Here are some voices from the participants:

Part 1: A path towards wholeness

Thank you for a most fulfilling, inspiring and motivating workshop yesterday. I ended up in tears as it brought forth a lot of emotions I had been supressing and feelings of self-doubt and not feeling worthy and being very hard on myself. I have been attempting “self-love” for some time but not really truly knowing what it meant. I fully believe the universes put me where I was meant to be yesterday. (A.H. 20’s female)

Thank you for your seminar. It did inspire me to identify emotional barrier I have and work on self-compassion. It also motivated me to learn more about Buddhism and practice more meditation of different types. 

I have had emotional and psychological traumas in my life, and because I still blame myself for them, I feel actually that it is dangerous for me to be myself, because in my mind that is what caused the trauma, me being myself. I wonder if you have any advice on changing this and/or accepting it. I am a good person and fundamentally want to be myself very much but I find myself not being, by holding back, over-thinking what I do and say, and saying/doing things I think people want me to just to protect myself. It feels as if my brain is very hard wired to do this because of the multiple traumas. Do you think even people with intense trauma and safety related learned behaviours can become their true selves again? (Seiko emailed her back afterwards) (C.A. 30’s female)

 

More feedback in anonymity

I assumed that fundamental darkness (which means negativity in Buddhism) was a bad thing and I had to eliminate it from my heart. I’ve realised that I was so scared to be defeated. I felt hopeful after the seminar because it is OK to accept all of myself including fundamental darkness.

I thought I was unworthy, but the seminar helped me understand that I was actually OK. What a relief.

I was struggling with lack of my confidence, but I now have better understanding of how to deal with my anxiety.

I can relate to what was shared at the seminar. I’ve realised that I had been denying my vulnerable feelings and I want to accept them from now on.

I feel more connected with myself as I accept myself more fully. I feel so encouraged to be just myself.

I feel motivated and encouraged to grapple with my current problems.

I feel touched that Seiko was standing her own truths, which enabled the audience to do the same.

 

Part 2: Self-compassion: Be all of who we are

I enjoyed every minute of your talk yesterday! I learnt many practical skills to apply to my daily life, your session taught me to value and appreciate my strength but most importantly to embrace me as a WHOLE person even my weakness. Asking for help is ok, not trying to portray as a strong person when I don’t feel like it. Or deny my shortcomings. The breathing exercise was useful too. (C.L. 50’s female)

There’s always gain – brings a fresh perspective. I think learning new ways is always another option for people to choose from. I enjoyed myself – reflecting on myself and my ways too. And it was not full on which gets hard to take in as it is dealing with ones emotions. (A.K. 60’s female)

I’ve learned that I need courage and practice in order to be compassionate with myself. The seminar has inspired me to practice compassion for myself. I appreciate that the seminar was easy to understand, and it was explained through the Buddhist perspectives, which has helped me to reflect on myself. (J.M. 30’s female)

Thank you so much again for today’s seminar and it was really amazing especially the part you shared “10:0” concept. I reflect myself that I forgot about myself, always for others. I have recognised that I always tried to make things easy for others but it was so stressful because I neglected “myself”. If I am happy with myself, of course others will naturally enjoy themselves. I am really impressed by the seminar and I will try “10:0” courageously. (S.K. 20’s female)

I’m impressed how you can make such complicated subjects into simple words and easy to understand. It was so relaxing that I fell asleep for few seconds. Not totally asleep, I can still hear what you said. I now feel lighter and will try to love myself more. Find my inner child, embrace my imperfection. Using 10-0 in my life (A.O. 30’s female)

Thank you so much for the seminar. I am really inspired today. Your seminar was eye-opening especially about the concept of self-compassion and learned to give 10 to myself so I can give others 10 too. (E.L. 30’s female) 

It’s interesting to know the common ground between psychotherapy and Buddhism. Doing mindfulness practice was useful so I had a better understanding of what self-compassion (non-judgemental awareness, for example) feels like. Your research on the correlation between psychotherapy and Buddhist practice reconfirmed that medical and/or science are related. In fact Buddhism goes beyond science. It’s good to present the relationship between the two. (V.L. 50’s male)

It’s useful to recognise the difference between observing mind and thinking mind. I’ve noticed that I don’t usually observe my mind, rather I am quite reactive to what’s happening. (S.H. 60’s male)

 

Part 3: Speaking one’s truth: Finding the courage to be ourselves

After attending your seminar I came to the realisation that I often feel afraid to say what I really think because I am afraid of offending someone, or of making them angry. My mother used to say “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”. As a teenager I could sense when my parents were angry or disapproving of me, but they didn’t say anything, so neither did I. This has meant that as an adult I do the same thing in my marriage – I retreat inside, rather than saying what I really feel. The build-up of unspoken emotions has led to my feeling of being anxious, having depression and low self-esteem. This is a huge thing to overcome, and really I don’t know where to start, so I am chanting for this. I hope I can attend your next seminar. (A.G. 60’s female)

Thanks a lot for organizing this workshop, I found it very useful because it brought to my attention what was causing a big grief in my life as there are a few things going on at the moment.
The issue is still there and I am working on it, but hopefully with your advise I will eventually work it out and be kinder to myself. Thanks again for your hard work and helping us. (Anonymous 40’s female)

Thank you so much!!  Even though I have already studied some aspects of psychology and Buddhism (personal studies), I learnt a lot of new ideas & strategies in your seminar and I am finding them extremely helpful. I have been in a number of situations recently where I have unwittingly tolerated family members who have been increasingly rude and disrespectful towards me. I kept failing to address their behaviour because I kept giving them ‘the benefit of the doubt’….I was way too nice….maybe I was in ‘denial’?  Then their behaviour became so extreme the relationships I had with them suddenly ended in a terrible way and I’ve been left very hurt. I have now vowed to ‘pick up on’ negative signs early on, and try to address them respectfully before they get ‘out of hand’.  But I need to work on building confidence and courage first – I find talking to people about negative behaviour, and even backing off, very hard to do! I am looking forward to the next seminar. (G.S. 40’s female)