You’re Not Broken -You’re Becoming
There’s a moment in the early days of recovery when the weight of it all settles in.
The stories we carry. The habits we’ve clung to. The shame, the grief, the sheer exhaustion of trying to hold it all together.
And underneath it?
The question so many women carry quietly: “Am I broken?”
I want you to know - with every fiber of my being - that you are not broken.
You are becoming.
Recovery isn’t about fixing yourself. It’s about remembering yourself.
It’s about shedding what doesn’t belong to you - the conditioning, the coping, the masks - and coming home to what does: your intuition, your tenderness, your truth.
When I first stepped into recovery, I thought it would be about doing more - fixing, achieving, staying ahead of the spiral.
But what actually saved me was slowness.
Support.
Self-trust.
It was:
Learning to sit with myself instead of running.
Letting someone hold space for me, when I had always been the one holding space for everyone else.
Trusting the tiny whispers - even when they didn’t make logical sense.
Rebuilding ritual and rhythm into my life.
This path is not linear. And it’s certainly not always graceful.
But it’s holy work.
And the more we see ourselves not as problems to be solved - but as sacred beings to be witnessed, tended to, and loved - the more we heal.
3 Gentle Tools for the Beginning of Recovery
If you're in those first few tender weeks or months of recovery, here are a few tools that helped me return to myself - again and again.
1. Ritualize Your Mornings (Even in a Tiny Way)
Recovery can feel disorienting - like you’ve lost your map. A simple morning ritual brings grounding. Try this: light a candle, inhale an essential oil like frankincense or bergamot, place your hand on your heart, and ask: What do I need today? Even if the answer is “I don’t know,” the act of asking is an opening.
2. Create a Safe Space to Be Held
Whether it’s a trusted friend, a circle of women, a recovery meeting, or a therapist - choose one place where you don’t have to perform. One place where you can just be. Let yourself receive support - not because you’re weak, but because you are worthy of being supported.
3. Start a “Becoming” Journal
Each day, jot down one thing you’re unlearning, one thing you’re learning, and one thing you’re reclaiming. You don’t need to write a lot. Just enough to remind yourself: I’m in process. I’m becoming. I’m doing the work.
You are not broken.
You are becoming.
And there is so much beauty waiting to meet you on the way home.
With love, always,
Taryn
P.S. If your heart is longing for a deeper kind of rest and reconnection… we have a few spaces left in our Sacred Pause Retreats this August and September. These are intimate gatherings for women in recovery - held with care, reverance, and sisterhood.
You can learn more at https://www.tarynstrong.com/retreats