Sunday 12th January 2025

Happy Sunday to you!

I hope you're managing well with whatever challenges this week may have brought.

It felt to me that so many deadlines landed this week that I am feeling slightly exhausted. Hopefully next week will be slightly less intense. How was your week?

I have been working over Christmas to completely re-record all of the videos and re-write the slides for my course on expressive writing, CBT and music. I also decided to write a 50-page book to go with the course as well. I'm so pleased to say that it is finally finished.

If you are interested in using expressive writing to put your feelings into words then this will give you all the information you need. But as I am a trauma therapist I thought it was important to offer methods of managing the feelings that may come up for you whilst writing. I have incorporated techniques for managing emotions and also have written a four-part module on writing about traumatic events.

Throughout the course, you'll develop a practical technique for processing and offloading your emotions through writing – perfect for those who find talking about feelings challenging.

While this isn't a replacement for therapy, I created the course with access in mind. I know how hard it can be to access talking therapy, and I wanted to offer a valuable alternative for those who need it. I have priced this at less than the cost of a single therapy session in order to make it more accessible. You'll learn emotional regulation techniques and strategies that you can use privately, at your own pace, whenever you need them. 

If you do not need this but you know someone who may benefit from the course, do feel free to share it with them, I would be so grateful. I really do believe that it could be helpful to those who are feeling stuck and cannot speak about difficult feelings.

Awe: an emotion that can uplift us when we feel stuck

I have been thinking a lot about feelings of stuck-ness recently and the topic of awe has come up a few times in my chats with people. It made me wonder about the small experiences we engage in that make us feel uplifted, or connected to something bigger than us.

I've been reading Dacher Keltner's book on Awe again (I love this book!). It has got me thinking about how we can use small experiences of awe to lift ourselves up when we're feeling flat or closed in.

For me, the most powerful experience of awe comes from the combination of music, landscape, and movement. There's something magical about driving through expansive landscapes while listening to the perfect piece of music – the way the musical elements propel and twist and soar and flow alongside the movement of the visual panorama. It feels like an extraordinary sensory experience. The spaciousness, the distance, that overview effect – it all comes together to create something truly transcendent. As you can see it is tricky to put into words! This is the wonderful thing about awe - how it is something you can't quite put your finger on.

I'm curious about your experiences with awe. What lifts you out of yourself when you're feeling stuck? How do you find those moments of expansion and wonder in your daily life?

I'll be exploring this theme in my weekly writing process this week I think. I also have a long journey tomorrow morning and have compiled two playlists to listen to on the drive. Hopefully I will have some moments of awe during the journey!

Wishing you a wonderful week filled with moments of awe and expansion.

Until next Sunday,

Donna

Keltner, D. (2023). Awe: The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder. Penguin: Kindle edition.

CBT-Enhanced Expressive Writing Course

A powerful blend of expressive writing, CBT tools and therapeutic sound to process emotions.

This course combines expressive writing, CBT tools, and therapeutic sound, and is designed to help you process your weekly emotions in a safe, private space. 

I've created:

- 29 videos with over 5 hours of content

- A detailed 50-page course workbook

- Resources and handouts

- A carefully curated therapeutic music playlist

Here's the link for more details and to get the course.

Weekly Process

Set yourself a timer for 7 minutes to free write/offload all of your thoughts. Then set the timer for another 7 minutes and focus down, notice any moments where you felt awe in your lifetime. What things could you bring into your life now to bring moments of awe and wonder. Set intentions and any actions that you want to take over the next week.

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