Hey people, it’s okay to feel fear (and all the other “bad” emotions)

by Lisa Kohn | Nov 14, 2022 | Resilience

We’ve learned to label emotions “good” and “bad” or “okay” and “not.” We’ve learned to push our feelings down and away, to plaster on a smiley face, to say “anyway” at the end of sentences (or paragraphs) where we’re being real but we think we’re being a downer. We’ve...

I’m not failing, even when I feel like s–t

by Lisa Kohn | Nov 7, 2022 | Recovery, Resilience

I was on a zoom with another Second Gen (those of us born and/or raised in a cult or extremist group). He was telling us how he was struggling. How something had happened in his cult-activist network, and that it kicked up shit. That he was having a hard time getting...

Find the joy in this breath. In this moment.

by Lisa Kohn | Oct 31, 2022 | Resilience

As my chemo’d eases, my insomnia’d has crept a bit back in. F—g p—s me off. I want to only start feeling less achy, less tired, more like me, and instead I have days with the physical, mental, and emotional pain of insomnia’d. Where I feel so bad, I can’t...

I am breathing through and finding the joy

by Lisa Kohn | Aug 29, 2022 | Resilience

Damn but this time of year is beautiful. The sun in the morning. The flowers blooming. The trees against the sky. The yellow birds. Yes, my yellow birds are visiting my bird feeder every day. They were coming for a while; they seemed to go away; and they’re back. Damn...

Whatever lifts my spirit and soul is what I want now

by Lisa Kohn | Aug 22, 2022 | Resilience

I am allowing myself to feel however I feel – the “good,” the “bad,” the in-between. I am using RAIN (recognize, allow/accept, investigate, and nurture – thank you Tara Brach!!!) to move through the feelings…or to let them move through me. As a child, I had to not...

I am allowed to do whatever the f—k I want…

by Lisa Kohn | Aug 15, 2022 | Resilience

I noticed it a while back. “Am I allowed to do that?” I’d ask my therapist. “Am I allowed to feel that way?” “Is it okay that I want this?” I noticed it in my work with my clients as well. There I’d flip it, and tell them they were allowed to do, think, feel, try,...