Living, Loving & Unlearning: A Therapist's Guide to Healing and Living Authentically from the Inside Out

By Cynthia Brennen

Have you ever wondered about your life’s dreams and what happened to them? Have you ever had dreams for your life? This book is your wake-up call. A reminder that it is never too late to fulfill that desire burning deep down inside of you. The piece of your soul that is ready to shine and light up your life. Cynthia Brennen has created an easy to follow guideline for you to do just that. Through her experience with personal and professional lessons, she teaches you how to live a life of balance, health, and authenticity. As you discover the purity of your own soul, and purpose of your existence here on earth, you will begin to feel the freedom to live your life, your journey, and your truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781304984555

Book preview

Living, Loving & Unlearning: A Therapist's Guide to Healing and Living Authentically from the Inside Out

Living, Loving & Unlearning:A therapist’s guide to healing and living authentically from the inside out

Cynthia Brennen, LMSW

Copyright © 2014 by Cynthia Brennen, LMSW

Cover design © 2014 Kelley Brennen

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

ISBN 978-1-304-98455-5

Published by Weintraub & Messinger

New York, NY

www.CynthiaBrennen.com

For my father, Norman James Weintraub, who always encouraged me to be the person I was born to be. I feel your healing from the heavens, Dad. Thank you for blessing me with your unconditional love.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

~Henry David Thoreau

Foreword

I first became aware of Cynthia and her work in early 2011. My own journey through a severe mental breakdown, depression and an eventual diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder had left me searching for answers and healing. At every opportunity I read books, researched websites, listened to interviews and experienced a number of different holistic treatments to regain my physical, mental and spiritual well-being. This has been a daily and most rewarding journey.

I found Cynthia initially through her website and then on Facebook (Isn’t social media a wonderful thing!). Her attitude toward life, recovery, healing, and the infinite possibilities we all have available to us to regain and maintain good health resonated with me immediately. From there, I sent Cynthia a message. I’m based in Australia, and in the past nine years have written two books and shared my story to many audiences around the country. My aim is to educate, reduce stigma around mental health issues and to inspire people to realise the possibilities they have to heal and thrive. Cynthia replied and the rest is history.

I have appeared twice as a guest on Cynthia’s radio program in the US and she has been very generous in sharing my story of recovery with her audience and her followers via her website and on social media. In Cynthia’s healing book, Living, Loving and Unlearning, she will now have the potential to change many more lives for the better. I cannot recommend her work more highly and it will definitely become an important part of my well-being library.

Craig Hamilton

Author of Broken Open and A Better Life

Motivational Speaker

Newcastle, Australia

Testimonial

Cynthia Brennen is a very proficient and capable counselor. She even has four letters following her name to prove she has trained for and earned that position. To have worked with Cynthia is to know that she is much more than a counselor. She has the innate ability to bring to others the realization of their true capabilities, to empower them to find purposes and callings for a fuller, richer life. She is a conduit to the path of peace, love, harmony, and inner health. What Cynthia has to say, whether over radio, within written pages, or in everyday conversation is worthy of our attention. In the past she has brought forth a better environment, mentally and physically, for those hurting, weakened, bruised or broken. She continues to do this, and do it well. The opportunity to receive Cynthia’s impartations is no less than the reader being handed a candle in the dark.

Carolyn S. Hennecy

Author of Orange Blossom Wishes; Child Molested, Woman Abused ~ Her Victorious Journey to Freedom

Designated Victim Services Practitioner

Domestic Violence Victim Support Advocate

Keynote Speaker and Consultant

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to thank my husband, Michael, and our three beautiful daughters, Kelley, Becca, and Rachel, for their unwavering patience as I spent many hours, days, and years compiling writings for this book. Your understanding is appreciated more than you know.

To my talented daughter, Kelley; thank you for sharing your beautiful artistry in the creation of my book cover. Your feather photo blended with the water, and soothing green flowing into white, couldn’t be more perfect. A combination of many messages contained between these pages. Your dad and I were blessed the day you and your sisters flew into our lives.

God only knows when this book would have come to fruition if it weren’t for one very special person, Marjie Messinger; my four-year roommate at Ithaca College, my driving force, my efficient organizer, and most of all, my true friend. We were blessed the day the universe joined us together in that corner room of Holmes Hall. Fast-forward thirty years: Marjie and I were sitting in a sweet café overlooking Central Park, sipping our hot cocoa and discussing her business name, I Can Do That, and all she does for small businesses and organizations. I turned to her and asked, Can you get my book published? She immediately responded, I can do that! There was no doubt in my mind Marjie could do that and more. She created the layout, edited, and lined up my publication with efficiency and flair! Words could never express my gratitude to you, Marjie, for literally putting this book together. I always knew we made a great team, roomie.

Many thanks go out to the thousands of clients I have had over the last 30 years, along with all the guests on my talk radio show, Help, Hope & Healing. You have all been an amazing inspiration in my writing and transformation of this book. A big thank you to Backyard Broadcasting in Elmira, New York, for providing me the opportunity to reach the masses with my message of health and healing through my guests, and personal and professional experiences. My hope is that this book will help to heal even more people traveling their journey.

Prologue

I was dying. My heart and soul, that is. I couldn’t breathe. I felt lost in a world that whirled around me. If I didn’t make some changes soon I knew I would be gone. It was now or never. I had to find the key to unlock my imprisoned spirit, she was crying out to me for help! My first hint was when I landed in my doctor’s office with heart palpitations. I rode the treadmill, performed all the cardiac stress tests and did everything they told me to do. In the end, my doctor looked at me and simply said, It’s stress. Yep, as simple as that, stress. I knew in that moment my life had to change. I was killing myself, and for what? Running around like a chicken to make sure everyone was happy; everyone but me, that is. I wanted everybody to like me and see what a hero I was, but appearing to be the hero nearly killed me.

I woke up. And then the work began…

I had written the above in my journal 11 years ago, as I reflected on the day my life changed. I had just turned 41. Since then I have searched, created, and lived a life devoted to discovery. In this search there have been many bumps in the road, and just as frequently, beautiful balloon rides. Self-discovery is an amazing experience, requiring dedication to the unveiling of your authentic self. It has been said, the truth will set you free. This much I know is true, realizing YOUR truth will set your soul free. It is through this process that I have created balance in my life, focusing on mind, body, spiritual, and emotional wellness. In living this delicate balance, I have experienced many trials and errors in my life, and I feel blessed and honored to be a guide in my clients lives as they unravel their own discoveries. It is only through my willingness to experience life to the fullest that I am able to support my clients unconditionally as they travel their own roads.

This book is a compilation of my writings over the past four years. I delve into spiritual and emotional wellness, exercise and nutrition, mental health, and personal and professional experiences through all of it. The process of unlearning is a key component of my writing, as it focuses on peeling away the layers put upon us by society and individuals in our life, and rebuilding the real you. The soul you were born to be on this earth. Simply, the purity of yourself.

With Love and Blessings,

Cynthia 

Introduction

The pages contained in this book are like a mixed bag of angel cards. You know, the kind of book where you can close your eyes, take a deep breath, and randomly open to a page meant for you on that day, at that moment. It can certainly be read front to back for lessons of learning and unlearning, but if you’re looking for a lesson in the moment, give it a try. You just might receive a message that uncannily relates to your life, inspired by the universe, reaching deep into your soul. Happy reading. ~Namaste

I. Living in Authenticity

Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to the end requires courage.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Process of Unlearning

The process of unlearning. A concept that may sound a bit strange to you at first, especially since so much emphasis has been put on learning throughout our lifetime, but if you consider the expectations put upon us by influential people in our lives, you may begin to understand the meaning behind this reversing process.

When we entered this world as babies, with the purity of our untouched souls encased in our bodies, we were completely free. Free of judgment, expectations, and totally accepting of who and what we were. We flailed with joy, extending our limbs out from our soul to feel and experience the world around us. We cried when our tummies were hungry, we needed a diaper change, or a good burp to let out some air. Pretty simple. Then piles of learning came upon us. We needed to learn a plethora of skills just to survive in this world. In addition, the teachers in our lives taught us beliefs they thought were important; often beliefs they were taught and so on down the line. The question remains; is what our teachers were taught attributes that resonated with our personal soul? Very likely, some did and some did not. Your challenge today is to dig down deep into your soul and tune in to what resonates with your authentic self. As you do this you will strip away the layers of all those expectations you piled on to please others. Anything that doesn’t feel comfortable in the pit of your gut is worth reevaluating in your life. I use the metaphor of peeling away the layers like a banana peel, discarding one strip at a time. As you do this you create room for the real you! What would you add to your life as you strip away the old? Listen to the whispers of your soul and you will begin to live the life you came here to live. Fulfilling your purpose here on earth.

The more you become the purity of your soul the happier you will feel walking your earthly journey. Enjoying your own path as you extend your natural love and positive energy out to others. Just as you were meant to be, living