How To Deconstruct Your Faith By Setting Healthy Boundaries

We can’t talk about how to deconstruct your faith without talking about the urgent need for setting healthy boundaries.  Why?

Because toxic relationships and systems THRIVE when we have zero boundaries. 

When people start questioning and changing their beliefs, it sends little ripples out into their community. People will notice you’re shifing and if they haven’t done their own work, your shifting beliefs will likely threaten their sense of safety.

So all that pushback you’re getting probably has very little to do with you and everything to do with people’s insecurities and fear of change.

It’s SUPER important for you to set healthy boundaries so when people start pressuring you not to change, you’re better prepared for the blowback.

Here are my 4 top tips for setting boundaries while deconstructing your faith: 

1. Give yourself permission to draw the line where you need it to be in this season.What do you need right now? Do you need more alone time? Do you need to just vent out your fears, emotions, and confusion without anyone trying to fix you? It’s a lot easier to figure out what you need when you’re not feeling pressured by other people. So give yourself space to figure out where you need to implement healthy boundaries while you are deconstructing faith.
2. Determine upfront who has earned the right to be in your inner circle.One of the hardest things about deconstruction is that not everyone will be supportive while you question. Even fewer people are willing to do the work they need to do to come with you on your deconstruction journey.I teach my clients to imagine a bullseye where the closer a person is to the center, the more trustworthy they are with our deepest doubts and feelings. People you love but aren’t safe may still get to be in your life, but they probably need to be pushed out a ring or two so that you still get to feel safe in your most vulnerable moments.
3. Craft your “no thanks” and “back the eff up” responses right now, before you ended them.People with shitty boundaries are not going to be great at honoring yours so it’s important to have figure out what you’re going to say when people try to push right past them. It’s also impossible for people who are trustworthy to honor your new boundaries if you don’t communicate them.So craft two different sets of ‘canned statements’ that you can pull out of your pocket when you need them. One to tell the trustworthy people what you need right now and a second to shift (or end) a conversation with someone who isn’t able to support you while deconstructing faith.
4. Carve out extra room and energy to build these new muscles and recover after flexing them.Setting new boundaries and enforcing them is exhausting. Seriously, it will wear you out especially if you’re surrounded by people who have something to lose when you becoming healthier. It is perfectly normal and healthy for this to feel hard in the beginning. It’s also perfectly normal and healthy for you to feel physically and emotionally exhausted while flexing your new boundary muscles.It is crucial to build in time to care for yourself, rest, and find things that nourish your body. Gentle movement like yoga, stretching, and exercise will help your body process the hormones and neuro-chemicals that are released during stress. Taking a nap or curling up in a comfy chair with a weighted blanket will feel like a great big hug. There’s no perfect way to do this. Listen to your body, trust what they say, and drink lots of water to nurture yourself through this season!

 Let’s be honest, keeping the same beliefs would be easier than deconstructing your faith, but it would require you to once again shape and mold yourself to other people’s expectations-which rarely works out well for you.

The bottom line is that you deserve to be surrounded by people who honor your boundaries and support you the way you want to be supported

 Toxic religion thrives when there are no boundaries, so creating the ones you need is the most powerful way you can shift yourself towards a healthy spiritual life. So deconstruct away!!!! Just make sure you’re setting healthy boundaries so you’re not wasting a bunch of time and energy managing other people’s fears!