“Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness.”

~ Brené Brown

“It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough. It’s going to bed at night thinking, Yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging.”

~ Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

We all have a natural tendency to focus on the story. The story of why we are sad, depressed, angry, lonely, bored (insert other emotions here) and the feelings that result from them: guilt, fear, shame, resentment. The TIMBo (Trauma Informed Mind Body) Program is designed to more strategically address the effect that stress and trauma have on the body and the mind.

It’s okay to share and process our stories and equally important to recognize when we get caught up in the drama of the story rather than doing what we can to work toward healing the hurt associated with our emotions and feelings.

I’ve attended many workshops and trainings in my years of preparing to be a yoga teacher trainer and health/life coach as well as for my own personal development. The TIMBo Training has reinforced much of what I have learned in the past decade including:

> The Saber Tooth Tiger Syndrome (or as I affectionately refer to it: STTS)—a real or perceived threat to survival (when we have the urge to ‘fight or flight’) is the root of many of our reactions to people and situations. In the caveman (I prefer ‘cavepeople’) days, if you were dismissed by the clan, they would throw you out of the cave and guess who was waiting for you? Yup—the Saber Tooth Tiger—and it would be likely there would not be an option to fight and you’d be running for your life.

> From the Buddha’s Brain book, The Path of Awakening

“Being with what arises (mindfulness), working with tendencies of the mind to transform (virtue), and taking refuge in the ground of being (wisdom).”

> There is nothing to fix! This is one of the first things Sue Jones (facilitator and creator of the TIMBo program – and also an elephant writer) said to the group. Five seemingly simple words. Sit for a moment and think about that. How often do we act and react from a place of trying to fix something or someone (including ourselves)?

> F.E.A.R.—False Evidence Appearing Real

Lao Tzu wrote:

“If you are depressed, you are living in the past,
If you are anxious, you are living in the future,
If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”

When we live in the present moment, we are aware of how we are “being” and decrease our likelihood of being depressed or anxious—which is excellent since both those feelings can lead to feeling fearful and being stuck in sensations that don’t serve us. When we are living in the present moment, we can be present with something we need to process without being stuck in the past or the future.

Sue also reminded us that regardless of the trigger, fear is the same. We feel it in our body and it invokes a physiological response—which can be addressed via verbally processing the emotion/feeling, intentional breathing, yoga, and meditation. Sue reminds us that it’s a process—it is about learning to be okay where we are at and moving toward happiness. Not labeling an emotion as negative, being with it as it is.

The TIMBo Program is great for self-development as well as learning to facilitate groups and yoga classes for women who want to live more authentically and let go of emotions that no longer serve us/them. In this four day training you will meet women who will be your friends for life.

The day after the training Sue wrote on her Facebook page: “Laugh with me and we connect for a day. Cry with me and we connect for a lifetime.” This pretty much sums up how powerful the training was and how deeply connected I feel to the women who were at this training.

Post-TIMBO days/weeks also remind me of the post-Reiki training days. They are emotional (in an awesome, powerful way), you feel fully present in your life and you are really clear on what is leading you toward your life’s purpose and what is not.

This training will change your perception and will provide you with the strength to move toward that which energetically and intuitively feels right for your life and will help you release from that which does not resonate.
You will need to be prepared to get in touch with how emotions are stored in your body—which is why it quickly becomes clear why Marika walked into the training room with multiple boxes of tissues. It’s quite cleansing and healing as we realize that life is not always about being happy and that we cannot truly know happiness without being familiar with sadness.

And we understand that we can experience confidence by recognizing our shame and we can move toward the light by having knowledge of the darkness. We need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable—which according to Brené Brown is an accurate measurement of courage. When we live truthfully, with courage, we are living authentically.

More from Brené Brown on this subject:

TED talk: Vulnerability

TED talk: Listening to Shame

What can we all do to live more wholeheartedly? Consider one or more of the following to begin to build our toolbox:

> Shift judgment of reaction to the stories/feelings with Mindfulness Practices: Practice Pranayama, Yoga, Meditation

> Breathing off the mat—pay attention and lengthen our breath to change the physiology of your body

> Read, Learn and Be Inspired—here are some of my favorites:

Brene Brown: The Gifts of Imperfection;

Buddha’s Brain: Richard Hanson;

Life Lessons – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross & David Kessler;

Anatomy of the Spirit – Caroline Myss;

The Power of Intention – Wayne Dyer;

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life – Wayne Dyer;

Seven Spiritual Laws of Success – Deepak Chopra;

A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle;

Mudras – Yoga in Your Hands – Gertrude Hirschi;

Creative Visualization – Shakti Gawain

> Life/Health Coaching
To process the stories of our lives so we can release the emotions that we attached to the story, when we are no longer attached to them in a way that is creating harm to our body, we begin the healing process and to understand yourself, learn about how your values and beliefs contribute to your actions and reactions.

> Attend a TIMBo session and learn to “put space between what you feel and what you choose to do.”

> Recognize and take time to do what grounds you—nature, reading, yoga, spending time with friends & family or anything else you find grounding.

> Believe that you have the resources within to accomplish anything you want in life.

> Understand the concept of choice—Living Life, Making Choices

Every day we make choices.
We choose one thought over another,
we choose one behavior over another,
we choose to take one path over another.

When we investigate our lives,
existing with awareness
and taking responsibility for our choices,

we are choosing to live an authentic life.

For more information:

 Sue Jones
TIMBo Training
yogaHOPE

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Editor: Kate Bartolotta