Awareness That Heals with Robert Strock

In our second meditation on dealing with feelings of insecurity, Robert encourages us to learn the value of our responses to this uncomfortable emotion. Insecurity feelings and the way we respond to them can cause deep divisions in our relationships to ourselves and to others. Yet at the same time, these emotions hold within them the capacity for greater intimacy in these very same relationships as well. Can you see the value of becoming aware of these feelings and learning how to first cope with them, and finally welcome them as stepping stones to emotional growth? To further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals, visit: • Awareness That Heals Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Awareness That Heals Podcast at Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast • Awareness That Heals Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Guided Meditation Series at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Guided-Meditations • The (free) Introspective Guides at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UXrsIypD95eGpY42FNIhu_HpD9x5gumT/view?usp=sharing

In episode 132 of Awareness That Heals, Robert begins the first of six progressive guided meditations to help us with feelings of insecurity, a common feeling inside of us that we often see as something really undesirable. Robert begins by helping us understand that insecurity really means that we care deeply about something. Insecurities can arise from how we feel about  our intimate partnerships, work performance or physical appearance.  Take a journey through these six guided meditations and acquire the tools necessary to feel better about yourself when the challenging emotion of insecurity arises in your life.  

In this sixth and final episode on Caring for Feelings of Insecurity, Robert asks you again to stay aware and take notice of your specific feelings of insecurity, then recognize whether it's something you can control or not. Many things in life are out of our control and may make us feel insecure. Robert reminds us to stay in the present, not the future and focus on what you feel and need in the moment. By using all of the skills learned in this series, you can find the guidance you need to actually become more adequate in all aspects of your life. To further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals, visit: • Awareness That Heals Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Awareness That Heals Podcast at Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast • Awareness That Heals Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Guided Meditation Series at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Guided-Meditations • The (free) Introspective Guides at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UXrsIypD95eGpY42FNIhu_HpD9x5gumT/view?usp=sharing

In part five of how to deal with feelings of inadequacy, Robert guides you through a meditation focused on further exploring your unique way of feeling inadequate, and helping you find your wisdom through asking yourself some simple questions. Am I really inadequate in these parts of my life? If so, What actions can I take? What attitudes can I develop toward this feeling of inadequacy? When you find your wisdom and let it be the guide, you can learn to discover your needs. Needs such as empathy, courage, tenderness or humility. To further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals, visit: • Awareness That Heals Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Awareness That Heals Podcast at Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast • Awareness That Heals Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Guided Meditation Series at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Guided-Meditations • The (free) Introspective Guides at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UXrsIypD95eGpY42FNIhu_HpD9x5gumT/view?usp=sharing

In this fourth part of exploring the emotion of inadequacy Robert asks you to look deep into your heart and begin to ask some questions to reveal how you can care for your feelings of inadequacy specifically. Questions such as; what messages do I want to send to myself when I feel inadequate? What thoughts are most helpful to care for myself when I am in this state? When you are aware of your feelings of inadequacy, you can add this element of asking questions from your heart. They're all aimed at caring for yourself, and providing guidance as to how you can move in a direction that's going to make you feel more adequate, more satisfied and more fulfilled bringing you greater peace overall.  To further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals, visit: • Awareness That Heals Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Awareness That Heals Podcast at Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast • Awareness That Heals Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Guided Meditation Series at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Guided-Meditations • The (free) Introspective Guides at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UXrsIypD95eGpY42FNIhu_HpD9x5gumT/view?usp=sharing

In this third episode and guided meditation in our series on dealing with feelings of inadequacy, the focus is on developing the ability to tolerate and accept these feelings rather than suppressing or judging them. By first tolerating, then accepting, and finally welcoming the inadequacy feelings, you will no longer be frozen in a state of self-rejection over them. This will eventually allow you to move toward a state of caring for yourself when these feelings come up.   • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts

Awareness That Heals introduces a focused approach to tackling challenging emotions through guided meditations. Each episode highlights one emotion, offering tools to deepen self-compassion and align self-care with environmental responses. The practice begins with cultivating pure awareness—free from being overtaken by thoughts, emotions, or sensations—empowering listeners to guide themselves more intentionally. The episode explores feelings of inadequacy, a common but often suppressed experience. By acknowledging these feelings with neutral awareness—free from judgment—we create space for self-compassion. The key is to simultaneously recognize inadequacy and foster a genuine desire to care for ourselves, transforming these moments into opportunities for growth and healing. Listeners are encouraged to practice this awareness, building their ability to care for themselves in difficult moments. To support this journey, additional resources are available at awarenessthatheals.org. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast to help spread its message.   • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts

In this episode of Awareness That Heals, we're kicking off a powerful new series that dives into the emotion of inadequacy. Feeling like you're "not enough" or constantly battling self-doubt? You're not alone. Host Robert Strock introduces the first guided meditation in a six-part series designed to help you connect with your feelings of inadequacy, not to judge or suppress them, but to understand them and nurture self-compassion. This episode focuses on developing "awareness of awareness," guiding you to observe your thoughts and feelings without attachment. It's a transformative practice for building self-acceptance and finding peace with challenging emotions. Join us on this journey to reclaim your sense of worth and emotional well-being. • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts

In the 6th and final episode of Caring for Anxiety, Robert Strock guides you through a powerful meditation designed to transform anxiety into resilience and wisdom. By focusing on self-compassion and awareness, Robert helps you develop the capacity to welcome and care for your anxiety, turning it into a source of strength. Learn to observe and respond to your emotions, identify your essential needs, and cultivate the qualities you need most. Tune in to discover practical steps for emotional growth and inner peace. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast, and explore our Introspective Guides available on our website. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts  

In episode 5 of the Caring for Anxiety Series, Robert Strock invites you to explore guided meditations designed to help you manage anxiety with self-compassion and awareness. Learn to observe and respond to your anxiety, developing the capacity to care for yourself in the midst of challenging emotions. Robert provides practical steps to identify and meet your emotional needs, encouraging a compassionate approach to your anxiety. Tune in to discover how you can transform anxiety into a source of strength and connection. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast, and explore our Introspective Guides available on our website. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts

In part four of caring for anxiety, Robert Strock guides you on a journey to embrace and care for your anxiety. By focusing on self-awareness and self-compassion, Robert encourages you to develop a deeper connection with your emotions. This episode offers practical steps to recognize and welcome anxiety, transforming it into a source of strength and growth. Tune in to learn how to cultivate a caring relationship with your anxiety and enhance your emotional well-being. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast, and explore our Introspective Guides available on our website. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts  

In part three of caring for anxiety, we continue to emphasize being aware of our anxiety, recognizing its presence, and responding with compassion. This practice is a subtle but vital skill that supports us as we care for ourselves. By being mindful of our thoughts, especially in the context of anxiety, we can observe whether these thoughts are supportive or critical, allowing us to shift toward more caring and welcoming thoughts. This approach helps us develop a deeper connection with our anxiety, viewing it as a part of ourselves that needs care. The practice of welcoming anxiety, rather than resisting or denying it, can be a powerful tool for personal growth and emotional well-being. The goal is to cultivate a mindset that supports self-care and acceptance, ultimately helping us manage our challenging emotions more effectively. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Read the episode transcription at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts  

In this second part of our series of six guided meditations on caring for our anxiety, we take the next step. After we are aware of our anxiety, we are shown how to guide ourselves to develop the capacity to find our intention to care for ourselves while we are anxious. We often ignore anxiety or treat it like it's the only problem, judging or even suppressing it. This may sound simple as you think about it, but we see how transformational it becomes when we can practice it in our own lives. Recognizing and accepting anxiety will allow us to be more courageous and confident. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Read the episode transcription at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts

Being gently aware of your anxiety is a powerful starting point. Inquire into your heart, seeking a place in your thoughts that nurtures self-care; it's truly invaluable. Amidst the anxiety, seek out thoughts that affirm, "Of course, I want to care for myself. Of course, I want to treat myself kindly." Bringing awareness to your anxiety while nurturing a desire to care for yourself is truly magical. Reflect on whether you extend care to your anxiety when you're mindful of it, recognizing that self-care often slips your mind during anxious moments and can provide significant support. It marks a breakthrough moment that propels you toward thoughts,  attitudes, and actions that will uplift and sustain you. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Read the episode transcription at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts

The journey of focusing on emerging challenging emotions begins with the realization that you are the observer, which helps to bring immense freedom. Instead of being consumed by anxiety, you can observe it—an experience that helps lead to a deep recognition of the need to care for yourself. This transformative process opens the door to qualities, actions, and thoughts that enhance the quality of your life. By consistent practice, you can learn to address anxiety as it arises and ask questions from your heart. This practice allows you to transition from tolerance and acceptance to finally being able to embrace your anxiety. As we continue to ascend the metaphorical elevator of raising our spirit, we can utilize these tools and the 75 needs and qualities covered in the Introspective Guides. Take advantage of these guides to help you identify the most crucial areas to ground yourself. During moments of anxiety, trust and practice your awareness to care for yourself and recognize that your tone of voice is essential to improving the quality of your life. The final floor on our metaphorical elevator is the questions you ask yourself and the statements you tell yourself. One example is to say, "Be kind." When you care about your thoughts, qualities, and needs, you enter a heightened quality of life. The Introspective Guides are tools for self-reflection and catalysts for personal growth and transformation. They do more than simply try to move you to be more compassionate or to meditate; they subtly enhance those practices. Through these meditations, the quality of your life will expand and significantly affect the people around you. Your inner work of opening your heart and caring can also help our deeply imperiled world and country. The essential message in all these meditations is “wherever you are is sacred, and your movement toward self-acceptance and self-care will increase your capacity to love yourself and others.” If you want to take steps toward self-acceptance and self care, we all need to find a place in our hearts that allows us to move in that direction. This requires devotion and practice, and the reward is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Read the episode transcription at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts

As we continue to discover ways to support ourselves during periods of anxiety, it is essential to remember the simple but elusive step of being aware of where you are, coupled with the desire to care for yourself, is a core foundation for self-compassion. The next level in the elevator metaphor is nurturing tolerance and kindness toward our anxiety. Whether or not we reach a bearable level of tolerance, maintaining the aspiration to evolve is essential for continual growth. Another level is learning to ask the right questions from your heart and what tone of voice you want to hear. Moving on further from tolerance and acceptance brings “welcoming,” which represents the pinnacle of self-acceptance. It's the process of evolving both our hearts and wisdom. This next elevator level helps us discover what qualities and needs are vital when confronting our anxiety head-on. To help determine your needs, the Introspective Guides on the Awareness That Heals website are helpful tools for dealing with challenging emotions—especially when you are anxious. These steps can help and support you to regain self-compassion and peace during challenging times. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel • Read the episode transcription at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Download the (free) Introspective Guides • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Access our Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts

When you are anxious, it's essential to be aware that you are both anxious and the observer of your anxiety. There is no need to compare yourself to anyone else. Simply start where you are—recognizing that awareness, or being the observer, can give you the capacity to mitigate your anxiety. Notice it clearly and give yourself the opportunity for self-care. Shifting your inner tone of voice during a period of anxiety can have a profound effect. The most underrated capacity in our lives is recognizing that we are the observer and the one who wants to care for ourselves. Understand your aspiration to tolerate and accept anxiety and develop the capacity to take care of yourself, guide yourself, and ultimately welcome yourself. The next step in our metaphorical elevator is to ask questions to seek support for your anxiety. You can explore the questions, communications, and tone of voice, both inwardly and outwardly, of exploring how you will be supported, which will be most helpful in accepting and supporting yourself during periods of anxiety. Find the courage to help yourself by being assertive, setting boundaries, or being more generous. Asking yourself how to approach a situation in the most beneficial way when feeling agitated can lead to peace, relaxation, and trust. The reaction to avoid anxiety can lead to feeling stuck in withdrawal or an aggressive emotion, which can be like being caught in quicksand. But when you ask questions from your heart, with an intention to care for yourself in the moment of anxiety, you can begin to accept where you are and where you need to guide yourself. This will help bring you to your ultimate potential. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read this episode transcription: https://bit.ly/ATH-Episode-117 • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Download the (free) Introspective Guides: https://bit.ly/Introspective-Guides • Access the Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast

In the two prior episodes, we've explored practical tools to help address anxiety. The initial steps helped you become aware of your anxiety and care for it, while the subsequent step has you move into developing tolerance, kindness, and a welcoming attitude toward anxiety itself. While this may seem counterintuitive, the aim is to view anxiety as having the potential to awaken self-compassion. If you can apply this to your life, you will begin to free yourself from being dominated by anxiety and move up one more floor on the elevator metaphor.  This shift can foster a natural sense of openness and even positivity. As you recognize the anxiety, though real, it is ultimately a natural human feeling. This mindset offers you the best opportunity to achieve your desired quality of life. It's crucial to listen to your capacity to care for yourself while you are feeling this normal emotion. Imagine supporting kindness towards your anxiety and learning how to respond to what's around you in the ways that most serve you and your significant others—increasing tolerance and acceptance wherever you are now, even if your capacity to care for yourself happens more slowly than you would like. If you are not ready to welcome the anxiety, at least let it be stored as a seed or aspiration, which itself is a tremendous evolutionary step toward self-compassion. No matter where you are, embrace it and let it guide you toward ever-increasing acceptance and caring. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read this episode transcription: https://bit.ly/ATH-Episode-116 • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Download the (free) Introspective Guides: https://bit.ly/Introspective-Guides • Access the Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast

In this second guided meditation focused on managing anxiety, we continue using the elevator metaphor. As we proceed to the next "floor," we reach a place where you will learn to care for yourself and develop self-compassion. You can gently say to your anxiety that you wish to recognize and continue to increase your capacity to bring heart and wisdom into your life. It will be helpful to recall the moments when you've been anxious in the past and remember how tolerance and kindness have been absent during most of those moments. The key theme of this elevator floor is to remember to be more tolerant and kinder to yourself when you are anxious.  One way to develop greater tolerance and acceptance is to first recognize anxiety and then gradually learn how to dis-identify with it. This practice allows you to observe anxiety without being overwhelmed by it. Dis-identification helps increase the desire to care for yourself and become more tolerant and accepting of your anxiety. Try adopting an internal tone of voice that is kinder,  sweeter, more tolerant, and more accepting. Create the space to breathe and view anxiety as a passing feeling. For more severe anxiety, it will be necessary to co-exist with the anxiety with continued tolerance and acceptance.  You need to remember that being anxious and caring simultaneously is a depth of maturity that will support you to live your life with your heart and wisdom no matter how long it lasts. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read this episode transcription: https://bit.ly/ATH-Episode-115 • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Download the (free) Introspective Guides: https://bit.ly/Introspective-Guides • Access the Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast

Welcome to season three of the Awareness That Heals podcast, dedicated to exploring and healing specific challenging emotions. In this episode, host Robert Strock focuses on anxiety. He offers a series of guided meditations to cultivate self-compassion and improve your ability to navigate anxious moments effectively. Using the metaphor of an elevator, Robert illustrates the progression from an unconscious state of anxiety on the first floor to acquiring tools for self-support and healing on subsequent levels. On the second floor, the focus is on becoming aware of your anxiety and developing the capacity to care for it. By taking on the role of an observer, you not only perceive anxiety but also gain insights and tools to care for self-care. Recognizing yourself as the observer introduces a sense of freedom from your experiences, empowering you to pause during anxious moments while reflecting on the observation and increasing the capacity to tolerate and accept yourself as you are. The observer is independent of the anxiety itself and is a central point of being able to care and increase your acceptance. Through listening and practicing this guided meditation, you will learn to embrace the observer role. Don't forget to download the free Introspective Guides for additional support. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read this episode transcription: https://bit.ly/ATH-Episode-114 • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Download the (free) Introspective Guides: https://bit.ly/Introspective-Guides • Access the Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast

It can be a lifelong journey to alleviate suffering that stems from anger and aggression. This transformative process can guide you from aggressive emotions toward your deepest passions and greater peace. The accompanying guided meditation encourages a pause to foster awareness of anger and its resistant emotions, which is the beginning of helping prevent you from succumbing to reactive aggression. Cultivating a sincere curiosity can propel you into contemplation and help address the underlying needs that fuel your initial anger. The key is to liberate yourself from self-destruction and negativity and redirect your focus to fulfilling genuine needs. You will discover an intention that fosters a heart connection, sensitivity, trust, and love. The real treasure lies when you pause and sense the impulse to open your mind and heart. This is a six-part process. The initial step involves awareness of your emotion. The second is the evolutionary act of self-care. The third step encourages containment and complete acknowledgment of your emotions. The fourth imperative step involves delving deep into your needs and utilizing the Introspective Guides on the AwarenessThatHeals.org website if needed. Step five emphasizes sincere communication of your needs with a sensitive tone being careful not to just express these with anger. The sixth step requires assessing your ability to move towards anyone to see if they are receptive and if they aren't then to do inner work and develop the ability to find tolerance, peace and  clarity by working it out inside yourself. Being sensitive to the capacity of the person to be receptive when you're upset is crucial. The key lies in developing  maturity by caring for yourself without placing blame. Countless individuals have employed this process to reshape their approach to aggression and unearth their inherent needs. This journey requires awareness, honesty, integrity, contemplation, and balance. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read this episode transcription: https://bit.ly/ATH-Episode-113 • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Download the (free) Introspective Guides: https://bit.ly/Introspective-Guides • Access the Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast

There are many unique ways that we experience or express tightness due to anger, impatience, irritation, intolerance—or holding onto anger. It's a mini-miracle whenever we can shift from being against what we don't like to being supportive and passionate about what we need. We generally haven't as a society found ways both in the outer world and the inner world to find a way to contain or slow down our resistant emotions like anger, frustration, accusations, and judgments, which has led to war, alienation, distrust, and an inability to communicate. Acting out anger or resistant emotions or suppressing them dramatically reduces our capacity to trust and creates personal, religious, political, and global separation. This podcast will help you stay  aware of where your anger resides and how you express it. Awareness is neutral, not critical, nor judgmental. Don't suppress it; direct your anger to the source or the need you have that is being frustrated in a safe place away from the immediate situation. You will be supported to express it to yourself in a harmless and constructive way, deeply feeling it without acting it out directly. If you can't get away from the situation when it arises, there are four skills you can use: Recognize the feeling. Understand that expressing it at that moment won't be helpful. Find a way to delay it without revealing your feelings through facial expressions or the tone of your voice. Go to a place where you can do the work. Find a way to honor the feeling, but not in the heated moment, to whatever degree is possible. See if you recognize this as the start of the path toward self-love, conflict resolution, and inner and outer peace. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read this episode transcription: https://bit.ly/ATH-Episode-112 • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Download the (free) Introspective Guides: https://bit.ly/Introspective-Guides • Access the Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast

In this episode, we explore how to become aware of aggressive feelings while finding alternative paths toward a more fulfilling and inspiring life. You will find aids to express yourself without causing unnecessary harm while encouraging you to see the unmet needs that made you angry in the first place. The journey begins with awareness of your aggression, encompassing emotions like frustration, impatience, irritability, and contraction—any form of uptightness.   Humility, honesty, and self-awareness help you identify what you really need. For most of you, it will be helpful to go to the top navigation at awarenessthaheals.org and download the Introspective Guides to help identify your needs. You will also be supported to express what you really need in a tone that makes it most likely that you'll be heard while allowing the potential of wisdom to intervene. As you cultivate awareness of your aggression, you begin to experience the first step toward increasing enhanced peace, trust, and connection while tuning in to your nourishing and supporting tone of voice. Further explore the resources available to you at Awareness That Heals: • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read this episode transcription: https://bit.ly/ATH-Episode-111 • Explore our Blog at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Blog • Download the (free) Introspective Guides: https://bit.ly/Introspective-Guides • Access the Podcast at AwarenessThatHeals.org: https://bit.ly/ATH-Podcast • Visit "Awareness That Heals" on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/ATH-Apple-Podcast

In this episode, you'll discover how to identify your core feelings and use them as a key to access your deepest needs. Simultaneously, it's crucial to develop the capacity for self-care and self-awareness, guiding you toward your heart and intuitive wisdom, learning how to stay connected with yourself, and gaining a sense of the direction you need to pursue. Comprehending your feelings and needs marks the initial stage; the subsequent step entails engaging your mind and heart, employing both actions and contemplation. The essence of this exploration is to discover the foundations of your mental and spiritual well-being, using challenging feelings as a stepping stone to live in harmony with your core needs. Cultivating a  lifelong practice of inquiry about what you feel and what you need can lead to a more fulfilling and nurturing life. In future episodes, this practice will form the basis for further exploration into transitioning from understanding challenging feelings to naturally and tangibly fulfilling your needs. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode at Awareness That Heals.

It's an introspective journey, learning how to recognize and accept fear while accessing courage and safety through qualities such as tenderness, kindness, acceptance, and tolerance. Pay close attention to your tone of voice as you acknowledge fear and connect it with your yearning for courage in your mind and heart. Guide yourself toward a compassionate tone that acknowledges fear as perfectly natural, ensuring that fear does not control your mind and heart. Accept fear as it is while remaining focused on the words, tone, and actions required to steer yourself in a courageous direction. True courage encompasses elements of fear and coexists with brave thoughts, guidance, and qualities. It is crucial to identify the fears that have had the most significant impact on you and evaluate your responses to them. You can begin to cultivate tolerance and acceptance of these fears, understanding that they will not overpower you. Recognize that we all experience fear when something important triggers this kind of reaction, and you possess the tools to guide yourself toward courage and safety. Embrace fear by tolerating, accepting, and appreciating it, and lead yourself with a prayer-like quality towards courage. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

When we understand the vital connection between feelings and needs, we develop a  deep understanding that can enable us to take loving care of our hearts and those around us. This approach is one of the fundamental and most profound methods we can give to ourselves. The more deeply you experience your feelings, the closer you will be shown how to discover clues to what you need. Allow yourself to investigate deeply, realizing that challenging feelings are not permanently in control; you will learn how to make it the starting point and a catalyst for you to recognize how to take care of your needs. It's an act of self-love. This is common sense wisdom that we have yet to be taught. Understanding the connection between feelings and needs is a gift to yourself and can lead you to be your own benefactor, thereby expanding the quality of your life. The key is understanding the link between discovering your specific challenging feelings and becoming clear on how to steer yourself toward your needs. In this episode, you will be given invaluable clues on using your fear, anxieties, anger, or difficult feelings and then connecting them with what core needs are not being met.  You will be encouraged to go to awarenessthatheals.org and use the free downloadable Introspective Guides to guide you to discover specifically the 75 most difficult feelings and the 75 most core essential needs. This will be a very important journey for all of us to be able to learn how to guide ourselves when we're challenged. Examples of needs can include connection, trust, affection, appreciation, being understood, or whatever feels most essential for you. Going for what you need most involves listening and responding to what's most important to your heart—and that's only sometimes obvious. In this guided meditation, you will ask yourself what you feel at the moment, or most recently, that is most emotionally challenging. See if you can plant the intention to identify, tolerate, and explore those core difficult feelings that are the keys to guide you toward self-compassion. This practice is revolutionary since most of us feel a feeling and stay there, not realizing that learning how to move toward our needs is the key to optimizing our quality of life. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode at Awareness That Heals.

This episode delves into the significance of embracing and understanding feelings of inadequacy. A fundamental aspect of being human is that virtually all of us experience moments of inadequacy, whether we recognize them or not. You will be encouraged to identify and explore your feelings of inadequacy and learn how to connect them with your underlying needs. By asking yourself what thoughts, actions, and qualities are necessary to address feelings of inadequacy, you can tap into your inner wisdom and resilience, ultimately allowing you to access what is needed. Allowing such feelings to exist, even for a while, helps cultivate dignity, humility, and the ability to see our commonality. Connecting challenging emotions with your core needs bridges psychology and spiritual or religious values. Therefore, with compassion and heartfelt wisdom, encourage yourself to be completely transparent and increasingly tolerant when feelings of inadequacy arise. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

This episode offers valuable insights into how to deal with challenging emotions, with particular emphasis on frustration, and the importance of self-care and self-awareness. Since this is about your challenges you can substitute your own emotion, discover your needs, and also see how being sensitive with your tone of voice will assist you to fulfill your needs. When you are caught up in frustration, simply acknowledge it. You will see how to be the observer, the witness, and use your emotional intelligence to perceive the emotion without adding any extra negative thoughts to it. Don't suppress or become critical of it; simply bring awareness to it, allow it to have its energy, and then give it space to both feel it and inquire as to what your real need is. If you take care of what you need, you're going to be released from a significant level of frustration. By seeing the absurdity of being fixated on your challenging emotions, your humor, playfulness, and humility can then guide you. Let yourself have not only permission but also the encouragement to feel your frustration. If you can simply allow the frustration, you're increasing the chances of being able to discover its underlying need.   Take a moment to pause and deeply explore how you can best care for yourself and your most specific and important need with wisdom and compassion, and develop a nurturing tone with your inner and outer dialogue. When you discover your need the next step is how to put it into practice. There are methods to sow the seeds for this transformation. First, remember your innate ability to be a vigilant observer of your own frustration and needs. Second, remember that you possess the knowledge and capability to care for yourself—especially during moments of emotional turbulence. Offer a prayer of remembrance to your needs and let your memory activate your innate potential to care for yourself. While this concept may be easy to grasp it is often challenging to implement, particularly when your emotions are most intense. In such moments, simply transitioning into a state of remembrance—by accessing your memory, wisdom, and capacity to activate your awareness and motivation—can guide you toward discovering your needs and activating the inherent desire to care for yourself. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

In this guided meditation, we explore the challenging emotions of condescension and arrogance. While these emotions may not necessarily pertain to your current state, they are used as examples to help you become more attuned to your own difficult emotions,  your responses to them, and how you can best discover and tend to your emotional needs. The central focus lies in cultivating awareness of these challenging emotions, developing tolerance, and acceptance, and uncovering pathways toward greater ease, resolution, and self-care. By becoming aware of your tone of voice, you gain the capacity to transform the quality of your life experience. With awareness of your tone of voice, you can ask these questions: "How can I better care for myself? What needs do I have? and what tone of voice would empower me to be my best self?" Often, we've conditioned ourselves to be oblivious when condescension or arrogance surfaces, especially in our close relationships. Acknowledging these moments and sincerely asking these questions leads you to guidance that allows you to influence them positively through your tone of voice. Observe the paradox that when you become a neutral observer, a witness, or simply engage with honest awareness, the quality of your arrogance, opens the door to not being controlled by this emotion. You become in a state of awareness, rather than reacting from the emotion.  Additionally, you will find out how you can discover how to care for others while tending to your own needs. In that moment of contemplation, it's truly remarkable to witness the transformative power of vulnerability, transparency, and the power of awareness. By being aware of instances where your tone of voice contributes to suffering and expressing your intention to infuse compassion and wisdom into your words, you will be shown how to initiate a dynamic and nurturing relationship with yourself. Understand that not every situation is a one-size-fits-all approach; sometimes, authenticity at the moment may not be the optimal choice. You will be shown how to consult your inner wisdom regarding your desire to care for yourself when you're feeling arrogant, and whether it's best to express yourself or not. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

In this guided meditation, we will use specific emotions to directly witness your tone of voice. In doing so, you can begin to guide yourself to the best parts of yourself as well as those of others. We will explore the emotions of intolerance, impatience, and annoyance. So, if your emotions are different, simply substitute your own emotions. Recognize your tone of voice and whether it is annoyance or irritation, timidity or insecurity. You need to be aware of the tones of voice that cause you and others the most suffering. Only you can decide whether you're going to look at your tone of voice and which ones are most helpful to you and which ones are more injurious. It's very important to bring your heart and wisdom into your tone of voice and notice how much it can change the quality of your life. If you see any resistance, notice and acknowledge it. You will see how to go deep and allow yourself to be exactly where you are. Then ask, “How would I like to shift my tone from irritation, impatience, intolerance, and agitation, and move it toward being more friendly.” It's a combination of shifting your tone, taking care of your needs, and asking what kind of tone gives you the best chance of receiving what you need. This experiment may need to be repeated because it's not easy at first—especially when you're impatient or intolerant or when you're reacting in a resistant state and not in a state of well-being. Often, you can recognize a shift in your tone of voice when you're feeling uneasy because you have a need that was not responded to in the way you desired. You will be supported to look for the tone that is going to serve your most important needs when your emotional reaction is impatient or intolerant. When doing this investigation you can experience it like having a harmonic, musical sound,  optimizing the chance of receptivity. By continuing to practice, the payoff is that your heart becomes more engaged and negativity becomes more contained. See if you can appreciate that you have a desire to discover your needs and convey them with a tone that dignifies your life. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.    

In this episode, we learn to use inquiry to ask questions designed to nurture one's heart. These questions may include: “How can I care for myself?” “How can I support myself when I'm feeling intense emotions?” When you thoroughly explore the question, you can access your capacity to observe it transparently, without negativity, simply witnessing it as a challenging emotion. Learning how to support yourself when you're in such a difficult emotion is both subtle and powerful. It is a three-step process of embracing and identifying the emotion or feeling, asking the right questions that will guide you to care for yourself during the experience, then listening to the guidance and giving your best efforts to fulfill what is being suggested. Keep in mind that your tone of voice matters a lot. This guided meditation will help you to embrace a specific fear or emotion with keen awareness—simply noticing it, being aware of it, and not resisting it. Recognize that when you are faced with a challenging emotion, and you ask questions from your heart or from a self-caring tone, you will begin to feel a sense of safety and security and a direction that you need to go to support yourself. All of us have challenging emotions and feelings, and what's needed is to add this intention, this desire to deeply care for yourself, gently identify your feeling, ask caring questions, respond to the wisdom that comes, and for it to be the center of your daily life. This holistic approach enables you to foster a deeper connection with yourself and a greater sense of tranquility and intimacy with others. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

This guided meditation encourages self-awareness and self-compassion by acknowledging and exploring challenging emotions without judgment. Becoming aware of the nonjudgmental observer within us can help us better understand the underlying needs behind our insecurities and challenging emotions, which allows us to work with them in a way that honors ourselves and those in our life. This practice emphasizes our ability to coexist with challenging feelings while fostering a deeper connection with ourselves and others.  By embracing these feelings and recognizing their significance, we can use them as catalysts for personal growth and positive change. Regularly engaging in this meditation, alongside asking thoughtful questions, will help us cultivate the ability to respond to challenges in a caring manner and with self-awareness. It will become a valuable tool for enhancing well-being and fostering personal growth while guiding us on a journey toward self-compassion. Incorporating these guided meditations into our daily routine can be especially powerful and nurturing, leading to a deeper understanding of oneself through self-acceptance. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

Today's guided meditation is centered around discovering your innate wisdom and offering invaluable support during periods of deep suffering. Many of us were not taught that being aware of our challenges could lead us to access our specific needs.  Embracing awareness is a precious gift and marks the beginning of a journey toward self-care. Within you exists an inner companion yearning to care for you—a true best friend. Unearthing what challenges you can lead you toward healing and well-being, will enrich your life, making you wiser, more caring, and at peace. By repeatedly practicing these themes, you can go beyond intellectual understanding and deeply embrace compassion within your heart, nurturing a profound sense of well-being. With time, this process becomes natural and virtually effortless. Let the discovery of your wisdom act as a healing balm to ease the challenges you encounter in life. The very fact that you face challenges can inspire you to embrace them as an essential part of your life. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

When you experience challenging feelings of any kind, inquiring or asking questions that are specifically aimed to discover what the feeling is will help you develop the self-awareness necessary to know what your pain, loss, or suffering is. After you discover the precise kind of challenge you're facing, this podcast will help you remember to ask yourself to find the place within you that desires to move toward a state of well-being, peace, or relief—it's a practice that can help you to look within for the guidance that you long to find. It will also encourage you to embrace the aspects of your life that are most challenging as opportunities for personal growth. By fully sensing the emotional experience, you can better relate to what is aching within you and not be misled by intellectual ideas and concepts.  Asking the right questions implies that you place real value on this process and enable you to move toward the intention to care for yourself regardless of how a difficult emotion makes you feel. It is important to remember that inquiry is a process, not a destination. By remaining focused on your commitment to exploring your most challenging emotions and questioning what will most help, you will give yourself the best opportunity to manage any form of suffering with self-compassion and self-care. Developing essential emotional intelligence is an art that is illuminated in this episode. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

Asking yourself to discover what feelings are most difficult to unlock and access the wisdom that helps you the most may seem like a gloomy task. However, inquiring inwardly to pinpoint where you feel stuck, buried, or like you're in quicksand allows you to see where you have an unmet need. Letting the exposure to these challenging emotions motivate you to deal with an area where part of you is struggling can naturally lead you to your dearest needs. You may be discovering anxiety, despair, or inadequacy. Inquiring from the heart without judgment about what your needs are will guide you to care for yourself and others. Find a comfortable space to enjoy the meditation and tools offered in this podcast to bring greater awareness to those places you often avoid.  When we remain unaware of feelings that are challenging, these emotions hold us in old patterns. Learn how to quiet the mind and ask questions that serve your life. This meditation will help guide you to appreciate the importance of having this simple awareness of your needs, and how to transform it into a practice. See what is hard and respond in a way that makes even the smallest of steps in the direction of being more fulfilled, peaceful, and inspired. By understanding the paradox of being more aware of what is difficult, and practicing awareness and self-care, we can learn to navigate our emotions with greater benefit, ease, and compassion. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

This episode offers a detailed look into the benefits of asking questions from the heart. The benefits of heart-centered inquiry, and honest contemplation supported by guided meditation, can offer a pathway that deepens the understanding of what is most difficult for you. No matter what feelings are present, this awareness provides you with an opportunity to evolve toward healing using the power of your innate wisdom. Being able to ask questions from the heart and developing the capacity to observe the answers opens the door to the possibility of responding to challenging feelings in a healing manner—rather than being owned by them through suppression, absorption, or acting out unintentionally. As you listen to the meditation and thoughts arise and pass by see if you can start to recognize if these questions are from the heart or if they are veiled judgments against yourself. Discerning questions from the heart, which will benefit you, also assist in seeing the many ways in which we often think we are asking helpful questions but are doing harm through unrecognized self-rejection. To further explore the topic of self-rejection please refer to episode 97 "How to Respond to Self-Rejection in a Healing Manner." Understanding the types of questions that are beneficial versus those that are unproductive can help you gain valuable insight. Learning how to ask heartfelt questions that elicit meaningful responses is a skill that can help you in many aspects of life. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

The focus of this episode is on the importance of recognizing challenging emotions and responding to them in a healing manner. Robert encourages listeners to value and care for themselves during these times and offers strategies such as self-acceptance, informal prayer, and identifying supportive thoughts. Guided meditation is also recommended as a helpful tool for effectively responding to personal challenges. By cultivating an awareness of our challenging emotions and developing an observer or witness within ourselves, we can learn to care for ourselves and identify our essential needs. It is essential to acknowledge and meet self-rejection with a gradual and increasing self-acceptance as the rejection will hinder us from achieving an overall sense of well-being. It is also beneficial to approach difficult emotions with humility, honesty, and resourcefulness and develop our practice of self-compassion, self-forgiveness, and self-love. The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to continue discovering their needs and increasing our ability to fulfill them to live a more inspired and peaceful life. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.  

Today, we are going to discover an easy way to see self-rejectionNormally, the most subtle and often unconscious reactions can become layered within other challenging feelings. Think for a moment, of all your difficult feelings. Which one do you like the least? Wouldn't it be beneficial to learn how to discover and overcome self-rejection and to be guided to care for yourself during the times these feelings arise? Using simple questioning to determine if you like how you are feeling, it is possible to learn what times you are in self-rejection and act to awaken your inner wisdom to guide you intelligently and intentionally toward a caring and sensible response. Acknowledging self-rejection is important because it sidetracks us and makes us either suppress or get caught up in secondary feelings that frequently leave us agitated or depressed. This guided meditation will allow you to become more aware of your self-rejection and help you learn how to observe it. When the layer of self-rejection can be rooted out, it is possible to allow the challenge to lead you to your core need and on a path toward greater fulfillment and self-acceptance. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.  

On this week's episode of Awareness that Heals, we will look at how to best deal with the challenging emotions that show up most frequently and also investigate our attitude toward those feelings. The goal is for you to expand your ability to care for yourself through self-compassion. There are two key aspects to be aware of. The first is becoming aware of the hard feeling or challenge that you experience most. The second is the self-judgment that arises in the form of feeling inadequate. Use the tools and resources offered at AwarenessThatHeals.org to effect a fundamental shift that will allow you to say “yes” to self-acceptance, and “no” to self-rejection. This act of self-compassion can bring a monumental change and will expand your ability to care for yourself during difficult challenges. The more you are attentive to your feelings with awareness, the more you are able to create thoughts, actions, and attitudes that will change the quality of your life. Notice during the discussion and meditation the feelings that make you uncomfortable and what seems impossible to overcome. Notice how it's almost automatic that you judge yourself for having these emotions, usually outside of your awareness. Find a comfortable and quiet place to meditate and bring awareness to these places inside. This will allow you to pivot from being caught in self-judgment to increased self-care and compassion that will inevitably bring greater peace and caring into the world as well. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

During times of intense emotions, it is frequently not easy to change our feelings, but with dedication, we can learn to identify them and respond with empathy and wisdom. By acknowledging and clearly seeing our emotions—without allowing them to take control—we can develop greater self-compassion. Our feelings are just one part of ourselves, and there is another inner voice that is often referred to as inner guidance, friendly mind, or wisdom. We can realize our potential when we access this inner voice during emotional challenges, rather than reacting with a sense of dread, failure, or fear. This is the beginning of learning how to follow our wisdom. As a psychotherapist with over 45 years of experience, Robert has observed that many of us have become addicted to our emotions. To help lessen this habituation, he will be guiding you through a meditation that focuses on the challenging emotions that are most present for you right now. By acknowledging these emotions and seeking out our most lucid and compassionate thoughts that are rooted in wisdom, we can learn to care for ourselves and open our hearts and minds to others. This is not a traditional therapeutic approach, but rather a strategy for finding the part of ourselves that naturally cares deeply. Whether it is fear, anxiety, anger, frustration, or impatience, any difficult emotion can serve as a starting point for directing our guidance toward self-care and greater compassion toward others. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

In this episode, Robert and Dave discuss how to trust wise thoughts when you're suffering. They emphasize the importance of not distancing or judging our feelings but rather accessing our inner wisdom to guide us. This involves being able to operate at two levels simultaneously: respecting our challenging feelings while finding a place inside of us that wants to care. By doing this, we can stay open to our feelings and allow them to guide us toward our most supportive thoughts. The guided meditation that follows allows you to go inward and be your own example of facing challenging feelings and finding your inner supportive voice. Through this process, you can cultivate the conditions in which you trust your most wise and supportive thoughts. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

In continuation of our guided meditation series, Robert offers a practice on self-compassion, which is the missing ingredient to lasting change. This guided meditation also includes a discussion surrounding its purpose and how it can be directly helpful to you, no matter what challenge you might be facing right now. Intellectual awareness of our emotions is crucial, but even that is not enough to make substantial change. Accessing the desire to care for ourselves is often the final and missing ingredient to finding and nurturing our thoughts, and integrating our heart and mind during these challenging times. Without an organic longing to care for ourselves, we cannot move in a healing direction in a sustainable and persistent way. Inspire your path to healing, rather than getting sidetracked by suppressing, judging, misunderstanding, or misinterpreting what challenges you emotionally. Although through time your challenges will change, the process of identifying, finding a place that wants to care, and then actually being able to care for yourself is the combination that leads to the real goldmine. Guided meditation is for many people the best way to gain benefits in response to personal challenges. As you invest in bringing your own experience to this guided meditation, you will give yourself the best chance to change long-standing patterns from suffering towards a state of well-being, peace, and healing. Find a comfortable, quiet space, and let Robert's voice guide you. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

Robert continues with the second installment of the Guided Meditation series where he emphasizes the importance of becoming aware of difficult emotions. This episode takes this awareness and clarifies how to integrate it with our heart and self-caring. Robert and Dave invite listeners to focus on practice. This immersive next step puts us in a position to start moving toward well-being and not getting sidetracked by suppressing, judging, misunderstanding, or misrepresenting our challenging feelings.  The personal application of these Guided Meditations is essential if we want to integrate the principles in the book Awareness That Heals—wisdom that all of us need to deal with life's challenges—and suggestions from the prior podcasts to gain tangible results. Robert encourages you to get comfortable and allow yourself to go where his guidance leads you into your own unique experience. Become the observer of your inner world. Use the Introspective Guides list if needed. Repetition of these Guided Meditations is key until you feel real movement. It is not inherent in us to appreciate feelings we don't like. Whether it's anger, anxiety, grief, or emptiness—whatever this appreciation of awareness reveals—it is a major step toward personally evolving, which will allow us to learn to honor and guide what we feel inside and let that spread out into the world. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

A warm welcome to season two of the Awareness That Heals podcast. During this season, Robert will offer a series of Guided Meditations that will work in conjunction with his book, Awareness That Heals. These short meditations are both personal and accessible in order to allow the listener to focus on themselves in a more intuitive way. Robert and Dave cultivate a safe space to feel and observe, without judgment, what is most challenging. Practice and learn how to reframe the awareness of challenging feelings into a positive awareness that we can work with. By recognizing these challenges, we have the unique opportunity to see parts of ourselves that we tend to suppress or judge. It is a radical approach to experience the awareness of a difficulty as a positive. When we can accurately hear what is true about our internal difficulties we have clear clues as to what we need and an opportunity to move toward healing, deeper well-being, and an improvement in our quality of life. • The Introspective Guides: download your copy here. • Watch the video of this episode: on our YouTube channel. • Read the transcription & listen to this episode: at Awareness That Heals.

Robert welcomes back Susan Hough, counselor, philanthropist, and life partner, to explore how each of us carries on the central feelings we had with our original family. These repeated behaviors are usually outside of our awareness and show up most strongly in our intimate relationships. Robert and Susan discuss why we need to heal childhood patterns while talking candidly about their past relationships as well as their current one. The audience can see a real and honest way in which this plays out. It is completely normal to have these patterns surface again and again. It is nothing to be embarrassed about, instead, we get to learn from it to become better partners and happier more intentional people. Our childhood is a place we often do not permit ourselves to look deeply because there is so much caught up in it. However, if we don't, these unprocessed feelings seep into other relationships, often inappropriately and to our detriment. Robert offers tools to begin identifying, as specifically as possible, the challenging feelings. Emotions that were either directed at you or that you knew were there even if they were unspoken and your emotional reactions to them as a child. From this step of recognition, Robert introduces the next step, which is moving toward a place of caring for these feelings and yourself when these challenging emotions or defenses bubble up. This is a great place to implement the Introspective Guides to help identify your core needs, and welcome your partner into this process to create a dialogue about what their needs are in these challenging times and in general. This is a chance for you to become more resilient, to be more responsive, to open your heart to yourself, to be able to have a more intimate relationship with a significant other, and also have a more significant relationship with yourself. Read the transcription and listen to this episode at Awareness That Heals.

This week Robert discusses core childhood relationships and how they can unconsciously affect us in our adult lives. He is joined by his life partner and fellow counselor, and philanthropist, Susan Hough. We are guided on how to use awareness of our feelings and needs by using the Introspective Guides, which can be found at  AwarenessThatHeals.org, Robert talks through identifying each of your strongest childhood relationships and the feelings associated with them. It can be shocking what surfaces because our reactions often still reflect our childhood responses. Most of us are in the habit of either suppressing or criticizing those feelings because they frequently don't make sense in our current relationships. People in our original family and the people that we live with experience the most acute responses to our challenging reactions and emotions. The key is not to get rid of feelings, but to do our best to be aware of them, respect them, and foster a response that will support you when they arise. What feelings and sabotaging reactions play out today that are similar to what happened in your childhood? Robert will guide you through a 4-step process of Self-Assessment, Intention to Heal, Inquiry, and Self-Communication. Join Robert and Susan as they share their own childhood experiences to illustrate how these have played out in their own lives. It is important not to compare yourself Read the transcription and listen to this episode at Awareness That Heals.    

Using the Introspective Guides, Robert and Dave pick up where they left off last week on the topic of Neurotic Responsibility. This imbalance in relationships is part of our conditioning and can be hard to recognize. It occurs when one person in the relationship feels the problems around them are much more their responsibility than they rationally are. It feels good to give and can last for a lifetime. It can most frequently be recognized when the “giver” has unusually strong needs arise like becoming sick or a deep financial loss and it becomes apparent that the one that is neurotically responsible has been doing a lot of giving and not nearly enough receiving. Robert and Dave, share their personal and professional experiences with this dynamic and offer examples and tools so you won't have to wait to find a deeper connection and more mutuality in your close relationships. This episode gets at the nuanced ways in which both people in the relationship can be taken care of. From Robert's experience as a psychotherapist, he has observed that the finest love is that of great mutuality, humility, and co-responsibility. Again referring to the Introspective Guides, Robert and Dave clarify ways to locate traits such as guilt, excessive pleasing, enabling, and suppressing your own needs that indicate neurotic responsibility tendencies. This could reflect an entire relationship dynamic or just one aspect. From this moment of awareness and intention to care, Robert offers a sequence to break this pattern little by little to create more mutuality and intimacy. The Introspective Guides will help you articulate these new insights. Robert reminds you to open to growth with humor, courage, self-trust, and love. Read the transcription and listen to this episode at Awareness That Heals.

Robert and Dave dive right into this week's episode with something Robert likes to call, Neurotic Responsibility. This term refers to someone who takes on the problems around them more than is rationally warranted. It occurs when your partner is upset and you focus mostly on what you might have done to cause it, even though you already have likely admitted it outwardly and inwardly feel guilty, inadequate, and critical of yourself. In these situations, the key is not seeing the other's contribution to the situation in a balanced way. Are you showing up immediately for them and not having the same standards of wanting them to be there for you? This is hard for most people who suffer from this to see because they usually feel like it is part of their love. In Robert's extensive work as a psychotherapist, he notes how incredibly common this is in relationships but the awareness of it is rare.  Neurotic Responsibility is not on the Introspective Guides chart that Robert so often refers to. If the Guides are new to you, you can go to awarenessthatheals.org and download them for free. Neurotic responsibility is experienced most frequently as guilt, inadequacy, and failure, which can be found on the chart. It feels so good to be loving towards others that it sometimes becomes difficult to recognize that what is also going on here is a form of self-abandonment. Join us as Robert and Dave share their personal stories about recognizing how they have disregarded their needs to make others happy or more comfortable. Robert provides tools and a process of caring for your needs and your partners in a balanced mutual way. This new awareness can awaken a deeper sense of love where it empowers the person that has been receiving to learn how to give and empowers the person that has been giving to learn how to receive. Read the transcription and listen to this episode at Awareness That Heals.  

Robert kicks off the episode with a guided meditation. Relax into his words as he grounds into the moment and melts defenses that may be blocking you from accessing your inner wisdom and heart space. Using the Introspective Guides, Robert delves into how we can face our challenging emotions with curiosity. Recognizing that part of us wants to care instead of rationalizing or blocking challenging emotions is a courageous step. Robert will talk you through the tools necessary to develop from the first step of awareness, an intention to care, and a growing self-acceptance toward bringing that heart guidance into the world. Through his work as a psychotherapist, Robert has seen time and time again that deep down everyone can recognize that bringing their goodness out is fulfilling. Robert and Dave reminisce about their early days together when they ran a residential treatment center for teenage boys. The mantra that emerged was, we believe that beyond their defenses, all our boys have the intention to be and do good. This is a universal principle that has not been universally embraced, especially by the most powerful countries. Instead of may I be a force for good, it's been more like, may I be a force for wealth. Being raised toward power and wealth has led to political parties and a world that has brought us where we are and has led us to feel discouraged. There is a danger here of finding yourself fighting against what you don't like instead of focusing on the world you want to create. Developing a curiosity towards yourself and your inner world harkens back to the very beginning of the Awareness That Heals podcasts. Where am I unaware? What are the consequences of that? How can I best respond to these consequences? Continually asking these questions can change the quality of your life. Read the transcription and listen to this episode at Awareness That Heals.

Pretty much everyone you talk to these days has some emotions related to the country, gun control, global warming, or the war in Ukraine with an awareness of being overwhelmed. What isn't reliably there is the question, Do I want to care for this emotion and How can I navigate in the world with some positivity? Robert and Dave will continue their focus from last week with specific challenges unique to the anxiety, fear, anger, and terror many of us are experiencing in response to the dire problems facing the planet and the increased authoritarianism in the world today. If more people were committed to what their needs were and not committed to their emotions, it has the potential to start the stepping stones to stop war and start much needed contemplation. Instead of being dominated by our emotions, we would be dominated by our wisdom and our hearts. Robert continues to use The Introspective Guides as a tool to navigate a path towards integrating what challenges us individually. Starting with caring for ourselves, and our loved ones and then exponentially moving our concern outward into our communities, country, and the world. It can feel easier to avoid and not to be aware of, what some people would call burdensome work, but it is through this journey our most fulfilled selves become accessible. Using the lists of 75 Needs and Emotions, found at AwarenessThatHeals.org, can help make what can seem like a grandiose task achievable while this process becomes familiar. Keep developing a courageous honesty with yourself, get ready to dive in, and together let's find a way to work toward greater peace. Read the transcription and listen to this episode at Awareness That Heals.

Here we are, listening to the news and hearing about elections, global warming, the dangers of nuclear war, the invasion of Ukraine, and we are feeling freaked out. Wherever you are on the political spectrum you are bound to be dealing with some level of anxiety connected to the direction our world and country are going. Robert and Dave assure us this is perfectly normal, and in fact, a good sign you want to be engaged and paying attention. Using the Introspective Guides available at AwarenessThatHeals.org, Robert will use this episode to uniquely focus on integrating what challenges us individually with relating to the dangers we face in the U.S. and the world today. It may seem easier, or simply an act of survival to avoid challenging feelings as they relate to our planet and politics. You may wonder, what difference could I possibly make? How can I transform feeling helpless into being helpful? This episode will delve into how we can face our feelings and defenses of helplessness, withdrawal, grief, overwhelm, and terror as we navigate the high stakes we find our world in today into something we can work with. We can respond to these feelings with wisdom and love. We are capable of both suffering and accessing a place inside us that can guide us, but it won't happen automatically. We need to learn how to ask ourselves the most crucial questions: how do I care for myself from my heart and wisdom, listen to it, and act on it, while still feeling challenged? Join Robert as he lays out a guide map to show us the way, for if we do not have a process to work with our emotions, they will define us. Working with the examples of helplessness, withdrawal, grief, overwhelm, and terror Robert talks us through how we can both care for ourselves and also not be paralyzed in the world one realistic step at a time. Read the transcription and listen to this episode on The Global Bridge Foundation website.