The Baggage Reclaim Sessions

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