Narratives: Let Go of the Stories That Keep You Stuck

All too often it’s not life that imprisons us, but the stories we tell ourselves — about our life. The narratives inside our heads are the real obstacles to freedom and happiness.

Join Spark Your Health and mindfulness teacher, psychotherapist, and bestselling author Nancy Colier for a thoughtful workshop about recognizing and transforming the inner narratives that influence your daily lives. Based on her new book Narratives: Let Go of the Stories That Keep You Stuck, Colier will help you see what’s been too close to see, the beliefs you’ve been operating from that feel like the “truth,” and the stories you’ve constructed about yourself that you believe are who you are. Cultivate new possibilities and fresh experiences in your life, beyond what your stories have allowed — to introduce you to new versions of yourself that may be truer and more real than what your stories are telling you.

From the cradle to the grave, we’re weaving our perceptions into a cohesive personal storyline. We create a plotline that makes sense of reality and makes the world feel knowable. Our stories help us create a consistent and cohesive self, which we need to function in the world. We don’t just believe our story, however; we also will do whatever it takes to defend it, no matter what the cost is. Have you ever noticed that the stories you tell yourself often don’t support or encourage you, help your relationships, or make you happier? And in fact they often make you unhappier? And yet, you hold on to them. Even when the facts directly contradict your story, you can’t be dissuaded from its beliefs. Your loyalty is to your story — not your happiness.

Drawing on decades of experience as a psychotherapist and spiritual counselor, Colier will offer powerful insights and practical tools to help you recognize the “narrative trance” that drives feelings of dissatisfaction, self-criticism, and unhappiness. You will be shown a new path altogether, a different way to see, think about, and relate to the stories your mind produces and will always produce, to live with but not in them. A path that allows you to hear the stories your mind is telling you, but with compassion and curiosity (and maybe even a touch of humor), and to see your stories without having to believe, defend, or re-create them, and, most importantly, without having to sacrifice your happiness for them. Learn to drop the script and discover who you truly are.

Spark Your Health Talk Series is sponsored by:

This program is part of the May Center.