One of our most profound capacities as humans is the ability to re-story our lives. In this final episode of the storytelling series, we explore the movement from shame to compassion/self-compassion. This is primarily a somatic or embodied process, allowing our bodies to release the stored vital energy that may have become stuck in our system, with groaning, yelling, and whatever else creates emotional flow. With practice, we can release our bodies into new stories, for our sake and for the sake of the world around us.

As a conclusion to the storytelling series, we explore one of the hardest things we ever learn to do: refusing self-judgment and embracing every part of us with compassion. Self-compassion has nothing to do with going soft on ourselves or giving ourselves a pass; in fact, it demands ruthless self-awareness and integrity. It is the death of our ego's self-focus and, for many, a path to the Divine. If we can learn to hold our story and ourselves with compassion, we are well on our way to becoming wounded healers in a hurting world.

We have four “characters” in our brains: two in our left hemisphere and two in our right. These characters have vastly different concerns and focuses, and when we find ourselves mired in the more self-absorbed or anxious characters, we can feel really stuck. In this episode, following the work of Jill Bolte-Taylor, we explore a way of getting unstuck. By knowing these characters and addressing them directly, we can toggling between them. And by toggling, we can shift our experience in any given moment to broader perspective, stories, and possibilities.