In this episode we explore the concept of "window of tolerance" seeing its connection to meekness. What we often consider weakness is actually a strength of spirit and mind.

One of the reasons we find healing so elusive is that we refuse to engage the heartaches of our lives. It can seem un-American or even un-Christian to look upon the past in a negative light. However, this is exactly how Scripture beacons us to grow...by first going into our suffering.

In this episode we will explore Jesus' words, "Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted." Rather than referring to a few sad moments in our lives, Jesus is revealing that a crucial part of being human is to mourn the evils around us and in us, both present and past. What Psychologists are finding is what Jesus knew - healing comes when our tears are seen and held.

Why do we look back at childhood stories of harm? We discuss internal vows we make, agreements about who we are and protectors that develop. These were ways we needed to mitigate shame that are still patterns by which we live our adulthood. Jesus invites us to lay down these fig leaves when he begins his Sermon on the Mount.

Take off your shoes, this is holy ground! God desires for us to live in bodies that feel safe and loved. Selah is an ancient word from poetry and we see it in the Psalms. Emily developed a Selah practice with five steps to make space for self care using God's words as a guide.
Pause. Feel. Turn. Receive. Flourish!
We hope you can be aware of how your body is holding sorrows, trauma, negative feelings, and make space between that emotion and response. This could change the world! If all of us could feel an emotion, have enough awareness to do this kind of pause before we react - so much harm would be taken out of our world.
To add to your experience.. we suggest on a different device, you play your favorite calming or worship music and be ready to literally pause this episode anytime you want more of what we are guiding you through!
May you be blessed by this interactive episode!
If you're interested in a music playlist to play on a separate device while doing Selah, you can follow "Selah" on Spotify created by EmilyAliceBaker.

Christians in the modern era are often confused about the role our bodies play in our growth. In this episode we explore the need to be tuned into our bodies which carry many of our wounds and are also instrumental for living fully integrated lives.

Let's unpack the power of narrative focused trauma care (NFTC). We discuss a way to approach healing that combines scripture with modern psychology. We want the Church to take back what should be ours as we talk through how modern Psychology was birthed out of a shift that left modern Christians lacking. "In the late 19th century, while the Church's understanding of the unconscious motivation behind surface actions was vanishing, Sigmund Freud rediscovered this and recast it in an elaborate and profound secular mythology." Lovelace. Now the deeper aspects of the cure for souls is relegated to the therapeutic world even amongst evangelical Christians.

We close out the Shalom series by unpacking the final stage: Shalom Restoring. We seek to imagine what healing can look like in our particular stories of suffering.

We explore our tendency to seek protection from our wounds in ways that don't ultimately lead to our flourishing. Building on the shalom arc developed by Dr. Dan Allender, the concept of this episode is shalom sought as false rescues from the myriad and particular ways shalom has been shattered throughout our lives. What is important to grasp is that these ways were often very necessary at the time they were developed. However, in our later years as we learn to walk with Jesus and explore our early wounds, we are able to see these protective measures for what they were and move toward healthier ways.