Pillar Life is not about avoidance, it’s about looking life square in the face and turning all aspects of it into your wildest dreams. The truth is, sometimes life serves you lemons — we’ve all been there. By the time we hit our 50s we’ve been tossed around the ocean of life with waves of heartbreak and trauma threatening to knock us down for good. Some may think of that as rock bottom, but here in our DreamTribe, we think of it as an opportunity to heal, and rebrand life. 

Pam Butler, author of Return to Life, joins Sheri and Nancy today to talk about her personal account of feeling so low and stuck that she couldn’t leave the house or thrive in her own life. She had post-traumatic stress disorder by the time she took a turn and started to work on her own Pillars: mind, body, and spirit. Little by little she got her life back. Pam talks with Sheri and Nancy about learning to fail gladly, what’s in her bliss toolbox, and why it’s okay to just take a few moments and… breathe.

Takeaways:

[2:58] Nancy appreciates the clothesline metaphor when it comes to life that she learned from one of her writing professors. Much like the way that a clothesline has many different items hanging on one line, it’s okay to embrace the single sock with holes as it is the fluffy t-shirt. The sum total of your experiences and everything that is in your story is all supposed to be there and worthy of acknowledgment.

[6:15] Sheri and Nancy share times in their lives when they felt scared, alone, and overwhelmed. For Sheri, it was dealing with her diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer. For Nancy, it was divorce and starting from scratch financially, while raising two young children.

[15:09] You can transcend your stories and focus on what’s next. You keep moving with one foot in front of another, and before you know it you are recovering, and even thriving.

[20:56] Pam Butler, author of Return to Life experienced a traumatic childbirth when having her daughter, and then lost her father at the same time. Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, she was in constant fight-or-flight and was suffering from debilitating depression and anxiety.

[25:51] After Pam hit rock bottom and couldn’t leave her house without a Xanax, she discovered Mind-Body medicine and meditation. It wasn’t easy for her at first, but she kept with it and began to feel amazing results with time and commitment.

[28:38] Her books Return to Life supplies the reader with a variety of tools to help people with their struggles and how to make things better. Self-care is not a one-size-fits-all experience, so even just exploring one at a time will help you discover what is right for you.

[33:26] Not everything needs to have a giant learning lesson or holy teaching moment — some things just are, and that’s okay. Kick the inner critic out of your head and speak more compassionately to yourself.

[36:25] Pam’s favorite tool in her bliss toolbox is: STOP, DROP and BREATHE. Your breath is a built-in stress reliever and a free and easy way to take a 5-minute break to reconnect and refocus ourselves.

Mentioned in This Episode:

1440 Multiversity

Return to Life

Website Story.co