Struggling to process fear, anger, and grief? Karen Kenney—writer and spiritual mentor—gives us a masterclass in finding love, compassion, and resilience in challenging times. When Karen was 12, her mother was brutally murdered. She and her sister were sent to live with strangers. Through years of trauma and confusion, Karen sought solace in books and stories. While others around her took satisfaction in vengeance, she found peace in forgiveness, through guidance from mentors, and her study and practice of somatics, yoga, and other healing modalities. This put Karen, who grew up Catholic, on an unexpected path to a different relationship with spirituality and the divine. After getting a communications degree at Boston University, she lived and worked with Marianne Williamson, then immersed in study of A Course In Miracles, finally claiming her role as coach and thought leader. We discuss the impact of family and cultural conditioning in shaping internal narratives, and the importance of shifting limiting beliefs to temper the dialogue with ourselves and others. Cornerstones of Karen’s approach are personal responsibility, harnessing the agency we have, recognizing what spirit and source mean to us, and developing a unique connection to them. She maps how to assemble a team of spiritual advisors, noting the importance of tapping into our resources and community to consider things in different ways. Then shows us tools to resist fear, acknowledge risk, and feel ‘safe enough’ to take action toward what we want. Karen’s story epitomizes “It has to be me.” But her message is: You don’t have to do it alone. TESS’S TAKEAWAYS: A Course In Miracles is a workbook to prompt self awareness and growth. Developing your own approach to spirituality supports self-love and compassion. Intimacy heals. Personal responsibility and deep relationships expand your choices. Grief is a sacred path to your deepest healing and highest service. You can feed a grievance or you can seek peace. You cannot do both. Forgiveness isn’t forgetting. Choosing compassion means suffering doesn’t run the show. You’re not the sum of what happened to you, but what you’ve been called to because of it. We’re never completely safe. Feeling safe enough is enough. ABOUT KAREN KENNEY Spiritual mentor and writer Karen Kenney uses humor and dynamic storytelling to bring a down-to-earth, no-BS perspective to self-development. Bringing together tools that coach the conscious and unconscious mind, Karen helps clients deepen their connections with self, and discover their unique understandings of spirituality. Her practice combines neuroscience, subconscious reprogramming, integrative hypnosis, somatics, and other holistic modalities to help regulate the nervous system, examine internal narratives, remove blocks, and reimagine what’s possible. A passionate student of A Course in Miracles, devout yoga teacher, and Gateless Writing instructor, Karen is a frequent speaker and retreat leader. Via her programs The Quest and The Nest, she coaches individuals and groups. With The Karen Kenney Podcast, she encourages listeners to shift from a thought system of fear to one of love, compassion, and personal responsibility. CONNECT WITH KAREN Website: https://www.karenkenney.com/ Podcast:
New Zealand