The Power of the pause and the reason we practice.
Learn how to bring compassion and wholeness to every moment. The video below is a breakdown of the various ways practice empowers us to choose between a a life made up of primarily false self-fulfilling prophecies or true self-fulfilling prophecies. Whether you are triggered in the board room, merging on the freeway, or trying to get your toddler to put on their shoes, the process is the same and you have a choice. Will the way you respond make the situation better or will your automatic reaction make you more bitter?
After decades of automatic reactions that lead me to complete despair, I found tools to live into a more fulfilling, connecting, compassionate existence. The opportunity exists in each moment. It takes practice to recognize it, transform our patterns and defenses, and transcend the way it has always been.
The diagrams in the 5:40min video are based on the Viktor E. Frankel quote;
Between stimulus and response there is a space, in that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Below are worksheets for practices that help us engage the pause, reframe our thoughts and limiting core beliefs, and connect with the needs and values underneath our emotional, physical, and thought responses. Send a request email if you would like to purchase a complete practice book or schedule a consultation and create a customized practice book. Follow this link to go to the practice worksheet page
Recorded Lectures from Ordinary Life Class at St. Paul's United Methodist and Brigid's Place, Houston, TX
Books in Print
Transforming Habits is a book of 10 brief practices that bring awareness, wholeness, and connection. The practices are based on the work of Marshall Rosenberg, Phd, John Kabat-Zinn, PhD, and Robert Gonzales PhD
Children's books help adults and children learn feelings and needs language and foster compassion, connection, and understanding.
“Lovely support for parents to attune to their children. This book is a real gem. How very important to the emotional intelligence of children to have the experience of warmth and understanding. This book teaches how to validate a child’s feelings and does so with a simplicity and a sophistication I admire. I love the clean watercolor illustrations and the rhyming verse. I am a grandparent and this one will get read over and over.”
“Brilliant and beautiful! This book series is one of the most conscious and beautifully written learning tools I’ve seen for kids, yet. As an educational consultant, I’ve searched for this kind of connection tool for kids and caregivers. Thank you and please keep them coming, Brooke Summers-Perry!!”
“Lovely, simple book with a peaceful message. Brooke’s dreamy artwork and simple wording speak a gentle message of interconnectedness and the beauty of creation. I am glad to have this on my shelf to spark conversations on respect and peacefulness with my 5 year old. Well done! Would love to see more work from this artist and writer.”
“YES!! How wonderful to have a tool for helping children connect with their feelings AND needs, especially one of their most primal needs.. PLAY! It’s also a great conversation starter and connection tool for parent/caregiver and child. As a parent and educational consultant, I love it!!”
4 Essential Self Awareness and Discernment practices based on the Enneagram and the work of Sister Lois Dideon