Tenderly Embracing All the Ways That I Feel and Am: Journaling to Kindle Gentleness and Compassion for Our Precious Selves

Throughout Tenderly Embracing All the Ways that I Feel and Am: Journaling to Kindle Gentleness and Compassion for Our Precious Selves, done in collaboration with Barbara Fosbrink, you’ll find words and images that invite you to dive deeply into your self as you journal. They provide inspiration for you to explore the many different and, perhaps, cut off or suppressed aspects of your self that constitute what might be called your inner family. They encourage you to explore the various voices that either keep a running background commentary going in your head or else languish unattended by you. As you engage in journal dialog with (perhaps even name) these parts of your self, you can begin to bring to consciousness the processes that usually direct (without your awareness) the quality of your self-talk, the ways you treat your self. The seed thoughts in these pages provide doorways for exposing, questioning and separating your self from the internalized “shoulds” and cultural rules that have molded our beliefs about what is acceptable behavior, what makes us worthy. They encourage claiming your own authentic voice, delving into new ways of being with the various parts of your self/your inner family and building loving, gentle support for the truths of your own inner knowing. This journaling book has been designed as a companion to Robyn’s first book, Go Only as Fast as Your Slowest Part Feels Safe to Go: Tales to Kindle Gentleness and Compassion for Our Exhausted Selves. That book offers a collection of stories describing Robyn’s own journey from the relentless perfectionism of hyper-self-critical super-achieving to the unconditional self-love, compassionate self-care and tender-hearted acceptance of her perfectly imperfect self that now fill her life.