Dearest Human,

If you’ve received this it means you’ve taken the first step into your healing journey. This
is the toughest step and you’ve made it!
Many of us are aware that we have the power to change who we are, to change our reality
but never put in the time or effort to go about doing that but you have and know that your
courage is acknowledged.
Through this journey you will get to know and dig into yourself like never before, you
will tune in and bit by bit feel more connected to yourself, your inner strength and inner
voice. For so long we’ve hid away from who are, we’ve avoided our thoughts, our
emotions and our very Being. For long we’ve numbed ourselves and kept ourselves
distracted from what lies within, living life on autopilot instead of experiencing life
consciously and with awareness.
NOW is your chance to change that; to begin to take charge of your own life and find the
inner peace that you seek.
Human, welcome on board to a new chapter in your life, one that you will create for
yourself and one that you will always remember.
I have no doubt that you will reach your goals and create the reality that you desire for
yourself,
I have no doubt that you have the strength, courage and tools to dig your own path,
I have no doubt that you will transform your life and liberate yourself of all that weighs
you down or interrupts your growth.
You, are no ordinary form of life, you are an evolved extension of the universe, ever
growing and ever changing.
I welcome you on your journey and am humbled to be part of it!
Much Love,
Lara
 Journey Outline
This journey is tailor made to help guide you as you embark on your own healing journey. The
goal is to help you expand your awareness towards the self, to better understand who you are, to
help you tune into your thoughts, body and emotions; to teach you the power of forgiveness,
acceptance and positivity; to help you develop new ways and perspectives that will help you
embrace the many facets of existence with excitement and joy and finally, to help guide you into
finding the inner peace that you are in search for.
Even though this journey has been divided up into six weeks, always take time to pause and check
in with your mind, body and heart. You may feel you need more time, that you need to pause for
a little bit to let everything sink in or to allow more space for healing to take place. That is more
than okay! Follow your intuition and honor your own mental and emotional capacity; the
guidebook isn’t going anywhere. Don’t rush yourself towards the destination but instead, enjoy
and be mindful of the journey.
Below is a brief description of how the journey has been divided up and what you can expect out
of each week:
Week #1 Awareness Part One (Who am I?)
During our first week we’ll be taking the time to get to know ourselves a new. To self-reflect and
expand our awareness, answering the question of; who am I?
Week #2 Awareness Part Two (Why I am who I am?)
During the second week we’ll be digging in deeper, from the surface down to the roots. Gaining
a broader understanding of the many aspects of our environment that played a role in the shaping
of who we are today.
Week #3 Accept, Release and Let Go (Part One)
After we learn the power of acceptance, we will begin to heal our relationship with our parents
and in doing so, we will begin to heal through our inner child wounds.
Week #4 Accept, Release and Let Go (Part Two)
As we reach week four in our journey, we will begin to learn the power of forgiveness and be
guided to heal our relationship with others, cutting cords that weigh us down.
Week #5 Creators of Our Own Reality
During our fifth week we begin to dig the seeds that we wish to see grow, consciously choosing
who we desire to be and what reality we wish to create for ourselves.

***
Are you ready to embark on your journey to inner peace?
 Pre-Journey Reflection
Before we begin our journey, take some time to reflect on the following guided prompts I’ve
written for you. These will help prepare you mentally and emotionally for this journey and
encourage you more than I hope you already are. They’ll also help you gain clearance as to why
you’re embarking on this journey, so that if you’re ever in doubt, you can always go back and skim
through your answers for reassurance.
1. What encouraged you most to join this online journey?

2. Take a few moments to reflect on where you feel you are in life in the present moment.
How do you feel towards who you are and towards the life that you’re living in the present
moment?

3. When you think of the best version of yourself, what does that look like?

4. What do you feel is keeping/limiting you from living the life that you desire for yourself?
5. What would you say are the habits that you currently have that don’t benefit you or aid
your growth?

6. What are the habits that do help you grow and evolve? (if you can’t find any then write
down the habits you’d like to adapt that you feel would help you grow)

7. Are you ready to put in the time and effort to create the changes needed, internally and
externally to heal and find the inner peace that you seek?

8. Lastly, have a quick look at your answers and then take a few moments to reflect; when
you’re ready, place an intention or a couple of intentions for this journey.
Intentions help us focus our energies in a specific direction, they guide our actions and
thoughts and serve as a reminder of what we’re after. An example of an intention could be
“I intend to seek every moment as an opportunity to evolve” or “I intend to take baby steps
daily towards the growth that I seek”.
 WEEK 1
Awareness (Who Am I?)
Week One Overview
First week of our journey!
This week we’ll focus our energies on expanding our awareness towards ourselves. Taking the
time to get to know ourselves anew; who we are, what are our held views, attitudes, beliefs, likes,
dislikes, repetitive thought patterns and trigger points (to name a few). The goal is to revive our
curiosity towards ourselves and approach ourselves the way we would a new friend who we have
never met before.
Why spend time doing that?
Most of us spend the majority of our life feeling foreign in our own skin. We let culture, society,
religion, our families and the external world mold us and tell us who we are, never pausing to ask
ourselves who WE wish to be. We spend too much living up to other people’s expectations, trying
to fit into their idea of who we should be, that we lose ourselves in the process; repressing our true
self. This is similar to an actor who spent too long on set, rehearsing lines that were given to
him/her, rehearsing the narrative that was forced on him/her and trying to ensure that they play the
character as should be; forgetting who they were and losing themselves into their crafted character.
This is your chance, to understand who you are in the present moment and once you gain awareness
towards yourself, you’ll be able to recognize the parts of you that express your highest truth and
resonate with you, apart from those parts of you that you wish to shred because they don’t resonate
with you or your highest truth.
***

A few things to remember…

#1 Replace judging with understanding.
All of us tend to have a held idea of ourselves, an idea of who we think we are or who we think
we should be. It’s this idea that’s often the source of our self-judging and self-punishment
tendencies. While you take the time to get to know yourself a new, not only should you try to
become aware of that idea that you hold of yourself but you should also try to begin to shred this
idea. Why shred it? Because most often or not who we truly are isn’t quite who we think we are
and as you begin to approach yourself anew and expand your awareness towards yourself, the
more you know, the more you’ll realize how the truth isn’t in parallel with the idea. Which is more
than okay! But if we choose to hang on to that idea that we hold of ourselves, then two things will
probably happen. The first thing being that you may limit yourself from seeing the full picture
because if one aspect of who you are threatens the idea that you hold of yourself, then your ego
may come to the rescue and disable you from seeing yourself as you are. The second part of it is
that you’ll find yourself constantly disappointed, constantly judging and punishing yourself for not
living up to that idea or ‘image’ you hold for yourself.
Instead, the best way to approach this part of your journey is to have NO EXPECTATIONS. To
simply allow yourself to explore all different parts of yourself without expecting anything, without
judging any part of you or punishing yourself. Instead, approach yourself with the intention of
better UNDERSTANDING yourself from a place of love. Knowing that it doesn’t really matter
who you are in the present moment because you have the power to become whoever you desire to
be and to create all the changes that you seek for yourself; all of which can only happen if you
have awareness over yourself.

*Take some time to reflect here and to journal through these couple of guided questions*
 Imagine you were asked to introduce yourself to someone who wants to know as much
about you as possible, what would you say? (Write as much as you want and try to free-
write and not judge whatever you’re writing, knowing that only you will be reading this)

 What are 5 traits about yourself that you are proud of?

 What are 5 traits that you dislike about yourself?

#2 All questions are relevant
Because we’ve lived with ourselves for years, there will be parts of ourselves that we believe we
already know, parts of ourselves that we might think aren’t worth exploring because there won’t
be like there’s something new to learn but in reality, there’s actually LOTS worth knowing.
Imagine you’ve never met yourself before and use that approach on yourself. Ask all the questions
you would wish to ask someone you’ve only just met that you feel will help you get to know them
better. Starting with what colors do you enjoy and which make you feel uneasy, to what brings
you fear and what are your beliefs. Poke yourself and enjoy learning new things about yourself.

#3 Remember to pause
One of the best ways to get closer to yourself is to eliminate distractions. Because we live in such
a fast paced world, we always seem to be in a hurry; always distracted, always on the run. We are
either working, talking, listening to music, watching TV shows or enjoying the company of others;
but when do we take the time to pause, to sit in silence, with ourselves?
Sitting in silence is a gift because through silence we are able to become more aware of our
thoughts, able to become more familiar with our emotions and our physical sensations. We’re able
to shift our awareness from the outside world and shift it to within.
Another great few ways to pause include meditating, journaling, and painting, practicing yoga or
slow movements. Find the way that helps you tune in and that brings you joy, and go for it!

#3 Observation is a gift
Finally, observe. Observe yourself free of judgment. Observe how you respond to different
situations, how you feel around certain people, how your body reacts to different foods, what
thoughts seem to be repetitive in your mind, how you go about your day, how you deal with your
emotions. Observing helps you deepen your awareness towards yourself, as well as allows you to
switch from autopilot to conscious living.

Are you ready to truly get to know yourself?

 WEEK 1
Exercises & Tasks
If you’ve already answered any of these questions, skip on to the next one.

1. Read the next few words and write down whatever thoughts or emotions surface up towards
each:
 Life

 Family

 Friends

 Love

 Success

 Forgiveness

 Failure

 Pain

 Happiness

 Gratitude

 Freedom of choice

 Childhood

 Culture

 God

 Past, Present and Future

2. Make a list of 5 people that you look up to and write down the characteristics or traits that
you admire most about them?

3. What are 5 traits you dislike or can’t stand in others?

4. Are there any aspects that you find in your environment that you hold responsible for the
reality that you find yourself in? If yes, what are they?
5. Recall five memories that you hold in which your behavior or reaction you were proud of
(moments where you felt you handled the situation or yourself well)

6. Do you have any regrets? If yes, what are they?

7. When you self-talk, do you self-blame, judge and punish? If yes, what do you blame, judge
or punish yourself for?
8. Do you self-praise yourself? Do you clap, cheer and bow to yourself? (if your answer is
no, then ask yourself why? If your answer is yes, ask yourself when?

9. What are 4 core beliefs that you hold about yourself, about others and about life?

10. Do you feel that you feel like you are more drawn to often look at the cup half empty or
half full?

11. What would you say is your biggest fear?

12. How do you spend your days? What does a typical day look like for you?
13. What do you always feel most passionate about?

14. Do you feel the need to be in control? In control of how others perceive you, in control of
the future, of your thoughts, of your emotions etc.? If yes, why do you feel the need to be
in control? (it helps to ask yourself, what would happen if you lose control)

15. How do you feel when things don’t go according to your expectations/plans?

16. Do you feel that you’re affected by other peoples’ opinions? If yes, ask yourself why?

17. What would the best version of yourself look like?

18. What is stopping you from living up to your potential?

19. Do you believe that you have the power to create whichever reality you desire for yourself
and to be whoever you desire to be?
 WEEK 2
Awareness (Part II)
Why I Am Who I Am?
You’ve made it to week two! Congratulations, that took courage! So please take a few moments
first, to let everything you’ve learn this far sink and to truly congratulate yourself for having taken
a massive step in your journey. The end line may seem far away but I hope you find it in you to
enjoy the journey, to enjoy digging into yourself like never before.
So before you keep going, I would like to let you know that
I see you,
I acknowledge you,
I appreciate you,
I accept you,
And that I love you as you are.
Week Two Overview
This week, we dig in even deeper; down to the very roots! To be quite frank, a week isn’t enough
to indefinitely know the self, even a whole lifetime wouldn’t be enough; because there will always
be more to learn about ourselves which is one of the aspects of life that make it so exciting. So
since we can’t confidently say that we have fully come to know ourselves, we can at least proudly
say that we have expanded our awareness to an incredible extent.
It’s now time to expand our awareness even further, from the surface down to the roots; from who
we are, to why we are who we are.

Our self-sense of identity

Most of us were brought up in homes and communities that taught us in one way or another that
who we are is given, fixed, set in stone. We were rewarded for remaining in character and punished
for improvising, for exploring different aspects of ourselves that weren’t so familiar to those
around us. But what if I told you that you could be anyone you desired to be? That who you are
isn’t at all set in stone but quite the opposite, it is fluid and ever changing.
We live in a universe of infinite possibilities, meaning that all possible versions of yourself that
you can possibly think of can exist, including those your mind couldn’t even conceptualize of.
However, within culture and restrained by the rules enforced by society, our free will to explore
all these versions of ourselves was stripped off of us. We were instead forced to think in specific
ways, behave, speak, love and even grow in specific defined ways.
Every single aspect of our environment from the second we were born, up until this moment have
influenced and contributed to the creation of our identities; in other words, our environments
played major roles in who we have become and find ourselves to be today.
To avoid getting confused, let’s dismantle the different aspects of our environment and dig into
them one by one.

*Home & Family*

The home that we’re born into plays a major role in who we grow to become.
Our parents are the first people we fall in love with and they are the first to fall in love with us. It
is through the way that they love us and see us that we learn to love and see ourselves. But our
parents, just as we, are people who have lived a long lifetime and have developed their own shares
of traits, beliefs, fears, insecurities, attitudes, perceptions and thoughts. They’ve experienced their
own upbringing and not all of them have learnt how to love unconditionally, mainly because they
haven’t received it themselves.
What does conditional loving look like and how does it affect the way we love ourselves?
When we were young our parents used the reward and punishment technique, almost
unconsciously. This is when parts of our existence were rewarded with love, whilst others were
punished with the withdrawal of love. This reward of love can be anything, from materialistic gifts,
like gifting us toys when we were children, an encouraging word like ‘great job’, a physically
affectionate reward like a hug or a pat on the back or anything else that expressed that they are
proud and content with who are. Whereas a withdrawal of love can be the silence treatment for
instance, a verbal expression of anger or disappointment, the confiscation of the things that brought
us joy or anything else that expresses that they’re not happy with who we are.
It is through the punishment and reward technique that we learn which parts of our existence will
be rewarded with love, acceptance and acknowledgement and which other parts would be punished
with the withdrawal of love, disappointment, abandonment, anger or even abuse. We learnt
through those experiences, what parts of us to express and what others to repress.
Why?
Because as humans we are quite simple, there are two things that we truly need to be fully content.
We want to give love and receive love. It is when one of these two channels are blocked that we
find ourselves feeling uneasy, unbalanced and distorted. And much as we gifted love freely as
children, love didn’t seem to be freely gifted to us; so we learnt that we must mold ourselves to
deem ourselves ‘valuable’ and ‘deserving’ of love.
Let me give you another example, if your parents were strict, didn’t tolerate imperfection but
rewarded success, didn’t enjoy loudly speaking or adventures, if they appreciated external
validation over inner joy; then odds are, they had rewarded you for the traits they appreciated you
and punished you for the traits they did not. To add to it, their ways may have even grown to
become part of your own personality and you’ll find that much of that is true because as children
we are sponges to the outside world and so you’ll realize that much of your attitudes, beliefs or
ways are similar to those of your parents.
 *Take some time to journal and reflect on these guided questions*

1. If your parents were to describe you in 7 words, what would those 7 words be?

2. What are five traits your parents couldn’t/can’t tolerate?

3. What are five traits they appreciate and reward in others?

4. Can you think of 5 behaviors, thoughts or traits you rewarded for and 5 that you were
punished for?

5. Look back at the list of 5 traits you like and dislike about yourself that you reflected on Week
1; can you find similarities between the way you see yourself and the way your parents see you?
(or between the way they loved you and the way you love yourself?)
I hope this helped you expand your awareness a little bit more in regards to how we see and love
ourselves and shed light on the form of love that you received as a child; and hopefully, as to how
that influenced you which we’ll dig deeper into now.
***
Reminder: Although we are gaining awareness over those aspects of us that are weighing us down,
that is not to say that we did not have joyful or loving memories and moments; we’re not tapping
into our wounds to simply look at the negative but we are focusing on our wounds because it is
these aspects of our realities that are in need of healing in the present moment. Remind yourself
of that always throughout your journey. That although you have gone through your share of painful
experiences, you’ve also gone through your share of joyful ones.
***
Our parents and our household, didn’t only influence us in terms of how we love and see ourselves
but much of our fears, insecurities, traumas, beliefs and attitudes also stem from our childhood.
For instance, perhaps we have been abandoned by one of our parents which caused us to fear
experiencing deep forms of love in the present moment. Perhaps at times we felt unseen,
unacknowledged, unaccepted or unheard which may have caused us to attract emotionally
unavailable partners, caused us to seek external validation or deeply seek to feel accepted,
acknowledged and loved in the present moment. It could be that we experienced a form of mental,
emotional or physical abuse and felt helpless and vulnerable, causing us to pile up anger and
project in aggression, in overprotectiveness or to shield ourselves in fear of feeling vulnerable
again, of feeling unprotected.
Each and every one of us has had their own unique experience that has influenced them in their
own unique way. The examples I give above are just examples of the kind and extent of influence
our childhood can have on us.
It’s time to dig into our childhood and stretch out our awareness. Remember, you may be revisiting
old wounds that trigger certain emotions that may be hard to host but observe those emotions and
how these memories make you feel because it is through feeling with awareness that we can begin
to heal through these memories so that they no longer have a toll on us. You’re not revisiting the
past to dwell or cling on to it but to better understand what aspects of your past are in need of your
attention, in need of resolution and healing. Work through your resistance and remember always
to bring yourself back to the present moment, remembering that what you are accessing is a mere
memory stored in your mind and is no longer present in your now reality.

So before you begin, cite this intention and affirmation in your mind to help guide you as you dig
in and reflect:
I intend to dig into my subconscious mind, to revisit my past for the purpose of healing and
not of dwelling.
I am stronger than I was yesterday, I am wiser and more capable to take charge of my own life
and release what no longer serves me.
 *Take some time to journal and reflect on these guided questions*
1. Read through the words below and write up whatever thoughts come to mind and whatever
emotions surface up. (Try not to think through it or to make sense of what you’re thinking or
feeling, instead, free write in no particular order)
 Family

 Childhood

 Love

 Forgiveness

 Freedom

 Success
  Safety

2. Are there any specific memories that you hold of your childhood that still weigh you down or
cause you to feel heavy in your heart? If yes, journal them down.

3. Close your eyes for a moment and visualize your younger self standing in front of you.
Observe how you both feel and journal it down, along with anything else that you can observe
about either you or your inner child.
4. Do you feel like as a child you were cared for, loved, seen, acknowledged, accepted and
appreciated?

5. As a child, are there any hobbies or passions that you enjoyed and expressed but weren’t/were
acknowledged or encouraged?

6. Were there any aspects of your existence as a child that were made fun of, belittled or used
against you to humiliate you? If yes, what are they?

7. After reflecting on these questions, do you feel like your childhood has played a role influencing
who you are today?
If you’ve reached this part of the guidebook, I’m proud of you! You’re doing great!
Like we said before, we’re focusing on the heavy aspects of our reality because these are the parts
of us that are in need of healing but that doesn’t mean our whole life was heavy! Life is a
rollercoaster, so let’s take some time to remember the good too and ground ourselves in the present
moment before moving on.
1. Make a list of everything that you’re grateful for in the present moment. (Start with the
smallest of gifts that we often overlook, like the fact that you have access to food, water
and shelter; and keep going)

2. Think and write down all the moments in your past that bring you joy, moments when you
felt loved, seen and appreciated.

3. Finally, think of things you wish to thank your parents for. For values that taught you that
you have kept with you, for support they’ve given you, for times they stood by your side
or any other memories you hold of them that bring you joy.
 Ready to keep going?

*Culture*
Another aspect of our environment that heavily influences the molding of our personalities and
identities is the culture that we grow up in.
Culture is a set of man-made values, beliefs and traditions that have throughout the course of
history been passed on from one generation to another. These set of norms, values, ideas, beliefs
and traditions serve to form the structure and foundation of our families and our society.
In collective societies such as those found in the Middle East, individuals don’t have the freedom
to create their own individual identity; to choose for themselves who they wish to be and how they
wish to experience this life of ours. Instead, individuals are conditioned to conform to a specific
set of values, beliefs and traditions, which the whole community shares and embodies.
Anyone who behaves outside of the “cultural box” gets judged, criticized and labelled as ‘odd’,
‘weird’, ‘sick’ or ‘different’. This makes it difficult for individuals to be their authentic selves and
speak their truth.
Our goal is to dig into the culture that we were born into and better understand how it influences
who we are today. This awareness will help us make necessary adjustments to ensure that the
reality that we create, is fully in line with our purpose and our highest truth.

*Take some time to journal and reflect on these guided questions*

1. What values, norms or beliefs exist in your culture that you feel keep getting enforced on you
even though they don’t resonate with your own personal views, norms and beliefs?

2. Is there any part of your personality that you feel unable to express openly within your
community or culture? (If yes, what are they and what would happen if you were to express them
openly?)
3. Do you feel like you have the freedom to choose for yourself who you wish to be?

4. What aspects of culture do you feel affect you most? And in what way do they affect
you?

5. If culture was eliminated from your reality and you were given the full freedom and safe
space to express your truth, who would you be?
Now you have a good idea of how much our environment can influence who we are. We looked
in depth into two specific aspects: culture and home & family; however, there are other factors
that also play a role in the formation of our identity, for instance: school, work, social networks,
religion, and media, to name a few.
Take some time to reflect and think of what other aspects of your reality influence who you
are and how.
 WEEK 3
Acceptance; Part I
Release, Make Amends & Let Go
(Healing Our Relationship with Our Parents & Culture)
Week Three Overview
Congratulations family, you’ve made it to week three! Take a moment to celebrate how far
you’ve come!
We spent the last two weeks expanding our awareness and really digging into who we are and
why we are who we are. Now it’s time to put all that information to use!

A Quick Lesson on ACCEPTANCE

A lot of times, we will come to realize that part of our suffering doesn’t only stem as a cause effect
of the cards that life dealt us with but as a result of our resistance to it. Resistance is the opposite
of acceptance and when we resist our realities we disable ourselves from moving past the pain and
the hurting, we disable ourselves from looking at the cup half full because we are too focused on
the cup half empty.
Every single one of us has had their share of experiences that brought on feelings of pain, of
sadness, grief, loss, disappointment, despair or helplessness. No human is immune to these
emotions because we are feeling beings that are capable of experiencing a range of emotions and
in all different degrees. Emotions don’t weaken us, they help us grow and evolve; they help us
experience the different facets of existence in meaningful ways. But most of us only want to
experience one particular emotion, joy. We are all in chase of happiness and joy, so much joy that
we resist experiencing any other emotion and it is this resistance to how we feel that actually causes
us the most pain.
In order to truly heal, we must be willing to allow ourselves to truly feel the emotions that we have
for too long resisted. We must be willing to stop trying to change our past or current circumstances
but instead to accept that these are the cards life dealt us with and begin to invest our past and
circumstance into our growth and evolution.
Remember, life doesn’t throw at us hardships to punish us but always to help us grow and expand.
The school of life can be tricky and difficult at times but that is just a fact of it, we could either
resist it or accept it, both are opportunities, both are our choice.
*Healing Our Relationship with Our Parents*
Why they are the way they are?
In order to heal our relationship with our parents we have to open up our hearts to first, accept the
family that we have been gifted with, no matter the dysfunction and secondly to take the time to
understanding them, not as parents, as people.
Many of us resist the family that we are part of because we wish we had a “perfect” family but
truth is, not perfect family exists and that’s because no perfect human being exists. Humans are
complex, each with his/her own unique reality, own unique passions, goals, strengths and
weaknesses, flaws and fears.
It is okay to wish for our parents to love us in a specific way, it is okay to wish that our parents
understood us or cared for us in a specific way but sometimes our parents aren’t capable to fulfill
our wishes and that is something we must learn to accept, forgive and let go of as not to let it haunt
us for the rest of our lives.
From Parents to People
Sometimes we tend to forget that our parents have lived a long life before we came into this world.
That they too had their own share of experiences and encounters that gave shape to their identity
and reality but because we seek the love and care of our parents more than any other people in the
world, sometimes our emotions will get the best of us and we’ll lost sight of the bigger picture,
focusing on the ways they’ve hurt us. This narrow perspective we hold can make it hard to
understand our parents and harder to forgive them for their ways.

One thing I’ve learnt and continue to learn over and over again is that people do what they do and
say what they say for reasons that are beyond us. Nothing someone says to us or does to us is
actually about us. How is it not about us if it caused us pain? How a person behaves and speaks
is always an expression of what is happening within that person. Think of it this way, a person
who feels at peace within, won’t feel the need to go around lashing at everyone and causing others
pain but if someone is suffering within and doesn’t know what to do with that pain that they carry
inside, what they’ll do is end up bleeding on everyone around them. Yes, but everyone feels pain
and experiences hardships, so why excuse them? Because not all of us are blessed enough to
know how to deal with that internal chaos. Especially our parents. Why “especially” our parents?
Because the concept and act of healing, of having enough awareness to know that who you are is
not a given but changeable and fluid, remains a foreign concept to the majority of the older
generation. Our parents were raised by a generation that gave them no freedom to choose for
themselves who they wish to be, a generation that taught them to conform rather than choose. The
form of love that our parents received from their parents was a lot more conditional than the love
they provide us with and how can they be blamed for loving us the only way they know how to?

Our parents were taught that love means overprotecting, it means making sure that your child lives
up to the shared values, traditions, beliefs and norms of the collective, it means making sure they
are financially secure, that they get a good education and work “high end jobs” and succeed in the
corporate wheel. They weren’t taught that love meant accepting your child unconditionally, that
love meant to let your child choose from themselves and support them even if their beliefs conflict
with yours or that love meant to have deep conversations about existence and the universe. This
definition of love is foreign to our parents.
Can you imagine your mum or dad growing up, going up to their parents and telling them that they
don’t resonate with their beliefs or culture? That they wanted to drop out of school and move
abroad, find a nice place by the lake and pursue art? Or telling them that they felt they’re calling
was to travel the world, be vegan and spend most of their days meditating? If they’re parents’
response wasn’t a kick out of the house, then they had wonderfully enlightened parents but in
cultures like ours, these are a rare find.
Okay, fair, so our parents had it a little tough growing up, but they can still choose to change
and be different with us than how their parents were with them, can’t they? I get why we
would think it would be that easy. Because when we put ourselves in their shoes and we imagine
our child coming up to us asking us to spend more time listening to them and understanding who
they are, we would but then again, we have the capacity to self-reflect, change our ways and heal;
a gift not all our parents have. They’ve lived for 40, 50, 60 years or more being as they are,
changing them after their ways have been so enrooted can be difficult, they can try and they
probably have tried but we are also posing unrealistic expectations on them and expecting them to
meet them. There’s only so much they can do with the amount of awareness they have.
The best we can do is understand, that our parents don’t criticize, pressure us or enforce their ways
on us because they simply want to hurt us or overlook our needs but because they love us so much
and they were taught that if they truly love their children then they must look out for their best
interest as THEY see it. That does not mean conform to their ways and repress your truth, it means
do as you desire but accept the fact that your parents do love you but may not have the capacity to
love you the way you wish to be loved. And always remember than they do not criticize, poke you
or judge you because something is wrong with you or with the way you conduct yourself but these
are just ways in which they project their unresolved internal issues, externally.
What we sometimes are too entangled in our emotions to realize is that what upsets us most about
our parents is what they never received. Not all of them but the majority of them never got the
freedom to pursue their passion, to explore existence, to explore different beliefs, ways of being
or perceiving. From the minute our parents were born, their true nature kept getting repressed
deeper and deeper down and replaced with a cultural and social identity that they had to conform
to. They aren’t even aware that this is what they’ve been through but we as aware and awakened
beings can find it in our hearts to forgive our parents because they don’t know any better and to
feel for them without distorting their reality. To love and care for them the way no one else has.
What about physical and verbal abuse?
When I say accept your parents as they are, this does not mean accept any form of abuse that you
received from them and continue on receiving it. If you do find yourself in a home where physical
abuse is practiced, accept that these are the parents that the universe dealt you with but nonetheless,
do not tolerate it.
What if my parent walked out on me?
Being abandoned by a parent can never be an easy reality to face, can never be an easy emotion to
digest but we cannot change what has already happened, all we can do is allow it to make us
stronger by accepting it and forgiving them even if they don’t ‘deserve’ it because forgiveness
isn’t a gift you gift to others but a gift you gift to yourself because YOU deserve better than to
walk around carrying all that pain your heart.
One thing you should know is that them leaving isn’t because you aren’t worthy of being loved or
cared for, them leaving wasn’t because you weren’t good enough for them to wish to stick around
but perhaps they didn’t have the capacity to love you the way you deserve to be loved. Every
person carries their own baggage and they must have had their own reasons for leaving, even if
they were selfish, we must learn to let them go in order to find our sense of inner peace.
 WEEK 3
Tasks & Exercises
1. Take some time to create a safe space for yourself somewhere where you feel comfortable
and where you won’t be disturbed. You can light up some candles and some incense or
even play some instrumental music that soothes you.

 When you’re ready, write two letters; one to your mum and one to your dad.

The purpose of writing these letters is to give you a chance to fully express everything
that’s in your heart. Don’t worry about the flow of the letter, about making sense or writing
in any particular order. Know that you’re the only person that will read this letter so please,
free write straight from your heart without evaluating or overthinking what you’re writing.

As you write, emotions that have been stored in your body might begin to surface up, this
is your chance to allow yourself to feel these emotions and release them so they no longer
feel heavy on your heart.

Try not to rush yourself through it but instead take your time. I know it might feel painful
but know that this is a necessary part of your healing journey that will only bring ease to
your heart later.

2. Take two days break after writing these two letters and when you feel ready, journal
through these questions. The purpose of these questions is to help us heal our perception
on things, to transform anger into gratitude, pain and suffering into growth, resistance into
acceptance and resentment into forgiveness and love.

 Make a list of all the things your parents have ever done to you that brought you joy, love
or growth (from the smallest of things like ensuring you have food on your table)
 Think of both your parents for a moment and write down characteristics that they hold that
you appreciate or look up to. (These can be values they live by, traits, characteristics or
behaviors)
 WEEK 4
Acceptance; Part II
Release, Make Amends & Let Go
(Healing Our Relationship with Others)
It’s hard for us to make sense of why those who hurt us, hurt us; why those who caused us pain
did what they did and said what they said and it is this need to know and have ‘closure’ that makes
it difficult for us to make amends and move on.
I would like to introduce to you a new approach that we can use to begin healing from past
relationships with fellow human beings that brought us pain.
Instead of trying to figure out why they did what they did or said what they said, let’s instead focus
on why it was necessary for us to go through those particular experiences. Since the purpose of
life on Earth is to grow and evolve, everything that we go through is meant to provide us with an
essential learning lesson and as we already know, not all lessons come in the form of joy.
When we look at our past experiences through that lens, we begin to move past the pain to find the
multiple opportunities and lessons that were in store for us.
For instance, how can having gone through a toxic relationship been a necessary experience
aiding my growth?
Perhaps through it we learnt to value the self. Maybe it taught us that we need to take the time to
get to know ourselves, to care and love for ourselves before we share our existence with someone
else and depend on them for our happiness and sense of validation.
Maybe a toxic relationship is what we had to go through to learn what form of love we doesn’t
work for us and doesn’t bring us joy so that we don’t allow it into our lives again.
Okay, I got fired from a job I really loved. That truly made me sad. How does that help me grow?
Life doesn’t always unfold the way we expect it or wish it to and it’s when that happens that we
find ourselves most disappointed and agitated. But that’s the thing about the universe, it works in
mysterious ways, sometimes it pushes us off of our tracks and onto a path we never thought we’d
find ourselves on. That can feel distorting and make us feel unbalanced but the universe only gifts
us what’s good for us, what aligns with our truest desires.
Perhaps you losing your job, even if you loved is, was a way to help you take some time off to
yourself before the universe gifts you an even better opportunity.
Sometimes, it’s hard for us to understand the reasons why things happen to us, it can take years
for us to find meaning in circumstances we found ourselves in but it’s through trust and acceptance
that we can embrace whatever life throws at us rather than dwell over our losses.
Remember this always, you may not always have the power to control what happens outside of
you but what you do have power over is controlling how you will let what happens outside of you,
affect you internally.
A Quick Lesson on Forgiveness
Most of often than not, we find it hard to forgive others because we feel they don’t ‘deserve’ it.
We wait for the other person to acknowledge the pain they’ve caused before we can set ourselves
free but by doing so, we prolong our pain and carry it with us around, letting us drain us and
exhaust us.
Forgiveness isn’t a gift you give to others but a gift you gift to yourself. Forgiveness is another
word we use when we release the cord that keeps us captive, suffocating. This new perspective
that I’ve introduced to you of seeing past experiences can help you reclaim your power by shifting
your energy from focusing on the actions and words of the other person, from your pain, to the
growth that experience brought into your life. Once you allow yourself to do so, forgiveness
becomes inevitable because there will no longer be any room for the anger, resentment or
disappointment that you felt; all of which will be transformed into gratitude.
It’s time you put yourself first. It’s time you chose to be happy, to find the joy and inner peace that
you seek because you deserve it. It’s time you consciously choose to let go of the pain, the
disappointment, the anger and the heaviness that has for too long weighed you down. You have
the power to create that change, all you have to do is will it.
 WEEK 4
Tasks & Exercises
1. Make a list of all the names of those who you’ve encountered throughout your life that you
still feel heaviness towards.

2. Next to each name, take some time to express yourself and speak your thoughts and
emotions out into words. What is it that’s still lingering? What emotions are surfacing up?
What situations do you recall that still bring on heaviness?

3. See the bigger picture. Zoom out and find valuable lessons that each situation and
encounter taught you. If you can’t find any, write down potential lessons that you can
harness from each and add to your growth. (Your goal here is to transform your pain into
growth)
4. Write down a list of ways in which holding on to pain, resentment or anger benefits you
vs. hurts you (let your answers provide you with clearance)

5. Sometimes we feel the need to express all the emotions and thoughts that we have never
said out loud before we are able to move on. If that’s how you feel, take some time to write
a letter to those you wish to express to and in this letter write everything you wish to
express.

6. We may not be aware of it but we are capable of choosing whether to continue to hold onto
past pain or acknowledge it, feel it and let it go. In this present moment do you choose to
let go of the past and embrace the now?
 WEEK 5
You Are the Creator of Your Own Reality
Throughout the past four weeks, you have taken the time and put in the work to truly tune into
your internal world, to dig in and watch yourself unfold before you. You’ve allowed yourself to
expand your awareness beyond the barriers that were placed, to revisit old wounds and memories
that for long weighed you down and held a space for yourself to heal through layers. You are a
worrier, a token of strength, of courage and resilience.
This week is YOUR week; the focus point is you. This week you will be reminded of your own
infinite capacity to create whichever reality you desire for yourself. This week is all about
recreating yourself, rebirthing yourself and aligning your mind, body and soul with your highest
truth; learning to wear your authenticity as a badge of honor.
Now that you have taken major steps in liberating yourself of all that no longer serves you or brings
you joy; now that you have chosen to shred all the parts of you that don’t express your highest
truth, you are free; to consciously create, to consciously choose for yourself who you want to be
and how you want to experience this life you’ve been gifted.
This week, you are also encouraged to dive deeper into self-love. To begin to heal your relationship
with the self and fall back in love with the magical creation that is you.

You Are the Creator

When we find ourselves living in a reality that doesn’t bring us joy, our first and almost impulsive
response is to blame the outside world for that reality. We blame our families, our friends, our
partners; we blame the country that we live in or work space. We hold our external environment
responsible for who we are and how we feel but blame comes with a lack of awareness which you
now have. You are now aware of your beliefs, your fears, your insecurities, your thought patterns,
your habits and your ways but more importantly, you are becoming aware of how you create your
own reality.
Blame cripples us, in that it fools us into believing that to change our internal world, something
must happen outside of us to cause that internal shift. We wait until we get a new job, until our
friends become less judgmental, until our partner learns to love us the way we wish to, until people
start appreciating us and on it goes. We wait and wait, forgetting that it is us that holds the power
to change our reality, to make the adjustments needed, to carve the path that will lead us to inner
peace, to joy, to aligning to our highest truth.
The only person that has the power to gift you the reality that you desire is you. Others have the
power to support you, encourage and guide you but the work is for you to do.

No Time to Self-Doubt
Many of us spend a lot of time self-doubting ourselves. Doubting whether we have the strength to
create the changes we need our lives, doubting whether we are worthy of being loved, whether we
have anything that is worthy of being put out into the world, whether we will succeed, whether our
skills are good enough and the doubt goes on. Truth is, self-doubt is nothing more than underlying
fear taking on different forms; a sense of fear that has no true basis in reality but exists only in the
mind. We limit ourselves from ceasing so many opportunities that would allow us to experience
the gift that is life on a much deeper level because we are scared; stuck in the negative what if.
But see, each and every one of us is given one life time and gifted within this one life time an
infinite amount of opportunities to experience the many facets of existence. You have the choice
to either keep playing it “safe” due to fear or to cease every granted opportunity and make the most
of this one life that we’ve got, making the most out of it.
A question I’d advise you always ask yourself is this; if you were to know that today would be
your last, would you look back and wish you’d done it differently? Live your life in a way that
your answer to the question would always be “no”.

Step out of Your Comfort Zone

Often we’ll find ourselves stuck in our comfort zones but what is a comfort zone? Anything that
you become too familiar with, becomes part of your comfort zone; that includes, people, places,
habits even thoughts and emotions.
Comfort zones make us feel safe and in control but everything that’s great, everything that can
help us explore new horizons and evolve is usually found not in the known comfort zone but in
the unknown. We fear the unknown because we don’t know what to expect of it, we can’t visualize
the unknown and therefore cannot prepare for it; that’s why so many of us refuse to step out of our
comfort zones and embrace the new. We assume the worse before the best; we assume pain, we
assume disappointment, discomfort and suffering in the unknown so we avoid it and return back
to our comfort zone EVEN if it doesn’t bring us joy because in reality, we would rather give into
a comfort zone that brings us suffering than take a leap of faith into the unknown.
Truth is, if we don’t learn to move through the fear and embrace the new then all we’re doing is
running in circles; recycling the same thoughts, the same experiences, going to the same places,
doing the same thing, seeing the same people and in that case, we lose our appetite for life because
the excitement that life offers begins to wear out.
Imagine you’re in a massive garden and then imagine that in one area of that garden is a small
field of grass; that field of grass represents your comfort zone and the rest of the garden which
includes multiple waterfalls, playful animals, all kinds of plants, trees and flowers, ponds and
lakes; represents the unknown. Does that put things in perspective?
No, we don’t know what we’ll find once we step out of that field of grass but do we want to spend
the rest of our lives wondering or do we want to take ourselves out and explore what is there?

We Are Fluid Beings, Ever Changing, Ever Growing

Finally, who we are is not something that is static; our identities are not set in stone which means
that who we are is forever changing. When we attach ourselves to a specific version of ourselves,
we make it difficult for us to change and evolve but it’s only when we embrace our fluidity that
we allow ourselves to explore all the available different facets of our existence. Your likes and
your dislikes, your beliefs, your view points, what brings you joy and what triggers you; all the
aspects of the self that make up your identity, can change overnight. Instead of resisting that
change, embrace it. Let life be an exciting rollercoaster and ride the wave. People around you may
not always recognize you, they might poke you and say things like “you’re not the same person”
or “you’ve changed a lot” and to that reply back and say “yes I have, I outgrow myself every single
day”. If people around you are shaming or judging you for changing, this only means that they
haven’t changed at all; that they’ve stayed put, never changing, never growing so don’t let them
limit your growth but inspire them to change too.

Are you ready to create your own reality?

 WEEK 5
Exercises and Tasks
1. Make a list of things that you enjoy doing that bring you joy and a list of things you’ve
always been interested in trying or doing but never got the chance to.

2. Pick one of the things you listed above that you can do this week as part of this week’s task
and write down why you chose this one.

3. Make a list of all the things you can gain from doing what brings you joy and exploring
new experiences and then make a list of all the things you think you can ‘lose’
4. Write down the values you wish to live by (for instance, to be mindful of my words).

5. Make a list of habits that no longer serve you and write down why you wish to let them go
6. Make a list of new habits you wish to implement in your life and write down how they
would benefit you

7. Finally, make a list of all the aspects that you find in your environment that you feel, see
or saw as limitations and brainstorm firstly, whether you have the choice to eliminate them
from your environment and secondly, if you don’t have that choice then how you can turn
them into positive opportunities.
 WEEK 6
Embracing Our New Reality
You have reached the sixth week on your journey! That is incredible! I hope you know that I am
incredibly proud of you and am reminding you that YOU are the one who has come this far so
please reward yourself today, celebrate your efforts and gift yourself something that brings you
joy! You’ve earned it.
By now I hope you feel stronger, more confident and more resilient than ever. I hope you feel
lighter and more at peace. I hope you regained your appetite for life and am excited for the rest of
your life.
I would like to leave you with a few reminders..

The ups and the downs

As we heal, we don’t become immune to experiencing the natural ups and downs of life. We don’t
become immune to experiencing painful moments and experiences but even so, we grow into
knowing how to embrace all aspects of our existence. We learn not to resist our emotions or
experiences but to accept whatever life throws at us and try to make the most of it, adding it to our
growth and evolution.
You now have the tools you need to see things differently, to respond to things differently and to
experience life joyfully. The point is no longer to chase after happiness but to find joy, to seek
growth in all that we experience; remembering always, that life isn’t trying to punish us but to help
us keep growing.

Forget about tomorrow, be in the NOW

If you were asked five years ago where you would be and who you would be today, would you
have been able to predict it? No way! No matter how many hypothetical scenarios we create in our
own mind, no matter how much we try to figure out what tomorrow holds in store for us, we will
never be able to figure it out. All we can do is TRUST that everything that is to come, is a gift that
will help us become better versions of ourselves, that will help us evolve mentally, physically,
emotionally and spiritually. This sense of trust is key to surrendering to the present moment. To
living a life free of worry, free of anxiety and unnecessary stress. What we can do though and what
we do have control over is the present moment.
So many of us are either stuck in the past, reliving it in our minds or overthinking the future;
wasting the precious now which is the only time that we can fully consciously experience. If we
don’t begin to learn how to enjoy the present moment, to embrace our journey then we will find
ourselves forever chasing a future that will never come because when it does, we will experience
it as the present moment which again will be wasted as we cage ourselves in our minds.
Instead, remind yourself always to be fully present in the here and now. Experience life day at a
time. Instead of worrying about the future, make the most of the present moment and as you do
that, you will find yourself breaking free from the patterns of the past and creating a future that
you can be proud of.
Everything we need is here today. Don’t wait for the future to be happy, don’t wait for something
to happen in the long run until you allow yourself joy and inner peace; be grateful for all that is
present here right now. Finding gratitude in the present moment can be so powerful because when
you realize that in the present moment nothing is absent, everything that you are gifted later on
becomes added value.
That is not to say don’t have goals, on the contrary, set goals but don’t rush to the destination;
learn to enjoy the journey.

Always allow yourself to feel

Always accept your emotions. Sometimes throughout our healing journey, the minute we
experience something that brings on emotions of pain, sadness or any other emotion that is difficult
to host, we label ourselves “negative” or assume that we took ten steps back. That is definitely not
the case! You are a human being not a robot, tend to your emotions and take time off when you
need it.
You know that this experience will help you grow but that doesn’t mean stop yourself from feeling
or else you go into resisting your emotions again. Host the emotion for as long as it need and then
let it go.
Sometimes you’ll experience set-backs and that is okay too, when you’re ready and when you feel
recharged, pick yourself up again and keep going!

See the bigger picture!

Sometimes we get so entangled in situations that we can’t help but see things from a narrow
perspective. When that happens remind yourself what world you are part of. Remember that you
are a multidimensional spiritual being, currently experiencing the third and physical dimension
that we know as Earth through a five-sensory body. Remind yourself that you are the universe
experiencing itself, that you are only here on a temporary visit that will help you grow and evolve.
This reminder can be so powerful that it can sometimes help you put things in perspective and give
you the exact clearance that you need.

Finally, live your life the way YOU desire to, be whoever you wish to be and don’t let anyone
or anything cage you or limit you from reaching your highest potential. Spread kindness,
spread love, give others the safe space to liberate themselves too and create the reality that you
desire for yourself! You deserve it, you owe it to yourself as we all do.
You are a unique creation, like you there is no other so embrace your authenticity!
 Values I Live By
1- I do not judge or punish myself for who I am but accept, understand and appreciate all parts of
me
2- I approach myself as I would a loved one, to better understand myself not to better criticize
myself. I will afford myself the love, support and understanding that I afford others.
3- Everything that I have experienced in my life was not meant to punish me but to help me grow
and evolve.
4- The purpose of life is not to be happy but to explore all facets of existence, happiness being
one of them. And so I welcome all emotions and experiences and host them with an open heart
and mind.
5- Instead of reacting, I wish to respond.
6- I will not take things personally but instead allow other peoples’ thoughts and behaviors to
help me understand them better.
7- I will always do my best.
8- I will not pose unrealistic expectations for myself but instead, I will learn to respect my own
capacity.
9- I will not compare myself to others but embrace my own authenticity.
10- I will be mindful of my words, to others and myself.
11- I will put myself in the shoes of others.
12- I will drop my expectations and remain patient and trustful throughout my journey.