Coming Soon…

My Body is a house, inside is a Family: Reparenting Cards.

These reparenting cards use storytelling and mini body-scan meditations to help people develop a deeper awareness of their current self in relationship to their younger selves. The cards can be used alone, in therapy, as prompts for creative writing, or with a trusted friend.

The purpose of these cards is to gain access to what’s most meaningful to us in our lives—things that may have gotten buried underneath whatever unresolved upsets and constraints we’ve internalized from our past.

Using these cards can provide an opportunity to identify these upsets and constraints and help us to understand where in our past we acquired them, how they’ve been serving us, and also, how they’ve been holding us back.

Through listening to the stories of our younger selves, we can begin to recognize that these parts of ourselves are worthy of our love, compassion and understanding.

And as we begin to appreciate and honor these parts of ourselves, we can appoint our current self (who we are right now) as the caretaker of all these younger parts, pool our inner resources, and work together as a community to create a life that represents what is most meaningful to who we are as a whole.

How it works:

Start by taking the Current Self Card from the deck. The current self represents our current awareness, at this current time.
Set it aside.
Take a breath, saying to yourself “in” when it goes in and “out” when it goes out, just to access your own awareness being aware of itself. Repeat 2 or 3 times.
Shuffle the cards.
Then pick 5 cards and place them side-by-side in a row.
Start with the card furthest to the left.
The numbers on each card represent the age of the younger self inside of you that you’re going to connect with. (There are 50 cards, numbered in two’s.)
Think about who you were at that age. Picture that younger self in your mind.
If the card is upside-down, first address the unhealed part of that younger self.
If you’re beginning with an upside-down card, invite any unresolved upsets that your younger self has been carrying. Invite that younger self to share their upset.
If the card is right-side up, think about what this younger self was once so excited about. Think about their passions. About what lit them up. About what’s most meaningful to them. Invite that younger self to share their dreams, their aspirations, their values.
Next, close your eyes and scan your body, beginning with your toes, and moving up, part by part. Once a memory surfaces from that age, ask that younger self inside of you to tell you the story of what happened. Feel free to write it down, or share it—out loud or in the privacy of your mind.
This is subtle stuff. Just go with it. There’s no right or wrong way to do this.
The important thing is to listen-to-understand.
Once the story is told, begin to talk with your younger self about what happened. Offer validation. Then ask that younger part of yourself what they need from you.
If you have trauma and/or neglect in your history, this younger part of yourself may still be waiting for someone to come into their lives to save them. If this is the case, it’s an opportunity for you to let your younger self know that support has finally arrived. That you are here now. That you have evolved into the exact sort of person who has what it takes to be there for yourself, for all parts of yourself.
If you began with an upside-down card, repeat the exercise with the healed part of that same younger self.
The exercise is complete once you have connected with the healed and unhealed parts of all 5 ages on the cards you chose.
Once completed, next comes the opportunity to declare what your self-created values are—something that represents all of your parts. Something that can anchor you when the storms of life feel like they might sweep you away.
For example: “I am a contribution to myself and to others.” When I’m present to this value, it helps me to make the kinds of choices that are aligned with the values of my healed parts, and keeps me from making impulsive choices that represent my unhealed parts.
Finally, it’s time to create a project that you can commit to, based on what you’re most passionate about. Doesn’t have to be a huge project. Anything that’s based on your own interests and values. Maybe it’s creating a meetup with like-minded people, or creating a poem or a painting, or trying out a new recipe, or going someplace you’ve never been to before. Let what’s most meaningful and interesting to you lead the way.

Notes:

The purpose of using these cards is not to get rid of unhealed parts. It’s to practice experiencing your current self as the caretaker and guide for all of these younger selves. To practice being in the position to support all of your younger selves through choices that are aligned with your values and what’s most meaningful to you, and by offering all parts of yourself compassion and listening whenever any part of you gets off track.
If you pick a card with an age that’s older than you, you can either pick a new card, or imagine your future self speaking to you and telling you their stories.
Or, you can go back in time and remember the age of your parents or any ancestor that comes to mind. Who we are, in some context or another, is a continuation. We inherit the unresolved upsets of those who came before us, and also the values of who came before us. So as we heal our younger selves, we are also healing the generations that came before us and creating the future based on what we’ve learned from our own unique life experiences.
If you choose to use these cards with a partner, you may do so with up to 3 people.
Each person removes a Current Self Card from the deck (there are 4). And each person takes a turn, one card at a time, and shares the memories of their younger selves/older selves with each other.
As each person shares, everyone makes sure to listen-to-understand and then ask the person whose turn it is what kind of support or feedback they’d like.
*This card deck is designed to expand awareness and also expand our compassion and understanding. Any time there is shame or judgment, that is considered an upset that the current self can then speak to with compassion and understanding and appreciation.
Who we are underneath all our upsets and constraints is a living, breathing miracle, full of gifts to share.

Coming Soon…

My Body is a house, inside is a Family: Reparenting Cards.

These reparenting cards use storytelling and mini body-scan meditations to help people develop a deeper awareness of their current self in relationship to their younger selves. The cards can be used alone, in therapy, as prompts for creative writing, or with a trusted friend.

The purpose of these cards is to gain access to what’s most meaningful to us in our lives—things that may have gotten buried underneath whatever unresolved upsets and constraints we’ve internalized from our past.

Using these cards can provide an opportunity to identify these upsets and constraints and help us to understand where in our past we acquired them, how they’ve been serving us, and also, how they’ve been holding us back.

Through listening to the stories of our younger selves, we can begin to recognize that these parts of ourselves are worthy of our love, compassion and understanding.

How it works:

Start by taking the Current Self Card from the deck. The current self represents our current awareness, at this current time.

Set it aside.

Take a breath, saying to yourself “in” when it goes in and “out” when it goes out, just to access your own awareness being aware of itself. Repeat 2 or 3 times.

Shuffle the cards.

Then pick 5 cards and place them side-by-side in a row.

Start with the card furthest to the left.

The numbers on each card represent the age of the younger self inside of you that you’re going to connect with. (There are 50 cards, numbered in two’s.)

Think about who you were at that age. Picture that younger self in your mind.

If the card is upside-down, first address the unhealed part of that younger self.

If you’re beginning with an upside-down card, invite any unresolved upsets that your younger self has been carrying. Invite that younger self to share their upset.

If the card is right-side up, think about what this younger self was once so excited about. Think about their passions. About what lit them up. About what’s most meaningful to them. Invite that younger self to share their dreams, their aspirations, their values.

Next, close your eyes and scan your body, beginning with your toes, and moving up, part by part. Once a memory surfaces from that age, ask that younger self inside of you to tell you the story of what happened. Feel free to write it down, or share it—out loud or in the privacy of your mind.

This is subtle stuff. Just go with it. There’s no right or wrong way to do this.

The important thing is to listen-to-understand.

Once the story is told, begin to talk with your younger self about what happened. Offer validation. Then ask that younger part of yourself what they need from you.

If you began with an upside-down card, repeat the exercise with the healed part of that same younger self.

The exercise is complete once you have connected with the healed and unhealed parts of all 5 ages on the cards you chose.

Once completed, next comes the opportunity to declare what your self-created values are—something that represents all of your parts. Something that can anchor you when the storms of life feel like they might sweep you away.

For example: “I am a contribution to myself and to others.” When I’m present to this value, it helps me to make the kinds of choices that are aligned with the values of my healed parts, and keeps me from making impulsive choices that represent my unhealed parts.

Notes:

If you pick a card with an age that’s older than you, you can either pick a new card, or imagine your future self speaking to you and telling you their stories.

If you choose to use these cards with a partner, you may do so with up to 3 people.

Each person removes a Current Self Card from the deck (there are 4). And each person takes a turn, one card at a time, and shares the memories of their younger selves/older selves with each other.

As each person shares, everyone makes sure to listen-to-understand and then ask the person whose turn it is what kind of support or feedback they’d like.

*This card deck is designed to expand awareness and also expand our compassion and understanding. Any time there is shame or judgment, that is considered an upset that the current self can then speak to with compassion and understanding and appreciation.

Who we are underneath all our upsets and constraints is a living, breathing miracle, full of gifts to share.

—JLK💛