Butterfly Monday – March 2, 2026
Healing Station Zoom: 6:00 PM EST
Join Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88324556318?pwd=QlNsT3lLWnc0alo3K09nN0JoaFNxQT09
#WeAreThePhoenixRising
You say I’ve only known the flame,
As if that disqualifies my name.
As if the ash upon my skin
Means rising cannot begin.
You say I’ve lived inside the fire,
And call survival all I require.
But deep beneath what burned and broke
There’s Love and Joy beneath the smoke.
The pool once trained me how to stay,
How to swim and not to stray.
But something older calls my name,
It’s not applause or worldly fame.
I am more than the ash they trained me to see.
I am what emerges when it’s free.
Not untouched, not unscarred,
But refined from what was hard.
The Phoenix is not one who never fell.
It’s the one who refuses to stay in hell.
And even now, in wounded skies,
I still remember how to rise.
By Dr. Bruce Purnell
You were built to rise from the ashes and are not disqualified from flying just because you’ve been burned.
Last week, we named the continuum.
• Shamu to Phoenix.
• Performance to Sovereignty.
• Survival to Becoming.
This week, we will go deeper and discuss:
• How do we actually begin to think like a Phoenix?
• How do we remember the ocean if we were born in the pool?
• How do we rise when all we’ve known is fire?
We will explore:
• Phoenix Consciousness as a lived psychological shift
• The difference between Shamu affirmations and Phoenix affirmations
• How trauma reshapes belief
• How Love restores transformation agency
Join us as we move from adaptation to ascension.
How Do You Become the Phoenix When You’ve Only Known the Fire?
Many people admire the Phoenix, but few believe they are Phoenixes.
When we have been cultivated to believe that our history consists only of trauma, instability, betrayal, or chronic stress, transformation can feel theoretical. It can sound inspirational yet not personal.
The mind quietly whispers:
“Maybe other people rise, but not me,” and this is where Shamu consciousness lingers.
Shamu’s consciousness adapts to confinement and builds a life within its limits. It performs as well as it can and survives; however, it never imagines flight beyond a hypothetical dream.
Phoenix consciousness begins with a single shift:
The fire did not happen to destroy me; it happened within a design that includes rebirth.
This does not romanticize trauma; it reframes it. The difference between Shamu and Phoenix affirmations is subtle yet powerful.
Shamu’s affirmations focus on coping:
• “I will get through this.”
• “I am strong enough to survive.”
• “At least it’s not worse.”
Phoenix affirmations focus on becoming:
• “This is shaping me.”
• “I rise refined.”
• “My pain is not my prison; it is my passage.”
If we had never been introduced to the ocean, remembering it may feel impossible; however, the ocean is capacity, not geography, and it is in our DNA.
Let’s Think About Some Universal Truths:
• Our nervous systems can be recalibrated to reinterpret safety.
• Our imagination is elastic and can expand infinitely.
• Transformation belongs to us, and it’s in our DNA.
• We do not have to have known peace to create it.
• We do not have to have known love to become it.
• We do not have to have avoided trauma to transcend it.
The Phoenix does not rise because it never burned; it rises because burning was never the end of its story.
Exercise: Rewriting the Inner Script
Step 1: Identify Your Default Narrative
Finish this sentence:
“When something goes wrong, I usually think…”
Write it honestly.
Step 2: Is It Shamu or Phoenix?
Ask:
• Does this belief help me survive?
• Or does it help me rise?
Label it gently: “Shamu” or “Phoenix”.
Step 3: Create a Phoenix Reframe
Example:
Shamu Thought:
“I knew this wouldn’t work out.”
Phoenix Reframe:
“This is feedback, not failure.”
Shamu Thought:
“I always end up here.”
Phoenix Reframe:
“I am learning patterns so I can break them.”
Now create one of your own.
Step 4: Embody It
Stand up.
Take one deep breath.
Spread your arms slightly as wings.
Say:
“I rise.”
Not because it feels natural.
But because it is possible.
Quiz: Am I Thinking Like Shamu or Phoenix?
Rate each from 1 (Mostly Shamu) to 5 (Mostly Phoenix)
I believe I have the power to reinterpret my story.
Reflection:
• Which answers reflect survival?
• Which reflects sovereignty?
• What one belief can you begin shifting this week?
- When I experience pain, I believe it confirms something is wrong with me.
- I see hardship as proof that life is unfair.
- I believe trauma permanently limits who I can become.
- I trust joy.
- I believe healing is possible for me.
- I see setbacks as part of the refinement process.
- I believe my past does not determine my destiny.
Guided Meditation: “From Ashes to Ascent.”
(Read slowly, with long pauses between sections.)
Close your eyes.
Take a deep breath in.
And release it slowly.
Imagine yourself standing in a quiet field at dusk. The air is still. In front of you is a circle of ashes. Not chaotic. Not violent. Just quiet remains of what once burned.
Walk toward it.
This is not the fire that destroyed you. This is the fire that revealed you.
Kneel down.
Look closely at the ashes.
These ashes represent:
• The identities you outgrew.
• The beliefs that confined you.
• The survival roles you no longer need.
Touch the ashes gently.
Notice something stirring beneath them.
A warmth.
A pulse.
A glow.
You are not standing at the end of something.
You are standing at the beginning.
From beneath the ashes, light begins to gather. Feathers begin to form. Wings begin to stretch.
You are not escaping the fire.
You are emerging from it.
Feel your spine lengthen.
Feel your shoulders widen.
Feel your breath deepen.
Say silently:
“The fire refined me. It did not define me.”
Slowly rise.
Spread your arms like wings.
You are not the smoke.
You are not the ash.
You are the Phoenix.
And you rise now, not because it is easy, but because it is who you are.
Take one final deep breath.
And when you are ready, open your eyes.
Ritual: Crossing from Shamu to Phoenix
This ritual can be done individually or in a group.
Materials:
• A piece of paper
• A pen
• A small bowl or container (symbolic “ashes”)
• Optional candle
Step 1: Naming the Pool
Write down one belief that keeps you swimming in the pool.
Examples:
• “I’m not good enough.”
• “I don’t deserve peace.”
• “This is just how life is.”
Read it silently.
Say:
“This kept me alive. It does not have to be my home.”
Tear the paper and place it into the bowl.
Step 2: Lighting the Flame (Optional)
If safe to do so, light a candle.
Say:
“This fire is not my destruction. It is my refinement.”
Pause.
Imagine that belief turning to ash.
Step 3: Activating the Wings
Stand.
Place one hand on your heart.
Say aloud:
“I release survival as my only identity.
I choose transformation.
I rise refined, not ruined.”
Extend your arms slightly.
Take one deep breath as if inhaling the sky.
This ritual is not about pretending the fire didn’t hurt, but reclaiming authority over what it means.
We are becoming the “Social Architects” and “Social Alchemists” who will design our healing and transformation. Let’s affirm and manifest our divine cocoons together. #WeAreTheButterflyEffect
See the Full Sessions and Subscribe to the Blog: https://welovemoredrbruce.com/
Please give Love More a Google rating: https://g.page/r/CYI0Pw3JjBrjEAI/review
We Love More Dr.Bruce 