Issue #06

Welcome to...

An Interview with Jill Krush

Jill specializes in navigating codependency, depression, anxiety, stress management, trauma healing, and substance abuse issues. Jill brings a wealth of expertise to her private practice in Boulder, Colorado. She collaborates with agencies nationwide, offering transformative care to individuals, couples, and families.

Jill and I got deep into different somatic/embodiment practices like YES, AND, Less Is More, Slowing Down, Orienting Towards The Good, The ‘I’ Attending To The ‘It’, Being In The Body, and Felt Sensing.

Please enjoy our conversation together, you will find it rich with insight and practical ways of living an embodied life. You will also find in this newsletter a practical workbook to help you build a more embodied life, using some of the tools Jill and I discussed in our interview. If you'd like to connect with Jill (she is in the US) please head to her website https://www.krushcounseling.com/
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Wisdoms- The Creative Power of the YES, AND Game

Several years ago (pre-COVID), I enrolled myself in an improv class. I had just got my second coaching certification and was wanting to do more coaching and less esthetics. There were new skills to learn and to master to set up the coaching practice.

I was scared and overwhelmed and even though I was excited my confidence took a nosedive. I felt stuck. I know the best way to get unstuck is to try something new - even when it's scary as hell. Enter improv class…

We got right to it with the game YES, AND. We were kindly forbidden to use the word BUT since it kills the scene we were to create. It didn’t matter where the scene went as long as we kept accepting what was offered and added to it with a YES, AND. We started with a red ball.

"Here’s a red ball. YES, AND that is a bouncy red ball. YES, AND we can play a game with the red ball. YES, AND we could ask those people over there to join us, YES, AND..." What a laugh as we zoomed around the room making up things to do with the red ball.

Then, do you know what I noticed? How much I was using BUT in my life. In almost every area. No wonder I felt stuck.

A body-oriented coach uses YES, AND all the time. It's an acknowledgement of what is present right now (which might not feel super awesome), AND what is also present (goodness and glitters). So often we forget to notice the good- and overly focus on what's not right.

YES, AND can also be used as a way to reset the nervous system. It invites a person to be curious about what is true in the here and now and to generate possibilities for the future. It helps a person access inner wisdom and gain a new perspective.

So, YES, AND can be both an acknowledgment/noticing the difficult and the neutral/positive and a way we can rewire our beliefs, speech, and communication with others. It's what I like to call a 'bridge tool', When used in communication YES, AND gives everyone in a ‘scene’ a chance to tell their story, without being discounted or stopped.

Examples:

(Honest Acknowledgment): I feel bad for interrupting Sam. Yes, and it feels crummy to interrupt someone when they are sharing. Yes, and I could apologize to Sam for doing this. Yes, and next time I will let Sam finish what they are saying before I jump in. Yes, and then we will both feel good and connected.

(Communication): I feel bad for interrupting you, Sam. Yes, and when you interrupt me Glenda it doesn't feel very good. Yes, that's not fun to not feel good, and I'd like to apologize to you, Sam. Yes, Glenda thank you for apologizing. Yes, and Sam I promise not to interrupt you anymore, please share with me what you were going to say.

Go ahead and play with YES, AND yourself. It can turn the mundane into something fun. Be sure to download this month’s tool to help you master YES, AND and several other skills to help you be more embodied.

YES, AND changed everything for me- and what I began in my work and life after the improv class has taken me to all kinds of amazing places. Which is pretty cool 🙌🏼.

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ReAlive Tools

This month's tool is all about being more embodied (and this little workbook makes it easy!). Download it HERE (Free!)

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Quote

Words have not only a definition...but also the felt quality of their own kind of sound. Mary Oliver

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Coach's ReAlive Question

What is something you'd like to change in your life? How could you utilize YES, AND to help you build a bridge between where you are now and where you would like to go?

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Endnotes

Somatic language is quite new for many of us. I find having a definition extremely helpful for me to integrate what has been explored. Jill and I discussed several things which need a definition.

Felt Sense: A meaningful body sensation. It is more than a feeling, more than a sensation since it captures the whole of an experience. It’s ever forming, implies movement forward or next step. When experienced we feel a shift in our state or experience. A physical sense of meaning to a challenge, concern or situation.

Taking in/Orienting towards the good: Staying, sensing and savouring (and maybe symbolizing and saying) short-term positive states so you can turn them into long-term traits which can always be accessed for the rest of your life. It is the deliberate, intentional internalization of positive experiences into implicit memory.

Being in the Body/Embodied Self-awareness: feeling or experiencing the self - based on sensing, feeling and acting. Being in the subjective emotional present and able to feel one's emotions without judgment or trying to escape them. Spontaneous, creative, open to change. Concrete, lived in the present moment, slow and deliberate

May these definitions support you as you seek to live your life as a human being on Earth.

Have a wonderful month ahead,

Glenda

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PS