If you've ever dealt with a physical symptom, whether it's chronic pain, fatigue, headaches, or something else, you've probably noticed something: the symptom isn't the only thing that hurts. There's a voice that comes with it. "Why can't I just push through this?" "Everyone else seems fine. What's wrong with me?" "I'm so weak." "I should be able to handle this by now." That voice is the inner critic, and it's almost always tied to deeper cultural messages about what we should be able to endure. The symptom creates suffering. The inner criticism shames us for suffering. And we end up carrying two layers of pain, often without realizing the second one is even there. This week's reflection: 💗 Think about a body symptom you're currently dealing with, or one that comes and goes. Now listen carefully: what does your inner critic say about you because of that symptom? Write those words down exactly as you hear them. Don't soften them. Then read them back to yourself out loud. What does it feel like to actually hear what you've been saying to yourself? Does it sound like the voice of someone who cares about you, or someone who is being cruel? The symptom deserves care. But so does the part of you that's been quietly absorbing that cruelty without anyone noticing. xo, Amanda

Hello Lovelies! I’m on holiday with my family in the UK. I’m currently sitting at the airport waiting for our flight to the Isle of Man. I’ll be posting the UnShaming Reflections once I land in a few hours once I land. Xo, Amanda

Here's something I want you to sit with as we close out this month: direct experience is unshamed experience. When you describe what you're feeling in your body using sensory terms like tingling, pressure, heat, heaviness, softness, you are speaking a language that shame can't touch. Because shame lives in opinions and judgments. "I'm too sensitive." "I'm broken." "Something is wrong with me." Those are ideas. They're interpretations filtered through a lens. But "I feel heat rising in my chest" is just truth. It's your experience, unfiltered. And when you practice staying with that direct experience instead of jumping to the interpretation, something shifts. You start trusting what your body knows, even when your mind has been taught to doubt it. This week's reflection: 💕 Set a few minutes aside to sit quietly with yourself. Close your eyes and scan your body slowly, from the top of your head down to your feet. When you land on a sensation, any sensation, stay with it. Describe it using only physical words: warm, tight, buzzing, hollow, heavy, soft, sharp. Don't interpret. Don't diagnose. Don't ask "why." Just describe what's there. Then write it down. What is it like to let your body speak without your mind editing the story? You've spent this whole month turning toward your body. That is not a small thing. That is unshaming in practice. xo, Amanda

This is the space to share what comes up for you as you work through Module 5: What UnShaming Actually Is. What is one moment in your life where you felt truly believed? Without someone trying to fix, offer advice, shown solutions, etc. Just seen. If you have one, I would love to hear what that felt like. And if you are still looking for that moment, that is welcome here too. This space is for all of it. xo, Amanda

Going Deeper Into Shame -- all five modules -- is now complete and ready for you to move through from start to finish. WOOHOO! This is the course that takes you from recognizing shame in your everyday life to understanding what unshaming actually feels like in your body. It is not about fixing yourself. You are not a problem to be solved. You are a nature to be witnessed. This is what you get access to: Module 1: Seeing the shame lens as it operates in your everyday life. Module 2: Tracing the messages you carry back to where they actually came from. Module 3: Meeting the shaming witness and understanding how she became your inner critic. Module 4: Coming home to your body and learning to listen to what it has been trying to tell you. Module 5: What unshaming actually is and your first real experience of it. Each module comes with at least one companion resource to work with alongside the video. Access the full course by becoming a Founding Member for $9/month and lock in this rate for as long as you stay! This gives you access to all future courses, workshops, digital products, and events that I add to this plan. Cancel anytime. Upgrade here, Premium Plan. xo, Amanda