Becoming Power

There’s a lot of talk out there about self-care and rest. 

We all experience stress and dysregulation in this world, and rest is essential for our emotional and physical well-being.

Yet sometimes, when we’re stressed and agitated, it can be challenging to realize that we desperately need a break and even harder to figure out how to do that.

This is where one of my favorite tools comes in: the Menu of Refuge.

Today, I want to share what refuge is, why you need and deserve it, and how to empower yourself by creating your own personal Menu of Refuge.


Listen to the full episode to hear:
  • Defining refuge, literally and metaphorically, and why it’s more than simply retreating from the world
  • How a Menu of Refuge helps us take positive steps to resolve stress and dysregulation
  • How refuge addresses our fundamental biological need for emotional and physical safety
  • Why refuge also needs a sense of growth, wonder, or expansion
  • How refuge restores our sense of dignity and self-worth
  • How to craft your own list of activities and places that serve as refuge for you

Learn more about Valerie Black:

What is Becoming Power?

What is power? Well, that's complicated. We've learned to associate power with money, influence, position, fame, politics, and even certain bodies. Becoming Power is a podcast about a different perspective on power. Host Valerie Black highlights how true power emerges from the practices that help us transform and evolve as humans and serve as a foundation for our work in the world. She talks with leaders, executives, athletes, and activists about how they nurture their own inner power. Valerie analyzes their insights and turns them into meditations, visualizations, and bite-sized experiments for you to integrate into your own life. Whether you're looking for a greater sense of power at work, a deeper relationship with yourself, or ideas for developing your own powerful practices, Becoming Power is for you.