Coach Kaila guides the group through identifying the "Ghost in the Machine," that lingering tether our nervous systems maintain with our devices even when we are trying to rest. We discuss the somatic cost of "Digital Overwhelm" and practice "Threshold Crossing" rituals to reclaim our presence. This session also tackles the complex "Intentional Reveal," helping sensitive souls distinguish between sharing for authentic connection versus sharing as a transaction for validation.

Key Topics Covered:

Sensory Sovereignty: Moving from reactive digital habits to proactive presence.

The Digital Gate: Creating a somatic "buffer" to protect your head-space and heart.

The 5 Whys of Sharing: Investigating the "Hidden Request" behind our social media posts.

Transition Rituals: Using sound and movement to officially "unplug" and return to the body.

The Right to Disconnect: Reclaiming your time as sacred capital.

Connect with the Journey:

Explore more resources at Creative Guidance LLC

Inquire about group coaching: creativeguidancellc@gmail.com

Join the ACB Community for live sessions via community@acb.org

"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." — Henry David Thoreau

Author: Jim Stovall

In our final episode, we explore how love encompasses all other gifts. We reflect on the ultimate gift of a life lived to its fullest and the responsibility of passing it on to others.

Resources:

• Creative Guidance LLC
• Buy Me a Coffee

We dive deep into the mechanics of Somatic Fluidity, teaching you how to use micro-movements to keep your nervous system online during conflict. Coach Kaila introduces the "Yes-And" verbal pivot, the "Pattern Interrupt" for stopping steamrollers, and the "Third Space" mental neutral zone. This episode culminates in the creation of your own "Click-Clack" reset anchor and a guided meditation for heart-centered agility.

Resources:

• Creative Guidance LLC
• Buy Me a Coffee

Author: Jim Stovall

This week introduces the practice of the golden list. We discuss how focusing on what we already have shows us that our lives are full to overflowing.

Resources:

• Creative Guidance LLC
• Buy Me a Coffee

Resources:

• Creative Guidance LLC
• Buy Me a Coffee

Author: Jim Stovall

This episode focuses on dreams as the essence of how life can be. We discuss why a dream must belong solely to you and align with your own personality and soul.

Also wee examine the principle that giving part of yourself away is the only way to get more out of life. This week explores how abundance is created through the act of giving.

Welcome to the Scripting Lab. Today, we move beyond what we say and into the somatic frequency of how we say it. Setting a boundary is not just about finding the right words; it is about how those words feel in your body and how they land in the room. We are learning how to stop asking for permission and start vibrating our truth.

In this episode, we explore:

Vocal Somatics: The difference between the high-pitched "Head Voice" of fawning and the resonant, grounded "Belly Voice" of authority.

The Disability Nuance: Reclaiming our "Access Voice" and stopping the habit of pitching up to sound "sweet" and unburdensome when asking for accommodations.

The Sandwich Method: How to wrap a firm, non-negotiable boundary between two soft layers of relational connection.

Eliminating J.A.D.E.: Why we must stop Justifying, Arguing, Defending, and Explaining our boundaries. (Reasons are negotiable; boundaries are not).

The Vocal Mirror: A somatic tool for handling intrusive medical questions or dumped demands by physically leaning back and returning the burden to the asker.

The 5-Second Pause: Reclaiming the space between a request and your response to break the "Automatic Yes" survival reflex.

Resources:

• Creative Guidance LLC
• Buy Me a Coffee

In Week 7, we normalize this exact moment. It is called the "Boundary Hangover," and feeling it doesn't mean you made a mistake—it just means you are breaking an old survival pattern. We learn how to ride the wave of this discomfort without collapsing our newly set limits, and we master the somatic art of a genuine apology for when we are the ones who cross a line.

In this episode, we explore:

The Boundary Hangover: Understanding the physiological spike of panic that happens after setting a boundary, and how to survive it using a somatic tool called "Titration."

Guilt vs. Shame: Why "I did a bad thing" (Guilt) leads to beautiful repair, while "I am bad" (Shame) leads to fawning and self-sabotage.

The Art of Repair: How to apologize without groveling or collapsing your spine (Acknowledgment + Impact + Changed Behavior).

The False Rupture: A crucial nuance for the disability community. Why we must stop apologizing for taking up space and learn to replace a shame-filled "I'm sorry" with a dignified "Thank you for your patience."

The Upper Limit of Joy: Why we subconsciously sabotage our own peace when a boundary actually works, and how to use the "15-Second Savoring Pause" to rewire the nervous system for joy.

Resources:

• Creative Guidance LLC
• Buy Me a Coffee

We explore how family gives us our roots, heritage, and past. This episode focuses on the idea that family is defined by love and can be built regardless of blood relations.

In this episode, we explore:

The Internal Committee (IFS): Understanding that you are a system of "Parts" (Managers, Firefighters, Exiles) led by a core "Self."

Managers vs. Firefighters: Why you self-sabotage by over-working (The Manager) or numbing out (The Firefighter).

Unblending: The most powerful linguistic tool for mental peace—shifting from "I am anxious" to "A part of me is anxious."

Somatic Tool: "Shaking the Etch-A-Sketch" to reset the nervous system when the voices get too loud.

Connect with Coach Kaila:

Visit her website for more resources: Creative Guidance LLC

If this episode resonated with you, consider Supporting the show: Buy Me a Coffee

In this episode, we explore:

The Biology of Fawning: Understanding the "Please Don't Hurt Me" response and why it is a survival instinct, not a personality flaw.

Nice vs. Kind: Distinguishing between fear-based transactional behavior ("Nice") and love-based generous behavior ("Kind").

Strategic Compliance: How to use "politeness" as a conscious tool for safety in medical or high-stakes settings (Espionage vs. Submission).

The Teflon Bubble: A somatic visualization to "Uncouple" your nervous system from other people’s stress.

The Un-Smile: A challenge to drop the mask and find safety in a neutral face.

Connect with Coach Kaila:

Visit our website for more resources: Creative Guidance LLC

If this episode resonated with you, consider Supporting the show: Buy Me a Coffee

We dive into the fundamental key to all knowledge which is the hunger and desire for education. This week explores how a passion for learning makes a person wealthy regardless of material things.

In this episode, we explore:

The Internal Battery: Why “existing” with a disability costs more energy (“The Energetic Cost”) and how to budget for the “Background Apps” you are running.

Managing Urgency Culture: Differentiating between a true emergency (danger) and someone else’s poor planning (inconvenience).

The Buffer Menu: Specific scripts to buy yourself time, including “The Calendar Check” and “Navigation Mode.”

The Internal Metronome: A somatic tool to slow your heart rate when the world tries to rush you.

High-Stakes Advocacy: Using the “Broken Record” technique to hold boundaries with doctors and systems. Connect with Coach Kaila:

Visit our website for more resources: Creative Guidance LLC

If this episode resonated with you, consider Supporting the show: Buy Me a Coffee

Author: Jim Stovall

This episode examines the principles of true friendship including loyalty, commitment, and sharing in the lives of others. We discuss why vital connections are necessary for a meaningful life.

Creative Guidance LLC

In this episode, we explore:

The Nervous System Dashboard: Understanding your Green (Safe), Yellow (Anxious), and Red (Shutdown) zones.

The Sensation Dictionary: Moving beyond emotional labels to name the physics of your boundaries (Heat, Buzzing, Constriction).

Trusting the "Glitch": Why your gut instinct hits faster than your brain, and why you should trust that lag.

The Pendulum: A somatic tool to find your biological "Yes" and "No."

Connect with Coach Kaila:

Visit our website for more resources: Creative Guidance LLC

If this episode resonated with you, consider Supporting the show: Buy Me a Coffee

Author: Jim Stovall

On This Episode, we explore the true value of money and how it means different things depending on one’s situation. This episode highlights how using money to help others provides a proper perspective on life.

In this episode, we explore:

The Blueprint: How your attachment style (Anxious or Avoidant) creates your boundary script.

The “Good Child” Contract: Understanding the silent agreement we made to trade our authenticity for safety.

Strategic Compliance: A powerful reframe for the disability community—learning when “people-pleasing” is actually a wise safety strategy vs. an unconscious fawn response.

The Practice: How to use “The Pause” to break automatic patterns.

Connect with Coach Kaila:

Visit our website for more resources: Creative Guidance LLC

If this episode resonated with you, consider Supporting the show: Buy Me a Coffee

Author: Jim Stovall

This week focuses on the fundamental value of hard work and the satisfaction found in a job well done. We discuss why labor is a necessary starting point for personal growth and transformation.

Visit https://creativeguidancellc.com/

In this episode, we explore:

How to identify the 7 specific areas where you need boundaries (Physical, Emotional, Intellectual, Time, Energetic, Material, and Intimacy).

Why a boundary violation is often felt in the body before the mind registers it.

Practical somatic tools like “The Stop Hand” and “The Velvet Rope” to protect your peace without guilt.

Connect with Coach Kaila:

Visit our website for more resources: Creative Guidance LLC

If this episode resonated with you, consider Supporting the show: Buy Me a Coffee

We explore the profound biology of laughter, looking at how it acts as a physical “circuit breaker” for stress by vibrating the Vagus nerve and forcing a deep, restorative exhale. Coach Kaila compares the uninhibited, 300-laughs-a-day nature of a child to the restricted “15-20 laughs” of the adult “Producer” identity, inviting us to reclaim the child’s tool of sensory play. You will learn how to “tune your internal radio” to the frequency of delight through sensory layering, titration, and the creation of a Somatic Glimmer Library. This episode is an invitation to move from being a visitor in happiness to becoming a permanent resident of your own play and peace.

Weekly Homework & Action Steps:

The Glimmer Log: Find three micro-glimmers every day this week. They must be small, sensory, and take less than 10 seconds to notice. When you find one, take 30 seconds to “soak” in the sensation to catalog it in your nervous system.

Journaling Prompt: What is the most “child-like” or “pointless” thing I did this week, and how did my body physically feel during and after that moment of play?

Affirmation: “I am a Glimmer Hunter. I am safe to play, I am worthy of laughter, and I am arriving in the light every single day.” Connect with Coach Kaila:

Visit our website for more resources: Creative Guidance LLC

If this episode resonated with you, consider Supporting the show: Buy Me a Coffee

This episode dives into the “Inner Taskmaster” and the “Efficiency Trap” that turns even our hobbies and social connections into a form of labor. We discuss the somatic cost of “earning” our rest and why we often feel a “Post-Rest Hangover” of guilt when we aren’t being productive. You will learn how to perform a “Worthy Scan” to identify where your body is bracing for work even during moments of stillness. Finally, we walk through the process of signing an “Unconditional Contract” with yourself—a somatic commitment to your inherent value that requires no output, no achievement, and no performance to remain valid.

Weekly Homework & Action Steps:

The Unproductive Hour: Choose one hour this week to be intentionally “unproductive.” No chores, no planning, and no fixing. Simply exist. When the urge to be “useful” arises, practice meeting it with the internal reminder that you are worthy of the space you occupy.

Journaling Prompt: If your worth was already 100% pre-paid for the rest of your life, what is the one thing you would stop doing today, and what is the one thing you would start doing purely for the joy of it?

Affirmation: “I am worthy without working. My value is inherent, and my rest is my right.” Connect with Coach Kaila:

Visit our website for more resources: Creative Guidance LLC

If this episode resonated with you, consider Supporting the show: Buy Me a Coffee

We explore the somatic difference between the Inner Critic, who uses shame to dampen our joy, and the Inner Protector, who uses hyper-vigilance to keep us “safe” in a state of stress. You will learn practical, non-visual tools for stretching your “vessel of joy,” including Titration (taking in happiness in small drops) and Pendulation (moving between a resource and a neutral state). We also discuss how to use Ventral Vagal Anchors—like vocal toning and body anchoring—to stay centered on the Polyvagal ladder when the “voltage” of contentment feels higher than your nervous system is used to. Finally, we walk through the process of tearing up old “Upper Limit Contracts” to shift your identity from a lifelong Striver to a confident Arriver.

Weekly Homework & Action Steps:

The Joy Thermostat Check-In: Twice a day, stop and ask your body: “On a scale of 1-10, how much joy or peace am I allowing myself to feel right now?” If you notice you are dampening your mood, practice “titrating” your satisfaction up by just 1% for 30 seconds to stretch your somatic capacity.

Journaling Prompt: “What is the old ‘Upper Limit’ contract I am ready to tear up today (e.g., ‘I must stay stressed to stay productive’), and what is the new rule I am writing in its place?”

Affirmation: “I have the capacity to hold immense joy. It is safe for me to feel good, and I do not need to ‘pay’ for my happiness with stress.” Connect with Coach Kaila:

Visit our website for more resources: Creative Guidance LLC

Support the show: Buy Me a Coffee

We dive deep into the neuroscience of the Dopamine loop—the brain’s “anticipation” circuit—and explain why reaching a goal can sometimes leave us feeling empty. We also discuss “Habituation” and how our nervous system filters out the very comforts we once worked so hard to achieve. Finally, we share somatic tools to activate your “satisfaction chemicals” (Serotonin and Oxytocin) through the practice of intentional savoring.

Weekly Homework & Action Steps:

The “Have-Done” List: Each night this week, instead of focusing on your to-do list, record three things you actually accomplished. Let your brain rest in the satisfaction of completion.

Journaling Prompt: “If I stopped chasing ‘more’ for just one hour today, what beautiful thing would I finally have the space to notice?”

Affirmation: “I am allowed to be satisfied with what is. My worth is not a destination; it is my starting point.”

Connect with Coach Kaila:

Visit our website for more resources: Creative Guidance LLC

Support the show: Buy Me a Coffee

Notes go here

This is week 11 of the artist's way. Recovering a sense of Autonomy.

Notes go here

Kaila was on Vacation this week, so we spend some time getting to know the participants with some fun ice breaker questions and answers.

Describe your childhood bedroom. If you wish, you may sketch this room. What was your favorite thing about it? What’s your favorite thing about your bedroom right now? Nothing? Well, get something you like in there—maybe something from that old childhood bedroom. Tasks   Describe five traits you liked in yourself as a child. Next, write a little bit about why each one appeals to you And a treat: List five favorite childhood foods. Buy yourself one of them this week. Yes, Jell-O with bananas is okay   Habits: Take a look at your habits. Many of them may interfere with your self-nurturing and cause shame. Some of the oddest things are self- destructive. Do you have a habit of watching TV you don’t like? Do you have a habit of hanging out with a really boring friend and just killing time (there’s an expression!)? Some rotten habits are obvious, overt (drinking too much, smoking, eating instead of writing). List three obvious rotten habits. What’s the payoff in continuing them? Some rotten habits are more subtle (no time to exercise, little time to pray, always helping others, not getting any self-nurturing, hanging out with people who belittle your dreams). List three of your subtle foes. What use do these forms of sabotage have? Be specific.   Make a list of friends who nurture you—that’s nurture (give you a sense of your own competency and possibility), not enable (give you the message that you will never get it straight without their help). There is a big difference between being helped and being treated as though we are helpless. Describe which of these friends’ traits, particularly, serve you well.   Call a friend who treats you like a really good and bright person who can accomplish things. Part of your recovery is reaching out for support. This support will be critical as you undertake new risks.   Inner Compass: Each of us has an inner compass. This is an instinct that points us toward health. It warns us when we are on dangerous ground, and it tells us when something is safe and good for us. Morning pages are one way to contact it. So are some other artist-brain activities—painting, driving, walking, scrubbing, running. This week, take an hour to follow your inner compass by doing an artist-brain activity and listening to what insights bubble up. Record them below.   List five people you admire whom you would feel safe praising publicly. Now list five people you secretly admire. What traits do these people have that you can cultivate further in yourself   List five people who are dead whom you wish you had met while they were alive. Now list five people who are dead whom you’d like to hang out with for a while in eternity. What traits do you find in these people that you can look for in your friends   Compare the two sets of lists. Take a look at what you really like and really admire—and a look at what you think you should like and admire. Your shoulds might tell you to admire Edison, while your heart belongs to Houdini. Go with the Houdini side of you for a while.

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? How was the experience for you? If you skipped a day, why did you skip it?
2. Did you do your artist’s date this week? (Yes, yes, and it was awful.) What did you do? How did it feel?
3. Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it?
4. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them. Check-In   Theresa Breeden     -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#9): https://groups.io/g/creativejourney/message/9 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/89195577/6737026 Group Owner: creativejourney+owner@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/creativejourney/leave/11063485/6737026/872607470/xyzzy [creativejourney.kc@gmail.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Where does your time go? List your five major activities this week. How much time did you give to each one? Which were what you wanted to do and which were shoulds? How much of your time is spent helping others and ignoring your own desires? Have any of your blocked friends triggered doubts in you? Draw a circle below. Inside this circle, place topics you need to protect. Place the names of those you find to be supportive. Outside the circle, place the names of those you must be self-protective around just now. Use this map to support your autonomy. Add names to the inner and outer spheres as appropriate: “Oh! Derek is somebody I shouldn’t talk to about this right now.   List twenty things you enjoy doing (rock climbing, roller-skating, baking pies, making soup, making love, making love again, riding a bike, riding a horse, playing catch, shooting baskets, going for a run, reading poetry, and so forth). When was the last time you let yourself do these things? Next to each entry, place a date. Don’t be surprised if it’s been years for some of your favorites. That will change. This list is an excellent resource for artist’s dates   From the preceding list, write down two favorite things that you’ve avoided that could be this week’s goals. These goals can be small: buy one roll of film and shoot it. Remember, we are trying to win you some autonomy with your time. Look for windows of time just for you, and use them in small creative acts. Get to the record store at lunch hour, even if only for fifteen minutes. Stop looking for big blocks of time when you will be free. Find small bits of time instead. Record below what you did and how you managed to fit it into Your schedule.   Return to the list of imaginary lives from last week. List five more lives below. Now write down plans for doing bits and pieces of these lives in the one you are living now. If you have listed a dancer’s life, do you let yourself go dancing? If you have listed a monk’s life, are you ever allowed to go on a retreat? If you are a scuba diver, is there an aquarium shop you can visit? A day at the lake you could schedule   Life Pie: Draw a circle below. Divide it into six pieces of pie. Label one piece “spirituality,” another “exercise,” another “play,” and so on with “work,” “friends,” and “romance/adventure.” Place a dot in each slice at the degree to which you are fulfilled in that area (outer rim indicates great; inner circle, not so great). Connect the dots. This will show you where you are lopsided. As you begin the course, it is not uncommon for your life pie to look like a tarantula. As recovery progresses, your tarantula may become a mandala. Working with this tool, you will notice that there are areas of your life that feel impoverished and on which you spend little or no time. Use the time tidbits you are finding to alter this. If your spiritual life is minimal, even a five-minute pit stop into a synagogue or cathedral can restore a sense of wonder. Many of us find that five minutes of drum music can put us in touch with our spiritual core. For others, it’s a trip to a greenhouse. The point is that even the slightest attention to our impoverished areas can nurture them. List three ways to make your circle less lopsided.   Ten Tiny Changes: List ten changes you’d like to make for yourself, from the significant to the small or vice versa (“get new sheets so I have another set, go to China, paint my kitchen, dump my bitchy friend Alice”). Do it this way: As the morning pages nudge us increasingly into the present, where we pay attention to our current lives, a small shift like a newly painted kitchen can yield a luxuriously large sense of self-care.   Select one small item from the list of ten changes and make it a goal for this week. At week’s end, describe your results below.

1. How many days this week did you do your morning pages? (We’re hoping seven, remember.) How was the experience for you? How did the morning pages work for you? Describe them (for example, “They felt so stupid. I’d write all these itty-bitty disconnected things that didn’t seem to have anything to do with one another or with anything”). Remember, if you are writing morning pages, they are working for you. What were you surprised to find yourself writing about? Answer this question in full on your check-in page. This will be a weekly self-scan of your moods, not your progress. Don’t worry if your pages are whiny and trite. Sometimes that’s the very best thing for you.
2. Did you do your artist’s date this week? Remember that artist’s dates are a necessary frivolity. What did you do? How did it feel?
3. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them. Check-In   Theresa Breeden     -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#8): https://groups.io/g/creativejourney/message/8 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/89195174/6737026 Group Owner: creativejourney+owner@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/creativejourney/leave/11063485/6737026/872607470/xyzzy [creativejourney.kc@gmail.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Week one:   Set your alarm to wake up a half-hour earlier than usual every morning; get up and do three pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness morning writing. Do not reread these pages or allow anyone else to read them. Ideally, stick them in a large manila envelope, or hide them somewhere. Welcome to the morning pages. They will change you.   List below a few creative affirmations from Week One that have particular significance for you. Also below, copy any “blurts” from your morning pages —those negative statements about yourself and your life that tend to crop up in each day’s morning pages. Convert these blurts into positive affirmations.   Take yourself on an artist’s date. You will do this every week for the duration of the course. A sample artist’s date: Take five dollars and go to your local dollar store. Buy silly things like gold stick-on stars, tiny dinosaurs, some postcards, sparkly sequins, glue, kid’s scissors, crayons. You might give yourself a gold star on your envelope each day you write. Just for fun. Record your experiences below.   Time Travel: Describe below three old enemies of your creative self-worth. Please be as specific as possible in doing this exercise. Your historic monsters are the building blocks of your core negative beliefs. (Yes, rotten Sister Ann Rita from fifth grade does count, and the rotten thing she said to you does matter. Put her in.) This is your monster hall of fame. More monsters will come to you as you work through your recovery. It is always necessary to acknowledge creative injuries and grieve them. Otherwise, they become creative scar tissue and block your growth.   Time Travel: Select and write out one horror story from your monster hall of fame. You do not need to write long or much, but do jot down whatever details come back to you—the room you were in, the way people looked at you, the way you felt, what people said or didn’t say when you told about it. Include whatever rankles you about the incident: “And then I remember she gave me this real fakey smile and patted my head... .”   Below, write a letter to the editor in your defense. Write this letter in the voice of your wounded artist child: “To whom it may concern: Sister Ann Rita is a jerk and has pig eyes and I can too spell!” For added fun, copy this letter onto nice stationery and mail it to yourself   Time Travel: Below, list three old champions of your creative self-worth. This is your hall of champions, those who wish you and your creativity well. Also record (be specific) encouraging words they’ve said to you. Even if you disbelieve a compliment, record it. It may well be true.   If you are stuck for compliments, go back through your time-travel log and look for positive memories. When, where, and why did you feel good about yourself ? Who gave you affirmation?   Additionally, you may wish to write the compliment out and decorate it. Post it near where you do your morning pages or on the dashboard of your car. I put mine on the chassis of my computer to cheer me as I write   Time Travel: Select and write out one happy piece of encouragement below. Describe why this vote of confidence meant so much to you. Once you are done, write a thank-you letter to the person who gave you this encouragement —even if it was you. Mail it to yourself or to the long-lost mentor   In working with affirmations and blurts, very often injuries and monsters swim back to us. Write about them below as they occur to you. Next, work with each blurt individually. Turn each negative into an affirmative positive.   Take your artist for a walk, just the two of you. A brisk twenty-minute walk can dramatically alter consciousness. Below, record reflections you made on this walk.     1.How many days this week did you do your morning pages? Seven out of seven, we always hope. How was the experience for you?

1. Did you do your artist’s date this week? Yes, of course, we always hope. And yet artist’s dates can be remarkably difficult to allow yourself. What did you do? How did it feel?
2. Were there any other issues this week that you consider significant for your recovery? Describe them. Check-In     Theresa Breeden     -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#7): https://groups.io/g/creativejourney/message/7 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/89194956/6737026 Group Owner: creativejourney+owner@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/creativejourney/leave/11063485/6737026/872607470/xyzzy [creativejourney.kc@gmail.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-