I’m Learning Spanish

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I’m still down here in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, living life to its fullest. What the heck am I doing in Mexico? Check out my previous post here. Ever since I was a kid I’ve been mesmerized by people who speak different languages. As my friends and family will attest, I compensated for my shame around being a mono-linguist by dating foreigners most of my life. My mother’s famous line is “How do I pronounce his name again? Alex-SAND-ro?” “No Mom.. its Alessandro.” “Oh Honey, why can’t you just date a nice American boy?” Despite my deep desire to be multilingual and three long-term relationships with an Italian, a Russian and a Turk, English is still the only language I speak. Living in Mexico has given me the perfect opportunity to realize a dream that I’ve had for a long time, I can learn Spanish and actually practice it! Each time I sat down to practice, however, I noticed resistance. I would get distracted easily, or make excuses for not starting like “Well, I’ve got the Mastermind Program, my business is growing so fast, my inbox is overflowing, I certainly don’t have time to learn Spanish as well! I’ll do it later, when I’m more relaxed, when I have more time.” I was having dinner with my new love interest who is Mexican (big surprise, I know), when he looked at me and said “Baby, either my English needs to get better or you need to learn Spanish”. Flustered and angry with myself for not ALREADY being fluent (I am superwoman you know) I replied “of course I’m going to learn Spanish, Babe. I promise”. He smiled and explained that he wants me to feel like a part of his community and although everyone speaks English we are, after all, in Mexico. OK, I’ve committed....shit, now what? I decided I needed to get to the bottom of my block about learning Spanish right away. So, I sat down and asked myself a question that I frequently ask my clients. I imagined myself learning Spanish, noticed resistance and my whole body tensing, then I asked myself “What are you doing to have this problem?” I was immediately transported back to 7th grade Spanish class when my teacher was explaining that she was Mexican. I raised my hand in class and innocently said “but you don’t look Mexican?” My teacher had blonde hair and a pale complexion like me. Growing up in California, I was not used to seeing light-skinned Mexicans who are referred to as “güero/as” in Mexico. My teacher snapped back at my question by saying “and you don’t look stupid!” The whole class turned to look at me and laughed. I remained frozen and confused until my friend leaned over and explained why everyone was laughing. “She’s Mexican, and she’s calling you stupid.” One guess what my Spanish grade was that semester. Capital F. I had found the source of my problem and it was a specific memory that had been buried for twenty years! Every time I thought about speaking Spanish, my 7th grade teacher popped into my mind and called me stupid. No wonder I’ve had this block! So, like all good tappers, I tapped away all my resistance, and have committed to practicing my Spanish for 30 minutes every day using Pimsleur Language audios. My challenge to you is this: where in your life are you holding yourself back? What are you doing in your mind to experience resistance? Here is an exercise to help: Think about something you would like to achieve 1. Imagine yourself doing it 2. Allow yourself to feel your resistance (you will have some otherwise you’d already be doing it) 3. Ask yourself this question- what am I doing to have this resistance? 4. Just relax and notice what you see in your minds eye. You might see a quick picture, or a short movie, or you might have a felt sense and just know what it is. 5. Once you notice what is holding you back, tap the blocks away just by feeling the resistance in your body. You dont have to say anything, just tap through the points until you notice your body relax. Once you tap away the blocks, make a commitment to step into exactly what you have been resisting. Each time you feel resistance just stop, tap, and take another step forward. I’m learning Spanish, what are you going to do? Leave me a comment in the box below and let me know! XO Britt

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