Imi Lo

If we were to peel back, one layer after another, to the root of what now seems to be an unruly beast, we often find a tiny, fragile, tender seed of deprived need.

Because of their innate excitabilities, and the capacity to absorb and process a vast amount of information, they need a consistent supply of rigorous, ‘good quality’ stimulations, from a multitude of sources.

Physical activities, sensual comfort, emotional depth, intellectual discourse, cultures, adventures and having varieties in life— these are the essential nutrients for their health and optimal functioning.

How can you be yourself, even when you are different?   Can you live with full integrity, without being attacked or annihilated? 

We shall explore how to survive situations and conventional settings in which you don’t neatly ‘fit in,’ or even inadvertently attacked or put down. We will discuss how to manage painful emotional flashbacks, set personal and psychological boundaries, bounce back from interpersonal injuries, and ultimately, use these hostile situations as opportunities to learn and grow.

“MY CBT therapist told me those were ‘irrational thinking,’ which made it worse- now I just blame myself;”

“ I have gone through my childhood trauma many times, but when I argue with my partner, I still behave like a five-year-old!” 

Our psyche, like everything else in nature, has its wisdom. When our psyche is fully equipped, we could not stop the move towards wholeness even if we try. 

What do you do when no one is watching? 
With whom do you feel most at ease? 
When does your natural humour, playfulness, and spontaneity come out?

Many of us have developed an adaptive social self, or a way of being that is carefully edited, partially silenced and rigidly held. In this letter, I start with a personal sharing about my struggle to walk away from the conventional myths of what we must do and the cultural confines of what it means to be successful. We end the with the small changes that we can make today to work towards inner freedom.

Can you feel truly belonged, if you are not being yourself? 

Here is the news:

You are allowed to tell someone you are angry, annoyed, frustrated, even when there is no ‘justified,’ ‘logical’ reason. 
You are allowed to tell the world the strength and velocity of your feelings.
You are allowed to stop putting on that fake smile. 
You do not need anyone’s permission for all the intensity inside of you to come up and come out.  

Can you be emotionally intense and emotionally empty at the same time? 

Do you have a mind too busy, yet a heart that feels vacant?

How is it that you can be both too full and too empty?

Spiritual practice is the act of harnessing a kind of soul strength that is deeper than what meets the eyes.
By having the ability to see, hear and know the mysteries that lies beyond science and logic, we can draw power from something much greater than ourselves.

Here are four spiritual lessons that are especially relevant and useful to the emotionally intense and spiritually sensitive individuals.

Intellectually, we know that our parents cannot change who they are; Rationally, we know that the past is in the past. On many levels, we have forgiven them.  However, these do not change the emotional reality that is raw, heavy, reactive, uncontrollable and full of rage.