7. February 2021 • Katja Laurien
Are you familiar with this nagging feeling that you’re not doing enough? I’m not talking about the times that you’re procrastinating, but about having this feeling hanging like a dark cloud above your life. I actually thought I had moved past this feeling, but during the lockdowns in 2020 I found out that it wasn’t over yet…When the lockdowns started I was a waitress and therefore couldn’t work for an extended period of time.
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6. September 2020 • Katja Laurien
This is the final post of a series of posts about understanding and dealing with our defense mechanisms which can help us see through the illusions we create in life. Therefore I’d recommend you first read the first two posts before continuing with this one. The approach I’ve been describing in these series is based on the work of the Dutch psychologist Ingeborg Bosch and her book “Illusions - How to escape the labyrinth of destructive emotions”.
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2. August 2020 • Katja Laurien
This is the second part of a series of posts which intend to help you seeing through life’s illusions. These posts are based on the work of the Dutch psychologist Ingeborg Bosch, who has developed the Past Reality Integration (PRI) Therapy which I personally find highly effective. In order to see through the illusion, you first have to start by understanding and recognizing your defense mechanisms which I described in the last post.
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1. December 2019 • Katja Laurien
We live in a time where everything is possible. Power, fame and abundance aren’t limited anymore to the “chosen ones” but can be achieved virtually by everyone. In a way this is great. We have more or less equal opportunities and for most people in the Western world the sky’s the limit. Unfortunately, this limitless opportunities don’t seem to make people any happier, but rather anxious and stressed out. So, where does it go wrong?
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3. November 2019 • Katja Laurien
We’ve all told a (white) lie at some point in our lives. If you happen to be this rare person who has never been guilty of it, please contact me. I’d love to meet your parents and do some research on your environment. Most of us grow up in environments where we are taught to be “polite and kind”. And that the truth is impolite and unfriendly. We learn that harmony is more important than confrontation and that our needs are less important than the collective good.
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1. September 2019 • Katja Laurien
I have a confession to make: I can sometimes be really mean and nasty. It seems like an inner devil gets hold of me and makes me say and do things I later regret. Obviously, I’ve always had my “dark shadow sides” (I mean, who doesn’t?!), but being on the spiritual path has challenged my relationship with my dark sides; writing posts on spirituality has even nearly blocked my relationship with my shadow.
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7. July 2019 • Katja Laurien
This post is not necessarily meant for people who just think a lot. Here I am specifically talking about the monkey mind: The uncontrollable mind that seems to drag you from one horror-scenario to another and puts the worst scenario on repeat.
Trying to stop this internal chatter is in vain as long as you don’t understand the root of this mind-circus. The monkey mind is in fact just a very useful trick of the ego.
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7. April 2019 • Katja Laurien
When we feel stuck we basically want to make a move, but we just don’t know in which direction. We want to bring about change in our lives, but we have no clue what we should do. We feel restless and lost, full of doubts and fears. Maybe we felt some kind of positive energy at some point, a vibe that led us to bring about change in our lives. But instead of positivity we feel shame and self-judgement due to our inability to take action and make progress.
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3. June 2018 • Katja Laurien
“Think positive” is probably one of the best known slogans people associate with spirituality. This is what attracts people to spirituality (doesn’t it mean you’re happy all the time?) and at the same time makes people reject it. These people instinctively feel that “being happy all the time” simply is not feasible. So, how to interpret this slogan correctly?
Positivity as end result Negative feelings appear as we all know. If you read my last post, you would also know that I even consider it to be necessary.
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1. April 2018 • Katja Laurien
Recently, a friend of mine asked me how I decide between two good options. First of all, I didn’t really know what to answer. But soon I realised I am constantly making these kind of decisions. I have loads of freedom: no work contract, no partner, no kids. So, what have I actually done the past years while deciding what do with my life?
Fear or passion? First of all, I make myself clear whether the options I have are both based on a passion or whether one of them might be based in fear.
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