In the spring of 2020, Cheri Huber's book, There is Nothing Wrong With You, gave me a lifeline. It was an epiphany that set me on a path to freedom and led to this show! Joining me for a lively (and yes, FUN) chat about self-hate, Cheri has authored 24 books and devoted the last 45 years to being a student and teacher of Zen Awareness Practice. Her teaching is immanently approachable, encouraging humor, delight, curiosity, and compassion. Her writing offers profound and practical ways of dealing with the many difficulties of being human.
"You mentioned something, Kirsten, that is probably the most essential thing to me in my life. And that is to have the awareness that our authentic nature is happiness. That's so not the way most of us are conditioned. But it is our authentic nature. All those things you help people clear away; when we clear all of those away, what we discover is a happy human being. And so, to realize that's our nature and that it is our birthright to go through life happily, enjoying, appreciating." - Cheri Huber
It is possible to be on a spiritual path and have fun, as Cheri Huber, student and teacher of Zen Awareness practice, demonstrates in over 20 delightfully illustrated and beautifully hand-lettered books on the subject. Cheri's teachings, introduced in the best-selling There Is Nothing Wrong with You, go beyond the now ubiquitous concept of self-hate and the persistent message of self-negation ingrained in our social conditioning. As someone who suffered from depression herself, Cheri also wrote the definitive book on transcending depression. Her books introduce several innovative practice tools to wake up to our true nature, including Recording and Listening. Founded by Cheri in 1987, the Zen Monastery Peace Center offers a robust menu of virtual workshops, email classes, and various other programs to deepen the practice of awareness. Cheri is also the founder of Living Compassion, a project in a slum in Zambia that provides nutrition, education, clean water, and a safe environment for 1,000 children and staff.
On Tuesdays, Cheri hosts Open Air, a call-in radio show, at 5.00 pm Pacific.
About Kirsten Johansen:
I'm going to get straight to the point. I was suffering! My self-hating perfectionism was militant and pervasive. While it led to success, it certainly did not lead to happiness. Success and happiness aren't the same. Sometimes they aren't even friends!
I had been working to improve and fix myself for nearly 35 years. No part of my life or appearance was safe from my inner critic and the belief that I had to do better. Be better. Look better. A human can't live this way without anesthesia behaviors. I was no exception. Anesthesia behaviors tend to compound suffering by providing only brief relief followed by more harm to the self. Just as the pandemic began, my suffering had enveloped me. There was nowhere left to go. I could slide into the dark, hollow emptiness I felt when I looked inside or lay down my weapons and surrender. Surrender, finally, to unconditional love, acceptance, and compassion for myself.
This complete shift in my beliefs about myself allowed me to heal my wounds, grieve my losses, and experience a rebirth. I told self-hate to kick rocks!
GTO Coaching for Humans allows me to connect with other humans and help them find freedom and love themselves.
GTO Freedom for Humans reflects my passion for radically honest and vulnerable storytelling and leveraging the experiences of others to connect us, heal us, and release us into the freedom of unconditional self-acceptance.
I am living my purpose now.
- In gratitude, Kirsten
About GTO Freedom for Humans:
Join us for laughter, tears, tools, and strategies to help you shift your perspective and connect with other humans to something greater. Through inspirational stories of humans who have freed themselves from suffering, you will spot self-hate and develop its antidote: unconditional love, compassion, and acceptance of self.
This will influence and simplify your choices, large and small. Self-hate is sneaky. One of its talents is to convince us it doesn't exist while it tells us we're not good enough. Ouch! Self-hate thrives when humans feel like they are alone. You are not alone. When humans share from a radically honest and vulnerable place, we build trust and connection. GTO, Giraffe Tango Octopus, integrating my wonderfully weird human characteristics, was born from my journey to freedom through unconditional self-love and acceptance. Given my history as a self-hating perfectionist, it is nothing short of a miracle!