This is episode 38 of the Baggage Reclaim sessions.

I'm your host Natalie Lou, author of Baggage reclaim.com,

where I help people to offload the shady relationships

and emotional baggage that block healthy self-esteem and loving relationships.

This week I talk about self-criticism and why it puts us into the vicious cycle of unhealthy relationships and I share about what I've learned during my year of being 38.

So it's official I am 39. I turned 39 yesterday the day before this episode came out. I want to use

this first part of the show really to talk about a few key things that have stood out

for me about 38.

I think every year, and I know I'm not alone in feeling like this,

but I think that every year of our lives

is very much punctuated by certain key themes and we remember certain ages for very specific life events.

It might be the years that we had, you know, sort of amazing, you know, events take place and it might be a year of pain, it might be a year of

a year of growth. Like I remember 28 was like a big big big year for me, like that's the year that I started baggage

reclaim actually and where I had an epiphany and where I started to address

emotional and availability and why I have been so sort of magnetized by being

involved with emotionally and available men. So when I think about like what

would 38 be I think 38 has been a really big year for me in terms of growing up. I have really

stretched myself in terms of vulnerability. So I have been increasingly

vulnerable over the decade or so that I have been writing baggage reclaim and since becoming

a parent and get married and all sorts.

But this past year I've really stretched myself.

I really wanted to get out of certain comfort zones,

...