Would You Like To Join the Community?
Start here: an introduction to my paid subscriber-only offers
Hello! I’m Satya, writer, psychotherapist, Buddhist teacher & foolish being. I’ve been writing here at Going Gently since the beginning of 2023 and am happily growing a community of folk who want to wake up to more of life by making the most of gentleness. When I say gentleness I don’t mean ‘avoid everything and slump on the sofa’ kind of gentleness (although sofa-slumping is sometimes appropriate and fun) but meeting all of life, the tricky stuff and the amazing stuff, with the same spirit of gentle persistence. Curiosity! Compassion! Courage! Other words starting with c!
All my subscribers get a weekly-ish letter, and paid subscribers also get to hang out here - the Gentle Community. On Thursdays you’ll receive one of a smorgasbord of extras - a Gentle Adventure (a self-study course - including the full archives), a personal voice note from me, a question that we can ponder in this safe space…
How does that sound?
Now I’ll tell you all about Gentle Adventures…
What is a Gentle Adventure when it’s at home?
It’s the knob of butter melting over your peas. It’s a woolly hat on a winter’s day. It’s being asked if you’d like a cup of tea. It’s the ‘aha’ moment, the ‘NO MORE’ moment, the ‘glimpse of everything being okay’.
Gentle Adventures will lead you ever-so gently into fresh territory. We will journey into different lands - mindful writing, rest, Internal Family Systems, everyday spirituality & more. We will get curious, offer kind attention to the parts of you that need it, and notice things shifting in your everyday life.
How do they work?
Gentle Adventures are available to everyone who pays for a subscription to my Substack (under £1/£1.25 a week). They take place by email and online in a private community space with lovely fellow travellers. The adventures archive is here.
Each Sunday you will receive a short reflection, a practical exercise, optional journal prompts and a question to carry with you during the week. You can see an example of these from the first week of the Mindful Writing adventure here.
You will then share the results of the exercises and/or your experience of the week on the post throughout the week. This is a private space just for paid subscribers. Hearing from others will be a crucial part of the learning and the loveliness.
Will Gentle Adventures be fun?
I do hope so! Creativity, playfulness and humour are encouraged. We need a balance of tending to the tangles and plugging into joy, don’t we?
What do I need?
Yourself, pen & paper or a computer, and as much curiosity as you can muster. Ooh, and maybe this is a good excuse for a beautiful new journal?
Will the courses stir stuff up?
When we go forwards with curiosity, sometimes we stumble into internal territory that feels risky or potentially overwhelming.
My courses are informed by my decades as a psychotherapist, my knowledge of Internal Family Systems, and my ever-growing experience that pushing is always counterproductive. If any of the questions or exercises feel uncomfortable to any parts of you, just stop and back up. If it feels possible, you can begin by investigating the uncomfortableness. What are the fears if you did go forward? What’s at stake? How could you reassure those protective parts of you? What support from elsewhere might support you in your adventuring?
The main rule is: go at the pace of your slowest part. If something doesn’t feel possible, respect that information and trust that it will be easier another time or in another context. Keep checking in with all your parts. As long as it feels okay to discover what you’re discovering or feel what you’re feeling, all is well.
How much time do I need?
As a person with a full schedule, I have designed Gentle Adventures to be compatible with busy lives as well as those with more spaciousness. I will keep the reflections short and the exercises can take from five minutes to half an hour a day, depending on how much time you have. We’re aiming for quality over quantity, and for small regular changes rather than big daunting ones. Gentleness is the key! Teensy new actions can be the very soft tip of a wedge that ever-so-gently nudges you in a different direction, or opens you up to some new good stuff.
How do I sign up?
All my courses will be available to those who have a paid subscription to my Substack. They’ll all be stored in my archives (click here) and so you can self-study any of the previous courses at any time. At the moment you can subscribe for £6 a month or £50 a year. If you want to get a taste before getting your wallet out you can use this voucher for seven free days.
All my Substack subscribers also receive my weekly-ish Tuesday-ish reflections alongside the courses - my personal adventures in being alive. I’m hoping that, once you get a taste of Gentle Adventuring, you’ll want to stick around in the community (and also support my writing - I couldn’t be here without my lovely paid subscribers).
Ready to for your first adventure? Click the button and I look forward to meeting you!
Just joined. Looking forward to the gentle adventuring 💚
Hello Satya,
I have, indeed, followed you for years. I call my efforts “small poems”. I’ve not been writing for many months, and a gentle approach might be what I need. I look forward to this. I’m on USA mountain time, and will be trying to keep track of when you post.