2017 Gitte Lassen All rights reserved.

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2 2017 Gitte Lassen All rights reserved. Author: Gitte Lassen Book design: Klara Oberajter DISCLAIMER I believe real change is possible with consistent effort made over a period of time. Therefore, I cannot promise that you will experience any changes as a result of reading this book; rather I intend it to be a seed, or perhaps even a jumpstart, for positive changes. The information in this book is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. This book is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any mental or physical health problems. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author. The author has made every effort to ensure that the information in this book is accurate and where relevant, that the correct people and origins of referred to and/or quote information are credited. Any oversigths are unintentional and will be corrected in the future if made known to the author. References are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of any websites or other sources unless otherwise stated. The author disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information.

3 INTRODUCTION Would you like to... I m Gitte Lassen, and I d like to welcome you to FIERCE, FREE and FABULOUS: Overcome the 3 biggest obstacles that prevent you from accepting and loving yourself and that keep you feeling unhappy, depressed and wondering why nothing ever changes for good. You ve made a wise decision in choosing to read this, so give yourself a pat on the back! I promise it will be well worth your time and energy. I will be sharing lots of information with you in this ebook: I ll tell you about the Jante law and how that is holding you back. I ll talk about Wonder Woman and what the movie has to teach us and I ll tell you how you can become Fierce*, Free and Fabulous. I will also tell you what stands in the way of you proudly loving yourself. I ll talk you all about martyrs and empresses and why it is important to know about them and I ll tell you what an immersion in Self-Love looks like. I know you will have more than one insight as you read this ebook and suggest you grab a pen, so you can write down any realizations, thoughts and feelings that come to you as you read through this, so you can return to them later. *Fierce means being passionate, dedicated, proud, self-assured and self-confident, courageous and committed living your truth without excuses. 2

4 GITTE S STORY But first I want to tell you a little bit about me, so you know where I come from and why you can trust me. 10 months ago a dream of mine come true: I left Iceland after having lived there for 19 years and moved to Italy. 3 weeks ago another dream come true: I took clients on a weeklong trip to different power places as part of a Personal Transformation Intensive workshop. 2 weeks ago still another dream came true: I was recognized as a leader in serving Highly Sensitive People. Sounds amazing, all these dreams of mine come true, doesn t it? They often do, though, and I love that my life is like that. But of course it wasn t always like this. I had my years of struggle where no dreams of mine came true whatsoever. There were many years - in fact almost half of my life - where I hated myself. I took no joy in living, I merely existed and life was something to be endured. I just went through the motions of life, never feeling happy, never feeling at peace with myself, never feeling I had any value at all. All I ever felt was depressed, lonely and miserable. I hated myself, I loathed myself and I prayed: please, let me be someone else. One day I chose to believe that there had to be more to life than this and I started my lifelong journey of personal transformation. I began to feel better about myself. I got happy, I started to love myself and began to actively create a great life for myself. The deeper I worked my personal transformation, the better life I created for myself and the more dreams started coming true for me. Good things started happening to me and then better and better things. A sense of joy took root in me, a sense that life was glorious and all I had to do was to say yes to everything that was me and everything that life send my way. Today, my life is built on Self-Acceptance and Self-Love - and acceptance and respect for myself as a Highly Sensitive Person. I live my life to nurture my soul and make my spirit sing. Every choice I make, every action I take, is based on how can I bring more joy into my life. I also live my life so that I can get the absolute most joy out of being a Highly Sensitive. For more than 25 years, I ve been helping conscious and sensitive people, and Highly Sensitive people, find Self-Acceptance and Self-Love. I have helped them transform from being painfully 3

5 sensitive to being powerfully sensitive and I have helped them unlock the gifts of their High Sensitivity. I coach, give lectures, I offer online programs and lead live workshops in different countries. Today, I live in Florence, Italy, one of the most beautiful cities in the world in one of the most beautiful regions in the world. Everyday is a joy to wake up to. I just made another dream come true when I gave my first public lecture here, a few weeks ago. And I will soon make another dream come true when I hold my first retreat for Highly Sensitive women here in beautiful Italy. But there are 3 huge obstacles that stand in the way of this, in the way of you loving yourself and creating a life for yourself that nurtures you on a soul deep level and makes your spirit sing. Read on to learn what they are. 4

6 WHAT EXACTLY IS HIGH SENSITIVITY Before I get to dive into what those 3 obstacles I want to make sure we are all on the same page when we talk about being Highly Sensitive as there is some misinformation being passed around. Feel free to skip this part if you ve read other ebooks of mine or any other book on the High Sensitivity trait.. First of all, High Sensitive is a genetic trait that affects 15-20% of the population. Just like your eye color that either you are blue eyed or not, you are either Highly Sensitive or not. For the purpose of this ebook, though, we are interested in how the genetic trait affects our personalities. I created this memory tool, this meme if you will, to help me always come back to our 4 defining character traits, as outlined by Dr. Elaine Aron, foremost expert on High Sensitivity. D = Depth of Processing O = Overstimulation E = Emotional Reactivity + Empathy S = Sensitivity to the Subtle I love being Highly Sensitive and while I struggled with being Highly Sensitive in the past, it s now an essential part of the reason why I love being me and living my life as much as I do. Highly Sensitive Individuals have been found in over 100 different species in the same 15-20% proportion of the population. Scientists speculate it s because having Highly Sensitive Individuals increases species survival. Dr. Elaine Aron phrased it this way: The world needs people who notice things (S), think deeply about what they notice (D) and then make decisions from their heart (E). 5

7 The Jante Law So now that we have established this, let us turn to the first huge obstacle you ll face: the Jante Law. In 1933 the Danish Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose presented us with the Jante law. I believe the Jante law points out a subtle poisonous aspect of our culture, one that is everywhere and one that people absorb from the time they are born and one they all fear being judged for breaking. After you read each one of the laws, close your eyes, turn your attention inside and see how true it feels to you. The ten rules state 1. Don t think you are anything special. 2. Don t think you are as good as we are. 3. Don t think you are smarter than we are. 4. Don t imagine yourself better than we are. 5. Don t think you know more than we do. 6. Don t think you are more important than we are. 7. Don t think you are good at anything. 8. Don t laugh at us. 9. Don t think anyone cares about you. 10. Don t think you can teach us anything Basically The Jante law tells you: I know that consciously you don t hold with the Jante Law; if you were you wouldn t be reading this ebook. However, is it still there, like a Gollum in your mind, whispering Who do you think you are? You didn t really believe you were good enough, did you? You might as well give up because you ll never deserve anything that good to happen to you. You are such a loser! You re a failure and will always be a failure! You can never get it right! You re hopeless, you might as well give up! You might as well just accept what you have right now, you don t deserve anything better. 6

8 You know that everything you do will end up wrong. There s something seriously wrong with you. The Jante law tells you that you are not allowed to feel proud of yourself and your accomplishments. I don t want to spend time going too deeply into each part of the Jante law as it should be obvious that for an individual it s death of the Self. Rita Mae Brown puts it eloquently: The reward for conformity (following the Jante Law) is that everyone loves you except yourself. So at the same time you are working on creating a better life for yourself and accepting and loving yourself the Jante law in your mind is working against your best efforts. You have two choices here, break the Jante law or stay the same and give up on all hope to feel good about yourself, accepting and loving yourself and having the best life you could ever dream of. Since you are reading this, I assume you are on a journey of breaking free of the Jante Law. You want to accept and love yourself more and you want to feel more self-confidence. You want to know that you are good enough. You want to live your life in freedom and according to your truth. You want to feel unconditional love and create a better life for yourself. And that means you have to break the Jante Law, not only a little bit but all the way, and for good. But think about it for a second, breaking a law would bring up all kinds of feelings, wouldn t it? Let s take look at all the feelings that can come up when you set out to break the Jante Law because you want to claim your birthright to be exactly who you are in all your glory, gifts and talents. Guilt is one of the two strongest feelings you ll feel when you are changing and beginning to break the Jante Law. Of course, you ll feel guilty for breaking the law. But also: Every time you d be proud of yourself for making progress, you d feel guilty. Every time you d accept yourself, you d feel guilty. Every time you d believe that there was something good and right about yourself, you d feel guilty. Every time you d believe you had done something right, you d feel guilty. Every time you d feel even just a bit good enough, you d feel guilty. Every time you d think you had something of value to add, you d feel guilty. Every time you d feel even a little self-esteem, you d feel guilty. feel self-confidence you d feel guilty. 7

9 Every time you d speak your truth, you d feel guilty. Every time you d feel you have done something right and good, you d feel guilty. On top of that you will have your regular kind of guilt: Who are you to do something nice for yourself when you have not taken care of everyone else first? And: You should not spend money on yourself until after everything else has been paid. Shame is the other feeling that will come up for you. You ll feel shame because the law says you are not good enough to deserve something better. You ll feel shame for even thinking you have the right to feel good about yourself. You ll feel shame because maybe there is a reason why you are the way you are, namely defective. You ll feel shame when you think you deserve that people treat you better. You ll feel shame when you speak your truth because your truth doesn t have value. You ll feel shame when you dare to break the Jante Law because just the fact that you are not happy like everyone else must mean there is something wrong with you. All that guilt and shame, who wants to feel that? Nobody! So, people start playing small. They live in a perpetual state of holding themselves back so they don t offend anyone and they become people pleasers so they can get approval for upholding the Jante law. And the whole time, they are living a lie, a mask and losing themselves. Isn t it depressing? The good part is that I know that you know that you can break free from the Jante law. I did it, my students and clients have done it, people all over the world have done it. Let me repeat these famous words from Marianne Williamson as an inspiration: We ask ourselves: Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. And now, let s move on to the second largest obstacle that prevent you from finding real and lasting Self-Acceptance and Self-Love. 8

10 Being Nice The second largest obstacle is being a nice person. Yes, you read that right - being nice is an obstacle. In fact, it is such a big obstacle that I congratulate my clients when they stop being nice. But I m not telling them to be rude, far from it! Are you curious to know more? Being nice means being respectful and polite and considerate to other people. And being nice means not to hurt people and don t harm people. But many people take it to also mean: don t offend anyone, don t speak up for yourself, don t disagree, don t rock the boat, grin and bear it, pretend everything is fine when it isn t, don t let people see your real feelings it might be an imposition, and on and on... Right here let me make a very important distinction between hurting and harming someone, that you need to know: Imagine yourself eating chocolate. Does it hurt you? No, it feels pretty good, doesn t it? But does it harm you? Yes, in fact it is rather harmful to your teeth, let alone your health in general, but let s go with sugar causing cavities. So you had chocolate and liked it, but ended up with cavities and now you have to go to the dentist. The dentist, does she hurt you when drilling? Ouch, yes, unless she anesthetized you and then she only hurts you with the needle. But does she harm you? Not at all, indeed the dentist is undoing the harm. So you see, hurt and harm are not at all the same. Harming someone on purpose is never ever, ever okay, but is hurting? Keep on reading to learn why sometimes hurting people is in fact very much okay. So, being nice is a good thing but it comes with a steep price if it is your main modus operandi. 9

11 Being nice might end up keeping the peace and make everyone like you but you probably will end up feeling horrible about yourself for all the ways you deny your own truth. It s a deep betrayal of yourself to always hold yourself back whichever ways you hold yourself back, small or big. This is one place where it is important to bear in mind the distinction between hurting and harming. You might or you might not hurt yourself by being nice but you definitely harm yourself. My overriding principle for life and living is this: God = Truth = Love. God equals truth equals love. (Please substitute your word for the Creator here.) God is the ultimate source of love and God is the ultimate source of truth. There is no difference between God, truth and love. What that means then is that the more love you have in your life, the more God you have in your life, the more truth you have in your life. It also means that the more God you have in your life, the more truth you ll have and the more love you ll have. This is what surrender, first having more God and then more love and truth. Lastly and this is the one I want you to pay attention to right now is that the more truth you have in your life, the more love and the more God you ll also have. More truth first and then more love and more God. Being nice is about withholding the truth in so many little ways and some big ways. When you smile and make nice instead of showing your dislike. When you outwardly agree instead of expressing your disagreement. When you choose to keep the peace by remaining silent. When not rocking the boat becomes more important than the truth. When you pretend you re happy when you are not. When you live according to other people s expectations of you rather than your truth. When you don t do something because of what other people might think. When you make excuses for yourself when you know you are letting yourself down. When you stay in a relationship because you are afraid of hurting the other person. When you are always ready to help and you don t allow yourself to say no when that is your truth. When you hold on to things people have given you even though you don t like them. When you let people take advantage of you. When you make excuses for other people s behavior. When you keep your problems, issues and pain to yourself in order not to be a bother. 10

12 All these little ways of not being completely truthful, they chip away at the love you could - and should - be feeling for yourself. And all of these little untruths because you ve been taught being nice is important distance you from that wonderful feeling of knowing God is with you, that the Universe is on your side and life has your back. Let s switch gears now: Did you see the Wonder Woman movie? I wasn t interested in seeing it until I came across an article talking about how many women cry when they see it. They cry, because Wonder Woman is someone who lives outside all the roles that women society puts women into. They cry, because they see a woman who is not holding herself back, and who has never held herself back to please anyone. They cry, because they see a woman who follows her own truth, a woman who stands up for herself. They cry, because they see a woman who lets her compassion guide her in making choices that are right for her, aligned with her truth of who she is in the world. They cry, because they see a woman who has never suppressed her own power and is confident in herself. They cry, because they see a woman who is a shining example of feminine power, who never once becomes masculine in order to feel her power and who remains feminine no matter what happens to her. They cry, because they see a woman who is not afraid of meeting life with all of who she is. They cry, because they see a woman who, while being genuinely nice and caring, is always real and true first. So yes, while I didn t cry, this movie also touched me deeply in showing us what real feminine power looks like. So what is feminine power? We commonly recognize a mountain as being the essence of power. It s steady; it s enormous; it s daunting and hard to conquer. But now consider the flowing river. It s not sturdy, it s not so daunting, so it s not powerful to us. But in 10,000 years, the river has carved that mountain. That s feminine power. Feminine power is the praise of life: growth, potential, hope, expression... It s a patient power and a persistent one that nurtures and soaks in every moment. It honors and expresses the joy of the freedom to live life. How beautiful, how important, how powerful! (B. Ferdig) The feminine power is gentle and compassionate but it is not always nice. There isn t much nice about a river eroding a mountain. A milestone for my clients is when they stop being nice and become real instead. I tell them: Congratulations! You are no longer nice! 11

13 They all get it because they ve realized that being a nice person isn t going to make them happy and get them the life they want. And they feel proud when I tell them that because I m acknowledging their transformation and the hard work they ve done to become authentic and genuine people before they are nice. Being nice my clients are relieved to be done with that! So how do you go about it becoming less nice and more authentic and true? This, by the way, also ties in with how to break the Jante Law for real and for good. The key lies in the concept of the Highest Good. There is only one Highest Good. What is for your Highest Good is for everyone s Highest Good. Remember the distinction between hurt and harm? Will doing what is for everyone s Highest Good hurt someone? Most likely someone will be hurt, because the truth often hurts - which is why so many people prefer denial. But the truth also sets you free to heal and transform and move on with your life. Knowing this, the truth then becomes an invitation to everyone to grow into a better version of themselves and an invitation to love themselves more by stopping the lies that they pay such a high price for. Will doing what is or everyone s Highest Good harm them? Absolutely not! It will do the opposite of harming. It will set everyone free, it will heal, it will transform and allow everyone to do the same. Does it takes courage? Usually. Can it be difficult? Usually. But I know you have that courage and I know you can do it! 12

14 You Forgot You Are An Empress The biggest obstacle however, is that you believed their lies and forgotten you are an Empress! Whose lies? Them! The people who taught you that being sensitive is a bad thing. that being sensitive makes you weak. that you should feel guilty for wanting to scream: Can t you see you are living a lie? that you should hide your pain. They taught you that you should smile and be nice and be pretty instead of powerful and awesome and glorious. that you should sacrifice your own joy for other people s happiness. that you should be realistic instead of following your soul s whisper. And they taught you that you should not want more. that you should be happy with what you have. that you should not put yourself forward. that you should not offend anyone. that you should never, ever speak and live your truth. And because of them you ended up becoming your own worst enemy and being all-around miserable. They lied to you they lied to you about all that. I d like to welcome you to The Truth about you! Remember way back in the beginning I promised to tell you about martyrs and Empresses? The 13

15 thing is you can either be a martyr or an Empress but not both. A martyr is someone who sacrifices her own deep truth of who she is for other people s well being. She puts herself last on the list, giving up any hope of having a life of her own. She gives up on being her true self in order to gain approval from others, by people-pleasing. In other words, a martyr is a very nice woman who follows the Jante Law perfectly. Every time I say this, I m struck by the emptiness and bitterness a person like that will end up feeling. An Empress on the other hand, is someone who knows who she is, she lives her truth, has self-confidence, loves and is loved unconditionally, is respected and appreciated. She is also living her truth all the way, she won t settle for anything less than being honest with herself and the world. An Empress says I can and I will, where a martyr will find reasons for why they can t. She is a full participant in life instead of being a spectator of life. She lives whereas a martyr exists. She has grabbed hold of her life with both hands instead of letting it trickle away between her fingers, like a martyr does. She owns her power to create the life she wants to live instead of feeling stuck, hopeless and powerless. An Empress lives her true self instead of existing as a shadow of who she truly is. She approaches life with excitement instead of with anxiety or numbness. She herself paints the canvas of her life rather than letting others paint it for her. She stands tall and proud and says I matter instead of being a carpet that life walks all over. She always make choices to increase her self-respect instead of taking the easy way out. An Empress accepts no excuses and makes things happen instead of arguing for her reasons why not. An Empress lives for the Highest Good. The thing is, most martyrs I ve met are confused Empresses. They know, somewhere inside, that they are meant to be Empresses. I know you know that about yourself, too. You know that you are an Empress who has lost herself. You know that you are a Highly Sensitive Empress, who has lost herself, or have been forced to lose herself, to fit in. Am I right? 14

16 At the end of this ebook you ll find a checklist that will show you how far along on the journey to becoming an Empress you ve come. There won t be any score but you can see the balance between the two of them for yourself. I used to be a lost Empress too, but not any longer. I don t like to see people suffer and I don t like to see people lost, who have forgotten who they really are and I care about Highly Sensitive People, who suffer in silence all over the world. That s why I ve combined all my education, mentorship, all knowledge and all the experience I have gained from more than 25 years of helping Highly Sensitive women and all my heart and soul - to create a workshop called the Sacred Self Retreat to help women become the Empresses they are meant to be. As I keep on sharing more about how to become an Empress, I ll speak of it in the framework of the Sacred Self retreat so you can see how each single part supports and enhances all the other parts. But let me first ask you this: have you ever encountered people who have been going to therapy for years but without much change? I have, and it s interesting to think about why that is. What is important to know when it comes to any kind of personal transformation and you won t hear about this from any one else is the truth is that your teacher, therapist or healer can only take you as far as they have come themselves. Words and information and analyzing and emotional healing will only do so much for you. When it comes to true transformation, understanding and talking and crying is not enough even though it is helpful. Real and true transformation happens when the teacher can create that new reality for you, when you get to experience with all of you, your mind, your emotions, your body, your energy, what this new reality is really like. Most issues people struggle are on a low energy vibration, both in terms of amount of energy and in frequency. And wasn t it Einstein who said that a problem cannot be solved with the same of consciousness level that created it? It takes energy to change and it takes energy to see an issue. As a healer and coach that energy has to come from me when I work with people. To me, a real teacher is someone whose personal energy lifts you up, whose energy vibrational frequency and whose amount of energy is higher than yours and can induce an upward shift in your energy vibration that shifts you out of the low level energy where the issues are and into 15

17 a higher level Empress energy state. This level of transformation goes far beyond mere understanding; it is a shift into a different reality where those issues do not even exist. The Sacred Self Retreat is a one-week immersion in the Empress energetic, mental and emotional reality. By the end of the Sacred Self retreat you will know yourself as an Empress, body, mind and spirit. You will have become the Empress. Why is that, you wonder? You see, I believe in being a Living Example and that to really help my clients and students I need to genuinely Walk My Talk. If I don t, I am a nothing but a hypocrite. My students and clients have often told me that one of the biggest reasons they were drawn to me is because they know I have lived all my teachings and each piece of feedback and advice I give them, that I have been where they are and that I have done the work to get to where I am today. But I didn t do it alone. I had different teachers and guides but the ones that could not only teach me but also take me into that other reality I wanted, that could make me experience a higher energy vibration and having more energy, those were the ones who really made a difference in my life. For real transformation, you need someone who has gone before you, someone who has learned the lessons you are in the process of learning, someone who has transformed like you wish to do it. Someone who can lift you up into that higher energy reality, that higher energy life and make you experience, make you live that new reality. For that one week of the Sacred Self I am holding the space of the Empress reality for you. For that one week, I will be your guide to breaking the Jante law, to claiming your inner Wonder Woman and BE the glorious Empress you were born to be Many of my clients have spend years working on themselves without ever reaching that Empress reality because their therapist, or healer or coach or teacher - whoever it was - had not themselves made that shift so they could not lift their clients into that reality. And that is sad. For more than 20 years, I have been helping Highly Sensitive People heal and transform. I have gained an enormous amount of knowledge on how to best help people through education, classes, workshops, my own personal transformation and from my clients when they ask me to step up and figure out what they need. Out of all of that, I have developed a multi-dimensional approach to empress you. I assume you are familiar with the fact that your outer world is a reflecting your inner world? That what happens to you, what you experience, is a mirror of your beliefs, feeling and thoughts? What is really going on here is that your energy is the blueprint for everything you experience 16

18 in life, your thoughts, your feelings, your beliefs and your choices and your actions, who you meet, what situations you find yourself in To change from a martyr to an Empress reality, it s a shortcut to work directly with your energy. As one of my energy teachers said: Change your energy to change your life. Martyrs and Empresses have very different energy fields. Martyrs have muted colors, slow, muddy and foggy. Empresses have bright, shiny colors in their energy. At the Sacred Self retreat we will work with your energy field and the chakras. And not talk about it - well, yes, we will, a bit - but rather you will get to experience how it feels when your energy is that of an Empress. This is the first time I will be teaching Chakra Power outside of the School of Health Mastery. I can promise you, working with chakras in this way is unbelievably powerful, it has been the most transformational class of the school every year, with students changing so much that I felt I had to get to know them all over again when next I saw them. To become an Empress, you have to deal with what has kept you from already being one. This can be painful but having your painful truths witnessed and validated is one of the most powerful healing gifts we can give each other, when we do it with compassion, without judgment and with love and respect. It is how we say to you: You matter, I care, I feel with your suffering, I love you, I welcome you. On the Sacred Self Retreat, we as Empresses do that for you, our sister we give unconditional love and acceptance to who you are in the moment. We support each other and hold a sacred space for each of us to become an Empress. But not only that! Have you ever heard the saying that the mind is a poor master but a great servant? We need to get your mind on board with whole idea of you becoming an Empress, so we will also be talking, daily and as need arises. I will teach and we will discuss the things that come up as they come up. Your mind needs to be convinced that you becoming an Empress is a wonderful idea and not something to resist. Your mind needs to be educated and your concerns and hesitancies addressed so your mind becomes your best friend, support and cheerleader of your new Empress reality. So the Sacred Self retreat is an immersion in the Empress reality and I like to make sure that it sticks once you get home. So I ve included another profoundly powerful thing, visiting power 17

19 places. One of the things that had a tremendous impact on my own personal transformation process was visiting power places in various countries. A power place is a place of special Earth energies I think Machu Picchu and Ayers Rock are two of the most known power places, but they exist everywhere, in every country and I highly recommend you find the ones that are close to you and visit them with all your senses wide open. Different power places have different energies, different frequencies, different qualities, and do different things for you and all of them transforms you. Visiting a power place boost and transforms your energy just by you being there. Even more important, the transformation you get from visiting a power place transcends what we can do as human beings. It is such an incredible gift to us from mother Earth and one that will take you to magical places if you want to. Think of it like this: You ll be wrapped in a cocoon formed of the different aspects of the Empress energy and like the caterpillar, transforming in it s safe cocoon, so will you, to come out as a completely new being, a new self an Empress. If you want a magical, easy and quick way to become your true Empress self, I can t imagine anything better than going on a workshop like the Sacred Self retreat. Here are a few of the things you ll get out of the Sacred Self Retreat but there are so many more, just read them on the checklist at the end of the book: unconditional love, balance, serenity, joy, freedom, Self-Love, self-confidence, inspiring, inspired, humor, wealth, beauty, inner peace... But you are not only a Empress, are you? You are a Highly Sensitive Empress. When you are Highly Sensitive you have different needs when it comes to personal transformation and you have different needs in a workshop. I make it a point to make sure all my workshops and programs are tailored to the uniqueness of my Highly Sensitive participants. And for you, part of being an Empress is to be a Highly Sensitive Empress and I want you to know how that feels like too, when you make room for your High Sensitivity in your life. Another benefit of a workshop like the Sacred Self Retreat is that you ll have my personal attention for a whole week. You will work with me on a continuous basis, having access to me 18

20 whenever something comes up instead of waiting for your next appointment. Not only that, you will also harness the full synergetic power of a group for a full week. A group of Highly Sensitive women healing together, becoming Empresses together that s powerful! A group can take you places you could never go in a one-on-one setting. And on top of that we will visit several power places near the retreat location. The Sacred Self Retreat takes place near Assisi, the home of St. Francis of Assisi, in the beautiful heart of Italy. There are many special power places in, and near, Assisi and I m convinced that St. Francis settled exactly there because of these power places. One of the most well-known power places is St. Francis tomb. Many people experience a presence that is unconditional accepting and loving. I do. There is a love present there that heals and opens your heart. It is one of my favorite places in Italy because of this beautiful heart energy, that acceptance and love you experience when you are there. But there are others just as powerful, only different in energy and what they do for you. And lastly, all of the Sacred Self Retreat happens in a way that not only respects and honors but celebrates your High Sensitivity. Here is how one of my clients transformed herself and her life by being in a workshop with me: I suffered from a lot of inner fear and had great difficulties finding and analyzing my feelings (for a long time I thought I hardly had any feelings at all, just the feeling of not knowing what I wanted or felt). I was always analyzing what other people where thinking and what they liked (being the people pleaser). I was a perfectionist and had a very low self-esteem. I had a great need to be in control of things and people around. Now I have a lesser need to interfere and control people. Now I can calmly stand in my power. I can sense that the fear is going away. I can better see what in the relationship with others was not good and how it spoiled the trust and love. Now I set boundaries. I learned to respect myself and love myself even though my behavior was not perfect. My husband is talking to me differently, and I am talking to him differently, not blaming him. There is more love in the relationship. I have been searching for a long time and taken several courses in my search and been to psychotherapy -- I hadn t dream of a course that could make such a profound transformation in my life. Here is what another client said after having attended a workshop with me: It is without any hesitation that I recommend Gitte s seminars. I started by attending a weekend seminar and was so impressed that I signed up for a three month program. It is not possible to compare the way I feel now with how it was before. Today I m finally happy and at peace with my self. The workshops not only helped me but also my family. Gitte s holistic way of combining different methods of therapy created an experience that I will never forget. This is the best thing I ve ever done for myself. I have been facilitating workshops and retreats for more than 20 years, and I know what I offer is of immense value and I have absolute faith that you would get phenomenal value out of the 19

21 Sacred Self retreat, if you decided to come. But more importantly, I also have absolute faith in you that you will take a stand for yourself, your life and your future and do this work. Do you deserve to go on this retreat and become the person you always wanted to be, the person you would most love to be? I love nothing more than guiding women like you to claim their Empress selves, their inner wonder Woman and become Fierce, Free and Fabulous. Sensitively, Gitte Visit my website for more information on the next Sacred Self Retreat. 20

22 Martyr Empress Victim Sacrifice Lack Suffering Stagnant Unhappy Depleted Exhaustion Judgmental Unworthy Guilt Addictions Life is a struggle Perfectionist People-pleaser Complains Blames Helpless Bitter Unfulfilled life Chaos Stress Depressed Fear Gives up dreams for someone else s happiness Lack of healthy, clear boundaries Relinquishes happiness to maintain peace, stability, and balance for others Creates co-dependent relationships Attracts people who share same attitudes about suffering being a good thing Disowns fulfillment and focusing on others first Seeks approval Manipulates Unconditional love Generous Sharing Balance Friendly Gracious Thoughtful Living in the moment Miracles flow Alive Vibrant Flourishing Freedom Healthy Nurtures self Order Thriving Inspiring Inspired Humor Wealth Beauty Inner Peace Sweetness in life Growing Expanding Ease Grace Enjoyment Courage Empowered Empowers others Expresses creativity Fulfills life purpose Lives from truth Listens to inner guidance Abundance of energy, money, time

23 Relinquishing responsibility for own well being Keeps on suffering rather than take the risks which will transform her life. Families and friends unconsciously encourage the Martyr to continue so they don t have to take care of themselves. Society beliefs often promote being a martyr Controls Disempowered Disempowers others Expects sacrifice from others Anger and resentment Joy Peace Life is fun Lives Highest Potential Has a good time Has solid self-esteem Expects and enjoys the best Prosperity Magnificence Celebrating life Strong, healthy, clear boundaries Grounded and centered Self-confidence Self-Love

24 Gitte Lassen Gitte Lassen, The Positive Power Pilgrim, combines spiritual guidance and intuition with the nuts-and-bolts of teaching Highly Sensitive People how to find self-acceptance and self-love, transform from being painfully sensitive to being powerfully sensitive and embrace the gifts of their High Sensitivity. Her coaching, programs and workshops have helped countless Highly Sensitive People turn their High Sensitivity into the best thing in their life and gain clarity, serenity, joy and confidence. Trusted and celebrated by Highly Sensitive People around the world for her down-to-earth, straight-to-the-heart-of-the-matter yet gentle approach, Gitte has become a leader on empowering Highly Sensitive People. In addition to empowering Highly Sensitive People through her From Curse to Blessing workshop and Sensitive Mastery program, Gitte is co-owner of the School of Health Mastery. Gitte is an international speaker and has had articles on multidimensional personal transformation and empowerment published in several countries. Her greatest reward, however, is witnessing her clients and students as they embrace the true power of their High Sensitivity, begin to speak their truth with confidence and start making a difference in a world that desperately needs their Highly Sensitive insights. Visit Gitte s website and her blog to learn more about Gitte and her work. 23