by Sheryl Paul | Aug 11, 2019 | Anxiety, Relationships, Sexuality |
Because we’ve all grown up in a relationship culture predicated on the romantic ideal, we enter relationships with the following imprints and fantasies about love, sex, and attraction: Love should be easy. Sex should be effortless, which means simultaneous...
by Sheryl Paul | Jul 28, 2019 | Anxiety, Intrusive Thoughts, Open Your Heart, Relationships |
Once again, I turn to the poet and mystic Mark Nepo and The Book of Awakening for gems of wisdom about the stones that block our hearts from fully loving: “It seems this is the never-ending work of relationship, each of us in our own time and way moving the...
by Sheryl Paul | Jul 21, 2019 | Break Free From Relationship Anxiety, Open Your Heart, Relationships |
Our culture worships the gods of youth and eternal happiness. If we could bottle and merchandize the elixir of youth, most people in the Western world would purchase it no matter the price. We extol the blemish-and-wrinkle-free face and lay ourselves prostrate at the...
by Sheryl Paul | Jul 14, 2019 | Open Your Heart, Relationships |
What would it be like to throw yourself full-bodied and without restraint into love’s arms, to set the fear voices and inherited scripts that say, “Love isn’t safe” on the fence of your mind and walk through the tattered gates of your heart...
by Sheryl Paul | Jul 7, 2019 | Break Free From Relationship Anxiety, Relationships |
It took me many years to learn how to love my husband well, and, of course, I’m still learning. Like many people, I didn’t grow up witnessing a healthy model of true partnership. My parents, like all parents, did the best they could and they gave me many...
by Sheryl Paul | Jun 2, 2019 | Anxiety, Health anxiety, Intrusive Thoughts, Relationships |
Like all forms of anxiety, health anxiety is on the rise. With information about our health more available than ever, the anxious mind that seeks control at all costs can easily latch onto health as a hotbed theme that invites this mind to shift into overdrive. You...
by Sheryl Paul | May 26, 2019 | Relationships, Wedding/marriage transition |
The first part of this post appeared on Instagram this week. I’m expounding upon it here. Real love is available love. It’s not the chase. It’s not drama. It’s not longing. It’s not the kiss at the end of the movie or finally snagging the one who got...
by Sheryl Paul | May 19, 2019 | Anxiety, Relationships, Trust Yourself |
Last weekend, I watched Brené Brown’s show on Netflix and this line, among many others, took my breath away (and gave it back): “Today I choose courage over comfort.” She talks about the shame-storm she fell into after reading the comments when her...
by Sheryl Paul | May 5, 2019 | Anxiety, Relationships |
It’s a thought that arises frequently for those struggling with relationship anxiety: “I have to be single in order to heal.” Offshoots and extrapolations of this thought sound like: • “I have to backpack by myself across Europe.” •...
by Sheryl Paul | Apr 28, 2019 | Anxiety, Relationships |
When I was in graduate school twenty-five years ago, we learned many essential principles and tools for becoming a skilled healer in the counseling arts. We thoroughly covered various modalities, including the depth psychological perspective that informs all of my...
