The Freedom Centre, hosted by Lindsay Guttridge of Peace with PDA. A place for us.

Introducing a new space by the amazing Lindsay Guttridge. Lindsay has been guiding parents of PDAers since 2016. She brings with her, a wealth of knowledge and experience as a parent to a PDAer and as a professional counsellor, energy healer and emotional freedom technique therapist. Her aim is simple, to help parents on their individual life journeys.

I first met Lindsay shortly after starting this blog. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were born just a few years apart in the same hospital. Over the years we have remained close friends and if I ever have a problem, I ask myself, what would Lindsay say? Lindsay is one of life’s truly precious gems and her outreach is huge. She has a massive heart and capacity to shine light on those who find her. She has the gift of intuitively knowing how to offer the right tools at the right time, so that the recipient of her care truly gets the message and takes the wisdom to their heart. Teaching not telling is how I would describe Lindsays approach. Supporting, not steering.

When Lindsay became a PDA parent, she knew that she had something to offer other PDA parents and so Peace with PDA was born. Over the years, she has brought together, a beautiful community of likeminded parents. I would say that the members of Peace with PDA all have one thing in common, we understand that we have been gifted an opportunity for self growth through our children and we wish to cross over the lines of traditional parenting to find authentic peace and acceptance for ourselves, our children and the wider community. We see PDA as a positive rather than a negative and we have grown to see the gifts, opportunities and wisdoms that sit deep within the PDA environment.

I think I’m safe in saying that becoming a parent often means that we unconsciously repeat how we were raised by our parents or caregivers. We often don’t ever question or think about whether there are other ways to be unless something sudden and different comes along and forces us to change. PDA can be a springboard to change for the better, but the road getting there can be difficult with a lot of resistance. I think that we have lived in a hierarchy society for so long, that its impossible sometimes to conceive the idea that children can be our teachers too. However, it is my observation that PDA children come with an invisible, inbuilt compass to freedom which uses authenticity to find the harmony that we all desire. We have to delve deep into our own belief system to take the journey. With gentle, loving awareness, forgiveness, healing and hope, many of us have discovered whats on the other side. Not only is there a beautiful, never-ending pool of amazing discoveries, but sharing with others who are kindred souls, makes it all the better.

When day to day ‘life stuff’ comes up, you know, the ordinary everyday stuff that we all have to do, think, say and act, we all have varying degrees of feelings or emotions that go along with it. ‘Stuff’ is created through thoughts and emotions. Emotions and Feelings fuel decisions. They remind us. They keep us safe. Feelings and emotions can also keep us stuck in patterns and they can build up as energy in our bodies and hold us back or make us unwell. Most of the time we can go about every day without understanding or listening to the emotions we are generating. It is my belief that our PDAers have a very sensitive radar for other peoples emotions and as such learning to use and control our emotions, in turn helps our kids. How do we do that? I hear you ask! Emotional Freedom technique is a self help tool that works with emotions so we can integrate the energy that the emotions produce. We can transform the energy so that it doesn’t become stuck and in the process, we can free up space in our minds and bodies for more good stuff to flow. Using EFT to shift old patterns, beliefs and experiences doesn’t mean we need to forget the experiences, everything happens for a reason. But we are simply helping our inner world to organize and decide what needs a clear out. The more peace we can bring to ourselves, the more peace we can offer to others, especially our kids. The goal of Emotional Freedom Technique is to reach an inner feeling of freedom with our emotions so that the emotions don’t hold us back or in a negative space. A feeling of curiosity so that we may fathom why we are feeling a certain emotions is established by sitting quietly and tuning in to how we are feeling and putting some awareness on what the strongest emotion is feeling like. Once identified the emotion or issue that we want to work on can be brought into full focus in ones mind, either by talking out loud or in ones head. As we then tap gently on specific points on our own bodies, we lean into the feeling or issue even more until we get into the zone of the emotion. We feel the emotion in its entirety but with a knowing that we are a safe space and that no harm will come by bringing the feelings to the forefront. The tapping may take several rounds and sometimes 10 minutes or more until we feel some kind of physical release. For me, I yawn giant yawns, and often my eyes water but not in a traditional, crying way, just a release, as if the water is washing away the things I no longer need and the yawn brings in fresh energy to replace them. It’s different for everyone but looking out for that release brings a lovely feeling of discovery and peace. For me, often, old memories that I didn’t even know I had, such as school times can pop right up and I say to myself, oh well, hi, thanks for finally coming up and that why I keep feeling this way! Thank you and off you go now. Its feels like saving a bee that wants to fly away, up, up it goes, off to nature.

With an EFT guide, we don’t have to feel alone through the process. Some people feel better being in a group, where they can see that others are working, but the focus is not so direct on them. Others, like me, prefer private but I also like to share my experiences with others at a later date. Feelings of beautiful release as we let go of the emotions that do not serve our highest good if we hold onto them. Feelings of gratitude when we can hear the message our emotions send us. Finaly a feeling of contentment as we free our congestions and accept that there will always be more to work with because that is just being a human. Empowering ourselves to take control of how we think, feel and act, no matter what the external situation is. The more we master our own thoughts, the more delicious our parenting journeys become. When we are in a space of freedom, we increase our ability to create more of the lovely emotions like happiness, joy and excitement, and more of the good stuff rather than the yukky feeling ones like fear, inadequacy, anger, frustration and unhappiness.

Linsday has been teaching, sharing and guiding us through EFT in her private groups, through her YouTube videos and with one-to-one paying clients, to great success. As she expands her own life and knowledge, she is now bringing a new space, which she has brought into creation from her heart. Being heart led means that the intention behind the creation has come from a place of love and desire for good. She understands that there are others like you and me and that together, although we are all different, we are strong together. The Freedom centre is aptly named as it encompasses everything I have talked about here today. Emotional Freedom Technique and community to find the centre of ourselves. When we are centred, we are in balance. When we centre in community, we support each other.

If Lindsays invitation to The Freedom Centre, closed Facebook and Zoom space, this June 2024 finds you feeling good emotions, or wobbly ones, if you would like to feel supported in your parent journey with a PDA child, then let’s take a step into the centre together. I will leave you with this video explaining more and I will see you on the inside.