Start small: a boundary-practice exercise

• Card 1

  Boundaries are a skill, and skills are easier to build on easy ground first. Practising with low-stakes situations — where the outcome doesn't matter much — helps your nervous system learn that a boundary can be survived.

• Card 2

  A gentle way to begin

  1. 1Pick something low-stakesA takeaway order, a shop assistant, a small preference among friends.
  2. 2Choose one short script"No thank you" or "that doesn't work for me" is plenty.
  3. 3Say it once, without a paragraph of reasonsNotice the urge to over-explain, and try leaving it out.
  4. 4Let the discomfort existYou don't need it to disappear for the boundary to count.
  5. 5Notice what actually happenedOften it's far less dramatic than feared.
  6. 6Build up graduallyMove toward higher-stakes boundaries only as it feels manageable.

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