The practices on this website are very powerful, and even though they are designed to be as safe as possible, it is critical that you use them responsibly. By using any of the resources, skills, or practices on this website you are agreeing to take full responsibility for your own well-being. Below I have included some recommendations and potential cautions regarding the use of this material. I don’t say these to discourage you from using these resources, but simply to give some input about how to use them wisely, effectively, and responsibly.
Recommendations:
- I recommend that while you use these practices you are also in collaboration with healthy, mature people who can support you in your growth journey. If you are struggling with moderate to high levels of problematic symptoms that negatively impact your life, that support network should probably include a professional counselor. If your symptoms are less severe, you may find that good friends, mentors, coaches, and some form of healthy group to be part of are adequate.
- Before using these practices I recommend reading about them and listening to the included video or audio to get an understanding of the practice. Then I suggest you check with your heart and with your gut regarding whether a particular practice feels right to experiment with. Ultimately, trying out a practice will give your gut the most information about whether it feels like a good fit for you, but we all have some intuition regarding what we most need now and what we may want to come back to later.
- Before each use of these practices, particularly for Phase 2 and higher, I recommend telling yourself inside, “I have time. It is ok to only allow forward what I am truly ready to handle right now.”
Cautions:
- Remember that everything on this site is totally optional. Ultimately you make the choice about whether and which practices you choose to engage in.
- The risk of using some of these practices is actually that your system may launch down the road of healing faster than you expect. In other words, you may start to feel emotions come up that you weren’t expecting because your brain perceives that conditions are good for some healing to occur, such as a measure of self compassion and rest are available. That may be exactly what you want if you have adequate support and basic levels of time and energy in place to proceed. However, if these are not adequately in place you may need to build up some extra support, including a professional counselor, and focus on the habits that build up your strength, capacity, and energy such as getting your sleep, diet, and exercise rhythms in place as well as leaning on Phase 1 skills for stress reduction.