Overcoming obstacles and pursuing your own Hero's Journey
Greetings from Glastonbury, you lovely people, and welcome to this week’s slightly belated Friday Feels!
I am sat looking out over acres of green fields as I type this. Birdsong is filling the air, as dusk paints the sky from pale blue to orange to pink and purple.
I’m in Glastonbury again to support the graduation event for Integrative Breath. It’s my absolutely privilege to be a mentor in breathwork training, and 7 months of intensive study culminates in this special week-long event.
It’s gonna be a powerful week! With many emotional breakthroughs, processing of trauma, deep shifts in awareness and much nervous system regulation. What a privilege it is to witness people go on this journey! A Hero’s Journey, for sure. More on that below.
So here’s Friday Feels! Snippets from my world of coaching, meditation and breathwork – with the intention to share information that brings joy, wonder and self-reflection.
1. Song of the week
Cantina by Trinix (listen on Spotify and YouTube)
It was Star Wars Day this week! #MayThe4thBeWithYou. So I did a Star Wars themed breathwork session, obviously. Because I am both geeky AND spiritual! I mean, if you’re gonna be into metaphysics you’ve got to get your geek on, right??
This dub steppy/trip-hop version of the Star Wars Cantina song is fun! And we breathed to it this week. Listen to the whole Star Wars themed breathwork playlist I created here on Spotify.
2. Quote of the week
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
— Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell is a hero of mine. And there’s a neat Star Wars connection too! Campbell was a 20th century philosopher, anthropologist and student of world mythology and religions. His work covered symbolism, myths, legends, archetypes (Carl Jung) and how these reveal the collective unconscious. Star Wars creator George Lucas avidly studied Joseph Campbell’s work and it utterly shaped Lucas’s sci-fi saga.
Coming back to his quote: are you living the life you planned? How might life be inviting you to let go of what you’ve planned? To make space for what IS waiting for you? For me, this is where coaching is incredibly valuable. Because it helps you tune back in to what’s important to you in life. And to embrace the fullness of life! To have the courage to let go and lean fully into what is here. I share more about this on Instagram.
3. Practice of the week
Ice Baths!
I helped a coward plunge into ice water this week! Author Tim Clare celebrated launching his book Coward: Why We Get Anxious & What We Can Do About It. He did this by doing something scary in each city he was hosting a book reading. And I helped out with the North West gig!
We first did some breathwork and then got into a tin bath filled with 4 degree celsius water… Brrrrr! Tim’s reaction was utterly hilarious (SRSLY try not to laugh watching this). My generous friend Darren Hodgkinson hosted us both – big thanks, Darren! If you are in the North West and want to explore breathwork and cold water immersion, get in touch with the super lovely Darren.
4. Teaching of the week
The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell.
The power of storytelling, both in our culture and in our personal lives, is profound.
When we have meaningful stories by which to frame our life experiences, suffering is eased. The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell is one such framework. It maps out the stages of archetypal human experiences as we transform and evolve. This is so helpful because it contextualises what you may experience in life.
A lot of suffering comes from ignorance. So knowing, for example, when you’re descending into the darkness can help you zoom out to see a bigger picture, rather than getting lost in the stories. Check out a great 11-minute video summary of Campbell’s work here.
I draw on Joseph Campbell’s work in my coaching. So my clients trust that challenges are part of the process. They know there’s a bigger story they are connected to in life. And in consciously reminding themselves of this, they find more courage to keep going. This is also why we do this work together: The Hero’s Journey. To paraphrase Ram Dass, we’re all just walking each other home.
5. Client win of the week
“I know I can get through this – even when I’m lost in a quagmire of my own shit.”
Are you experiencing poor mental health? That’s one story, sure. Another story is that, even if you are lost in a ‘quagmire of your own shit’ (as one client so poetically put it this week in our coaching session), you understand there’s a deep process going on here in your own personal evolution and healing. Maybe it’s necessary to feel these uncomfortable feelings in order to process, integrate and then move forward…
This is what my client did for herself this week. She was struggling after sitting with waves of hopelessness and frustration for two weeks. We navigated her feelings in our session – not pushing them away, but leaning in with curiosity. Through meaning making, she found her own way out of the quagmire. Which is utterly empowering!
An earlier version of her would have written this whole episode off as “poor mental health”. Instead, she was able to tap into a deeper perspective about her pain. And when your internal world changes, your external world shifts! So she instantly saw a boom in her business sales.
With it being Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK next week, stay curious about the stories you tell yourself about you. Are you shaming your mental health? What would it feel like to invite a bit more compassion towards yourself? Are you struggling? Or are you just feeling life a LOT right now?
How is this coming up for a reason?
How might life be trying to help you grow and heal? Rather than punish you.
Remember: You are a fucking warrior! You’ve got this. You are on the journey! You will only feel what you are ready to feel.
Be your own hero, just like my client did this week!
That’s it for this week’s Friday Feels! Thanks for sharing this space with me.
Big love,
Briony x
P.S. Did you catch the 3x part series of sh*t hot business development tips for biz owners and entrepreneurs?
✨ Rich Life Business Development Tip #1: How to charge the “right” price in your biz
✨ Rich Life Business Development Tip #2: Get clear on your money beliefs + how they are blocking you
✨ Rich Life Business Development Tip #3: Protect Your Energy with Boundaries
P.P.S My Rich Life Blueprint group coaching programme is launching very soon. We get clarity on your life and business goals and then create a plan for how to make that happen! It’s a powerful process I love to guide people through – learn more about the 6-week Rich Life Blueprint programme and how to join here on my website.
