Aflevering Raising Resilience #16

In episode #16 we listen to Kevin Young, Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner in Saintfield, the north of Ireland, host of the Compassionate Inquiry podcast ‘The Gifts of Trauma’, meditation facilitator, retreat facilitator, and also musician. He is deeply embedded in the Compassionate Inquiry community and being in Ireland I wanted to take the opportunity to talk with him about resilience. It became a long and beautiful conversation about many topics with regard to resilience, self-awareness, healing, and the way we can be in the world and make it a better place. We start out with some nitty-gritty straight away: when I use the word ‘challenge’ in my introduction, Kevin appropriately nuances between a ‘challenge’ and a ‘treat’ or a ‘privilege’. What happens if we can see that which looks or feels like a challenge, as a gift instead? What changes, then? What if we lessen the pressure on ourselves and others regarding everything we ‘should’ do or be? Kevin’s purpose with his work is to create transformational change and we speak about the importance of non-judgment and safety, of compassionate, playful room for making mistakes and not yet succeeding in something and how a positive learning experience helps to build resilience. Once we get to those more quiet spaces in and around ourselves, we often start craving more depth in conversations. Empathetic abiding presence supports nurturing right-brain connections with others and fosters growth, healing, and resilience. We speak about the value of slowing down as a prerequisite for all of this and for increasing consciousness, even if it seems we are far removed from that in a hasty, neoliberal society.  It was a rich conversation in that gorgeous Irish accent!