The start of something big...
Hello all. If you’ve been following me on YouTube you may have noticed that I’ve finally started rolling out new content again.
After nearly a 6 month hiatus, I’m back at it. (new content and Insight Timer links at bottom of this email)
The last year has been a whirlwind. A difficult breakup in Costa Rica led to some extensive yoga (and meditation) retreats in Mexico. I then decided to head back home for Canadian summer, spending time with family and close friends I hadn’t seen in quite a while.
I had a lot of time and space to reflect on what I want to do now. After working for many apps making content, I realized I really want to focus on my own thing. I love the connection I have with my audience on YouTube, and it’s really amazing to hear from so many people I’ve helped but have never met.
So I decided to do something really awesome for y’all.
Teaching meditation and writing meditations, while working as a therapist, really opened up my perspective. I’ve had a variety of clients and noticed that while there are a lot of commonalities in where people are stuck, there are also a lot of differences.
Working with clients, and being an obsessive learner, I’ve found that different approaches work in different contexts. I’ve also noticed some patterns in ways people get stuck.
Often people will find something that’s helpful, and because it’s helped them they fixate on that one thing.
Like someone may find that compassion meditations really helped them open up and feel more alive and connected to the world. And yet they still feel a heaviness that returns.
Or someone discovers that connecting with their inner child offers a lot of healing. But they still struggle to find the strength and motivation to pursue their goals in life.
I started to really pay attention to what works for people in different situations and compile all the strategies that are effective for healing and transformation.
Then I boiled them down to their most essential, effective perspectives and techniques.
I also paid a lot of attention to the barriers that arise, and how to work through those. I find so often a technique works for like 70% of people, but not the rest. I want to help those 30% that feel really stuck, as I was that stuck person for so long, and have helped countless clients overcome these challenges.
So I’ve planned out a pretty massive healing resource. It’s 9 modules and covers everything from trauma to attachment to mindfulness to identity to meaning to values to tantra…
It’s not meant to be done in order, but there is a lot of thought put into the order.
What’s become clear from working with clients is that healing isn’t linear. It’s not like we first overcome our stress responses and then work through our emotional baggage and then find purpose and meaning in life.
Often, all these things are happening simultaneously. We work on what’s presenting in the moment, and that opens up to a new feeling or something else arising, which leads us somewhere else.
Good therapy follows this process, never forcing a practice or process, but instead just being very present and aware of what’s already arising, and working with that. You find some loose threads and things begin to unravel naturally.
This is the approach that I find works best with clients, and so I’m attempting to make this resource in the same spirit, so anyone can check in with themselves and find the practices that are best suited to that moment.
This of course entails a lot of theory, but I’ve made it as simple and direct as possible.
I’m starting this project by releasing one practice for each module, that more or less introduces what that module is about.
Now these intro practices don’t really do the modules justice, as the modules go into way more depth and build an understanding of the topics while also addressing the challenges that arise. But even so, this first set of practices is a great start for most people.
The one caveat I have here is if people are experiencing more severe trauma (C-PTSD/PTSD) symptoms.
The second module is created exactly for these people. Trauma survivors can easily become overwhelmed from classical meditation practices, because most meditation is trying to bring you into a state of openness, but for many that opening just brings about stress, confusion, and overwhelm.
If you’re easily overwhelmed, then the second module on healing trauma will be the starting point, but it will still be a few weeks before that content is recorded and published.
I’ve come to the mountains of Peru to essentially isolate and work on this project, so getting this done as quickly as possible, without compromising quality.
For now, I’ve published my first 3 practices, all with original music (my friend Marshall Drägun produced these tracks, and I couldn’t be happier with how they came out).
1.1 Welcoming Our Experience
2.1 Finding Rest and Ease Through a Felt Sense of Safety
3.1 Cultivating Dynamic Self-Compassion
And hey, I almost forgot to mention I’m also publishing these practices on Insight Timer, a great free meditation app. Follow me there: https://insighttimer.com/beingintegrated
If you’re vibing with all this and want to support this project and get early access, check out my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/beingintegrated
My Patreon also has a more thorough overview of this project and the modules if you’d like to check that out.
OK that's it for now, but stay tuned for a lot more content and updates.
Jude
PS the above Artwork is by my lovely friend Ananda Enns. She will soon be offering prints on her website for only $50 CAD (that's significantly less in USD) and her originals and commissions are also very affordable.