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Gloria Lybecker posted an update
Honoring our own limits
I remember the day this photo was taken—because it was the day Aragon helped my client “feel” her boundaries for the first time.
She came into the session exhausted. On the outside, she was “doing it all”—showing up for work, family, friends, church. On the inside, she felt invisible and resentful, like everyone else’s needs mattered more than hers. As we talked, she kept saying, “I don’t even know where to start,” and her body folded in a little tighter.
Then we brought Aragon in.
At first, she stood very close to him, almost pressed against his shoulder, trying to make sure she was “doing it right.” Aragon shifted his weight, then took a big step away. She looked startled. I asked, “What happened just now?” She sighed, “I guess… I was crowding him. I didn’t even realize.”
We played with distance. I invited her to walk forward until “she” felt comfortable—not performing, not guessing what “he” wanted, but listening for her own “yes” and “no.” Each time she went past what felt good in her body, Aragon would move away or turn his head. When she paused at a distance that felt right—rooted yet relaxed—he sighed, licked and chewed, and stepped toward her with curiosity.
That’s when the tears came.
“This is my life,” she said softly. “I keep going past what feels okay for me… and then I wonder why I feel so drained and disconnected. I never realized my body “knows” where the line is.”
Together, we practiced. She’d name a boundary out loud—“I can’t work late three nights a week,” or “I need quiet time in the evenings”—and then adjust her distance with Aragon to match what felt true. Each time she honored her inner signal, he responded with ease and connection. He wasn’t offended by her boundary. In fact, he trusted her more when she was clear.
As we ended the session, I asked what she was taking with her. She said, “I thought boundaries would push people away. But today I felt how they actually create space for real relationship. I’m allowed to take up room.”
That’s the gift Aragon offered her that day: a living, breathing mirror of how honoring our own limits isn’t selfish—it’s sacred. It’s the doorway to relationships where everyone, including us, gets to be fully alive.
