By Alyssa Beiss, Acupuncture Denver Staff

Jane and I had the pleasure of listening to one of our favorite authors speak at the Tattered Cover book store recently. Brene Brown, author of “The Gifts of Imperfection,” and “I Thought it Was Just Me (But it Isn’t),” has done some incredible work with shame resilience and vulnerability and I am looking forward to delving into her new book “Daring Greatly.” If you haven’t yet seen Brene’s TED talks, I highly recommend checking them out on her website. I’ve watched both of them a number of times and each time I walk away feeling inspired. This talk was no different. In her witty, down to earth speaking style she talked about big issues like shame and vulnerability. She talked about how being vulnerable is necessary to connect with people but we’re often too afraid to put ourselves in vulnerable positions. We have this idea that vulnerability is weakness when in fact it really creates intimacy and trust. We’re moved when people share themselves with us but get completely freaked out at the thought of doing it ourselves. But this is the only way to really connect with anybody and, as humans, we all crave connection.

So I guess what I really took home from Brene’s talk is that it’s okay to fear making ourselves vulnerable but we can’t let that fear hold us back from being courageous and sharing ourselves. In my experience, there is something so freeing about allowing my true self to shine, even when it may make me incredibly uncomfortable. I totally agree with Brene that this is one of, if not the best way to create an intimate connection with someone and I’ve had some truly amazing experiences with this. It’s allowed me to not only connect with people on levels that I otherwise wouldn’t have, but also to recognize those that I don’t want or need in my life. And it’s made me a stronger, more courageous, and more compassionate person.