Wow, when I heard the subject for last night's call I thought, "I don't need this info". Well.. did I see myself. Gives me plenty to pause and think about, while not sleeping much last night. I really do need this year more than I thought. Much learning to be done.

I wasn't able to write the pearl in the chat box before the session ended but the bit about being curious when emotions get intense (which brings things out of the emotional brain and into the thinking brain) really reinforced a few things I've been learning from other sources this week. I actually saw a post on social media which stated that when you named an emotion, it was as effective in reducing emotional pain as acetominophen was in reducing physical pain. I did a trek down the cyber rabbit hole and discovered the scientific study that supported that. In addition it showed that suppress emotions makes makes emotional pain worse. Google the work of Matthew Lieberman, Professor of psychology, psychiatry at UCLA. The addition of "being curious" in the moment.....talking to oneself about what one is feeling, naming the feeling...has that same result of bringing the intense emotional pain/reaction/fight,flight,fright reaction out of the amygdala (historically reactive emotional part of the brain) and into the prefrontal cortex (thinking area) and apparently taking the amygdala "off line". It's pretty convincing and amazing research. Glad I learned that this week and it was reinforced today!

@Patty Kreun joins us with a kind heart, a thoughtful perspective, and a real desire to strengthen the connections that matter most. The care she has for her daughters shines through immediately, and that level of love, intention, and openness is exactly what makes this community so special. Patty, we’re truly happy to have you here. This is a space built on support, growth, and honest connection — and we’re excited for you to be part of it.

This is the first Couple Class with Bill. It is so insightful and will give you much to consider. You don't have to have your spouse participate to learn and grow in this area. Remember, it only takes one person to change a relationship and you can be the one!

Well I knew ahead of time that hearing from my oldest daughter would get me in emotional mind. I've had years of not hearing from my two daughters on holidays but my oldest has started reaching out some. My middle daughter who has passed always made a point of reaching out. Well my oldest sent "Happy Mothers Day" a few flower emojis and said she hoped that I would have a nice day. This put me into emotional mind. Hindsight was just to say thanks and wish her a happy Mother's Day. But no.....in emotional mind what came out was that I hoped she was being shown lots of love and appreciation. I added that she has quite a large crew there - (her 3 adult children and grandchildren.). After I had wrote that my day was going nicely. Hindsight shows me that my ego's agenda was to try to show her how much I loved her and that I had empathy for all she does for her children. In the past, I would have been thinking poor me being all by myself but I have moved on to really wanting joy for her. Joy for me was just hearing from her. I sense that my daughter read it as if I was feeling sorry for myself not getting a lot of love and appreciation. We made some headway last year and I think this was a step back for us. Darn! I've been replaying this over and over and not being very kind to myself. 😢 Any kind words would be appreciated.