Workshop on Boundaries
​​
I have the pleasure of offering this 2-hour workshop with the help of Michelle Gladieux of Gladieux Consulting. The session will be on Sunday, May 31 at noon Eastern US (time zone converter here). It is freely offered to make it as accessible as possible. For more info and to register, read on!​
​
[Please note that because of my unpredictable schedule the date may need to change. Thank you for understanding.]
We often hear about the need to draw boundaries. But most of us find it very challenging to do that, especially in longstanding complicated relationships. In truth, trouble with setting boundaries is part of our common human experience. When we have a built-in desire to care for and help others, cultural and family messages can co-opt that beautiful aspiration and tell us that our validity as a human being depends on being people-pleasing or making sure we keep everyone around us happy. That is an invitation to shame, guilt and an inability to set boundaries---even if those boundaries are crucial to our well-being.
So the first step to setting a boundary has nothing to do with actually setting a boundary. It is about discovering the often subconscious obstacles that keep us from creating boundaries and stating our needs. When we can see those obstacles, we can use both the tender and fierce aspects of self-compassion to help free us from them. The first half of this session will focus on that with a discussion and exercise from the Fierce Self-Compassion course.
Once we relearn how to support ourselves, we then need to figure out how to set a boundary. That is a vast subject, but I’m lucky to have a co-teacher who will present reasons and methods for communicating courageously in personal and professional life. Michelle Gladieux is President of Gladieux Consulting, a company known for 1:1 coaching, team workshops, and executive coaching for 20+ years around the U.S., based in Fort Wayne. She's also the author of the award-winning book Communicate with Courage: Taking Risks to Overcome the Four Hidden Challenges.
She will share ways to express yourself in challenging conversations so your needs are heard and acted upon more often. She'll discuss obstacles that keep us from advocating for ourselves (and others) and what to do about them, followed by welcoming your questions.
Please note this session is not designed to tell you when or how to set a boundary. You don’t want to make major life decisions—that could have significant consequences—based on a 2-hour workshop! Instead, we hope to offer tools to better understand and support yourself in situations where setting boundaries may need to be done.
​
Although anyone is welcome to attend, it helps if you have some familiarity with self-compassion in both its tender and fierce forms. Here is a basic handout on self-compassion in general, and here is a handout on fierce self-compassion if you want something to review prior to the session. As always, a session like this can bring up challenging emotions, so make sure this is the right time to do this. You know what is best for you, so listen to your inner guide.
This workshop is freely offered to make it as accessible as possible. To register, you can go to this webpage to read the waiver and sign up, or you can use the button below. Thank you for your interest in this, and let me know if you have any questions (modestlymindful@gmail.com).
Photo by Clay LeConey on Unsplash