The Baggage Reclaim Sessions

Do you feel inadequate around certain people or suddenly feel as if your life that you're normally happy with is like poop beside theirs? Do you come away from using social media feeling really low without realising it? Is there a persistent feeling and belief that you're not 'good enough'? These are all signs of comparison, something that all humans do but that we're often unaware of how much and how damaging it can be. In the first of this two-part episode, Natalie breaks down comparison, including sharing her own recent experiences of it.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

All humans desire acceptance the most, but a hell of a lot of us are scared of the real us being rejected and so we struggle to be ourselves. But this always leads to problems. Natalie shares lessons she's learned from spending the last few months conducting an experiment on being even more herself in a particular area of her life.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

Have you given you a hard time about interested in something or someone that turned out to be wrong for you? Or, has someone's change of interest in you or a relationship left you baffled and hurt? In this week's episode, Natalie explains why it's time to rethink our attitude to interest and recognise that interest is a hypothesis that we can learn from so that we can be more us and choose the relationships and things that reflect this.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

If you've ever been self-critical because you're stressed or feeling overwhelmed or low-energy, it's time to pay attention to these messages from your life. Natalie talks about the importance of recognising that we're stressed and over our bandwidth without having to burn out or melt down. Instagram | Events | Blog| Membership You Tube episode about mental health and black women

Tend to be hard on you and, for example, struggle to ask for help, feel like a burden, feel guilty for saying no, being you or having boundaries, or feel as if you parented your parents, raised your siblings or brought yourself up? There's a reason for that!  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

When we think that we (or others) are 'damaged goods' because of what might be a lack of relationship experience or time spent in unhealthy or unfulfilling relationships, this dents our confidence, limits our options, but also creates unnecessary judgement. Natalie offers up a different perspective on what the experience on our proverbial relationship resume means (and doesn't).  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

What's the similarity between engaging with an ex who didn't treat us very well, feeling burnt out and resentful after taking on extra work, and deliberating about or regretting something that we know isn't/wasn't a fit? They're all things that we've done or are contemplating doing *because* we perceive them to be "opportunities". Natalie breaks down why we need to be more discerning about opportunities, including sharing some tips on recognising when something *isn't* the opportunity we think it might be.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

Do you hoard, clamp, shoot, get chatty, deny/mask or cry when you need to deal with uncomfortable feelings. Natalie follows up on the previous episode about why we don’t talk about our feelings by sharing six key ways we express (or don’t express) our feelings and how to evolve our habits.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

Expressing our feelings, not just to others, but also to ourselves, is crucial to our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing as well as to the health and wealth of our interpersonal relationships. So, why then, do so many of us have a pattern of not expressing our feelings? Natalie explores these reasons and more in this episode, plus in the follow-up episode next week, she'll get into the practicalities of talking about our feelings and evolving our relationship with our emotions.  Instagram | Email | Events | Blog| Membership

When people ask or expect you to do something, or you're wondering whether there's a boundary issue, do you question whether you are being fair and reasonable in wanting or needing to say/show no? Or do you struggle to work out whether *they're* being unfair and unreasonable? If so, help is at hand. Natalie breaks down how to figure this out by acknowledging the context including your bandwidth, feelings, what's being asked/expected, and how they're going about things.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

If you've ever played matchmaker and had it backfire, or you've felt confused after being set up or recommending somebody, today's episode is for you. Natalie delves into some of the assumptions, biases and judgements that impair our judgement and shares tips for removing blind spots and enjoying more successful outcomes.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

How do you feel when you realise or sense that someone doesn't like you? If intrusive thoughts about this have popped up more than you would like and even kept you awake at night, you are far from being alone. Natalie shares some of the reasons why humans dislike each other. She also talks about why not being liked bothers us so much, how we are often most bothered when it's someone we don't like or when we don't feel that we've 'earned' their feelings, and she also shares some questions for self-exploration and moving forward.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

Natalie does a quick catch-up before going on her summer break until September.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

If you hardly knew somebody and something felt off, would you dismiss what you were sensing, seeing or hearing, or would you pay attention? Well, if like so many of us do, you ignored you, you're not alone. If you get niggling messages from within but dismiss them because they don't make sense or are 'inconvenient', you're definitely not alone. Natalie talks about how turning 42 and leaning into her forties has caused her to double down on listening to herself and shares ideas for tuning in.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

So many people experience shame around having needs, which is like being ashamed of breathing! Natalie delves into emotional needs and the importance of being our primary caregiver.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

Ever had somebody say something to you that *seems* like it’s supposed to be taken as a compliment, but it’s totally not? Or, have you been in a situation where someone’s making sly digs under the veneer of a smile or being helpful? In this week’s episode, Natalie delves into put-downs and how to handle them from an assertive place instead of putting you down in response.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

Many of us have some level of fear of being alone, and when this drives us, it leads to some pretty painful and dubious choices. Is being with ourselves really that bad? Natalie delves into alone versus lonely, why alone doesn't equal 'unloved', and more.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

When things don't go according to plan and we feel baffled by someone's behaviour or the outcome, retracing our steps will inevitably reveal the slippery slope that we were on with our boundaries.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership 

There are 5 stages of relationships, and stages 0-1 set the foundation for what lies ahead (or doesn't). Natalie talks about the parallels between dating and job searches and how adopting a recruiter mindset keeps us grounded during these crucial stages so that we can be more discerning and set ourselves up for being available for the type of relationship we say that we need and want. Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership

Natalie explores why so many of us don't realise that the pressure we feel to be or do certain things isn't always about what we actually want. Often it's about what we think we're supposed to want because we're, for example, approaching or in our forties, are a woman of a certain age, or because it's what our parents told us was the way life works.  Instagram | Events | Blog | Membership