This beautiful text feels soothing and grounding, especially in difficult moments. 

Over the last three years of healing from trauma, I’ve prioritized my recovery and inner work. Creating and recreating supportive boundaries feels essential for wellness and healthy intimacy. 

Pixie Lighthorse, or Cherie Dawn Carr, has played a powerful role in my boundaries practice. She’s written several books about self-healing. She uses the Lighthorse pen name to honor her ancestors. 

I received the “Boundaries and Protection” book from a dear friend last year, and I revisit it when I feel overwhelmed or unclear. 

“I love people and believe in their ability to turn their lives around and hang in there when seas get stormy. I believe if we bring intelligence in first through the spirit, then into the body, and lastly put it through the beautiful mind, we get a more miraculous response than if we reverse the order,” writes Lighthorse. 

Each lesson covers one page, with titles like: “You Are Magnificent,” “Soul Retrieval,” “Stepping Back for Clarity,” “Explain Your Strategy,” and “Non-Negotiable Worthiness.” I choose whichever chapter calls me and notice as my perspective slowly resets in a fair, loving way. 

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Reclaim Your Voice: “Overstimulation”

This chapter seems especially supportive of highly-sensitive people. She reminds us that it’s safe to feel our real feelings and ask for support when needed.

“Healing occurs over time. I can be patient and check in with my soul while making healthy choices on my own behalf. While I am in my healing process, I can be open to life,” writes Lighthorse 

Her words inspired the chorus line of a song I just finished writing: “Being in the world, stay open and keep loving.” The statement feels like a gentle reminder while caring for my inner process. 

“I can express from my own heart without blaming and making another wrong. I will know what to say and do once I’ve become clear about what is true. I have a hand in how things unfold. I can make a choice to be humble and allow healing. My voice is my own, and what happens from here is up to me,” writes Lighthorse. 

This reminds me to slow down and take responsibility for my words rather than sliding into people-pleasing behaviors. Singing also feels like a beautifully somatic way to reclaim my voice.

“I only need to be me. I do this well when I am connected to the Source that fuels me. I can name that Source in my way and find all the ways that facilitate the recharge I need. When I am enough for me, everything shifts, including how I experience scarcity or abundance, love or rejection,” says Lighthorse. 

We can take responsibility for our well-being, even when we feel overstimulated. Letting ourselves get to the core of the emotion feels resonant. We don’t have to numb. Instead, we can be curious about the nature of our existence.

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Protect Your Mind: “Faith In Dark Places”

I pulled up this chapter when I noticed several heavy questions in my mind. I’d been trying to process a confusing and complex relationship, and this section helped. 

“Fear is responsible for dismantling security, and old wounds flare up when negative thoughts accumulate. On a good day, while we are anchored in an authentic perception of reality, our higher reason guides us. On a rough day, our minds drift like a lost helium balloon,” says Lighthorse. 

This lesson reminds me to practice internal boundaries by caring for my thinking mind. 

“While it’s tempting to ignore the inner dialogue, it is beneficial to chat with it. Your consciousness requires protection from the crucifying stories that reside in the far subconscious realms. Your higher reasoning is the first line of defense against overwhelming tales of how it’s all going to come crumbling down,” writes Lighthorse. 

She describes these unsettling thoughts as “gremlins” created from childhood shadows. 

“They are the young, malnourished, neglected, distasteful prisoners. How can you re-parent the terrified parts of yourself into health by hearing what they have to say and comforting those fears?” writes Lighthorse.

Re-parenting efforts feel so real and necessary to show up well in my relationships.

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Sometimes healing feels like a never-ending, frustrating journey. Lighthorse helped me see myself as capable of connecting in a safe, nourishing way while in recovery. 

“What we can do is nurture attitudes of acceptance, while doing what we can to preserve the quality of our experiences. We can give to and of ourselves by looking at the greater system of life with awe. In this way, establishing healthy behaviors with other humans becomes a spiritual experience,” writes Lighthorse.

I feel grateful for the synchronous events that brought this woman’s wisdom into my life. 

I talk more about spiritual approaches to relationships with inspiration from Eckhart Tolle in: A spiritual path to healthy, loving relationships.” 

Photo Credit: Unsplash, Tengyart

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I publish inspiring, empowering content on self-actualization topics once a week. I include insights from personal experience, research, expert advice, and others’ stories. I use my professional journalism and research background to keep posts concise, empathic, and trustworthy.

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