Last month, in Following My Healing Journey, I shared the profound moment when I met my inner child and offered her what she had been waiting for.

This month, something new unfolded.

Not dramatic.
Not loud.
But powerful.

I began noticing where I still freeze when love tries to reach me.

As a therapist, I talk often about the nervous system — about how the body protects us through fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. But knowing the pattern and living through it in real time are two different things.

And this month, I caught my freeze response as it was happening.

🧠 A Nugget for You: Why Receiving Love Feels So Hard

Receiving love requires openness.
Openness requires safety.

If your body learned at some point that vulnerability led to pain, disappointment, or overwhelm… then of course it braces.

Freeze isn’t weakness.
It’s protection.

You might notice it as:

• Shutting down during hard conversations
• Pretending you’re fine when you’re not
• Feeling the “pit in your stomach” and avoiding it
• Pulling away when someone gets too close

The nervous system doesn’t care whether love is safe now.
It reacts based on what it learned before.

But here’s the shift:

When we notice the freeze without shaming it, the body begins to soften.

That’s what happened with my son.
That’s what happened in my relationship.
That’s what happened when I checked in with my inner child after yoga.

Not force.
Not pushing.
Just awareness… and choosing connection one small moment at a time.

That’s how we learn to receive love.

🌿 Practical Tool: Interrupting the Freeze

Next time you notice yourself bracing, try this:

1. Name it gently: “My body is protecting me.”
2. Locate it: Where do I feel this in my body?
3. Slow your breath: Longer exhale than inhale.
4. Choose one small act of connection (not a grand gesture — just one step).

Healing rarely happens in dramatic breakthroughs.
It happens in subtle softening.

🌸 Reflection & Journal Prompts

Take a few quiet minutes with one of these:

• Where do I tend to freeze when love gets close?
• What did my nervous system learn about vulnerability growing up?
• What would it look like to offer myself one small moment of connection instead of protection?
• When was the last time I received love without minimizing it?

If you want to go deeper, this week’s companion meditation creates a gentle, grounded space to practice receiving love in your body — not just understanding it intellectually.

🎥 Watch & Practice

This week’s pieces:

✨ Learning to Receive Love | Healing Beyond Fear​
A real-time reflection on catching the freeze and choosing connection.

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🌙 Receiving Love Again | A Meditation for the Heart​
A guided practice to soften the armor and let love land safely.

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📖 A Free Resource for Deeper Safety

If you’re walking this journey with me, my free booklet
​Sacred Spaces: Creating Safety for Insight​
is a beautiful companion.

Inside you’ll find:

• Simple nervous system education (in plain language)
• Grounding practices
• Reflection prompts
• Rituals to create emotional safety

Because insight only integrates when we feel safe enough to receive it.

Download Here

🤍 A Personal Ask for Help

If you have worked with me — in therapy, in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, through couples work, or even found deep support through this content — would you consider leaving a Google review?

Small practices like mine grow through word of mouth.
Your words help someone else feel safe enough to reach out.

If you’d like the direct link, you can find it here:
​ Google Review Link​

Thank you for being part of this community.

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Healing is not about becoming someone new.

It’s about softening enough to receive the love that’s already here.