best as you can, of the feelings of shame that you do have. Its harder than it sounds because shame mostly works at an unconscious level. You have to become a bit of a mind detective and work backwards. 

  • Early Beginnings of Shame

    Infancy is a minefield of shame stimuli. Your impressionable mind is a sponge for meaning – and invents meanings for things all the time, even if it means that you’re to blame for something that’s not your fault. Which is often convenient for the shame-ridden adults.

  • Shame Identities – how you don’t want to be seen

    Before you even get a chance to know who you are, you’ve been set up with a lot of “don’t be this – don’t do that” shame triggers. “Confident people are arrogant!” “Don’t talk!” “Relaxing is laziness!” Thanks again, childhood programming! I’ll share some examples of common shame-zoned traits.