This spring, one of my newest fascinations was taking online courses. I took many through the Udemy platform because they were inexpensive. But I also tried out other platforms. One of them was Commune. I saw an advertisement on Facebook for Deepak Chopra’s Commune course and decided to sign up for the 30 day free trial.
One of the other courses I took was Danielle LaPorte’s “The Desire Map”. There were so many other courses to choose from, but this one absolutely intrigued me.
So this is my Desire Map Commune review. Let’s get to it.
The Basis of The Desire Map Course
Here’s the strategy: Always start in the heart.
The Desire Map Course with Danielle LaPorte is an amazing resource for anyone who lives in the patriarchal world and wants a new way of setting goals.
The premise is that to-do lists and logical goals, milestones, and next-steps are great, but when we achieve them, they leave us feeling empty… still chasing the never-ending sequence that we think will fulfill us from the outside in. (Head over to my “About Me” page where I talk about the “conveyor belt”… this is exactly the same thing here.)
But when we let our heart guide the way to our goals and desires (rather than our heads), that we are intentionally creating the life we want and will fulfill us from the inside out.
4-Part Course
Danielle leads us through finding what she calls our “Core Desired Feelings”, a set of 4 or 5 feeling words that we want to embody through life. Then we can Clarify, Plan, and Live those feelings.
Each of these gets its own part, and Danielle really breaks down how to do each section with manageable bites in the form of explorations and a lot of journaling.
Danielle LaPorte, Teacher
Danielle is a spiritual teacher, podcaster, and author. She’s a very soft person, and she improvises a lot while recording these videos, but she has a kind of quirky charm to her.
I had never heard of her before this course, but she certainly has a powerful, commanding kind of energy that I like when I am following someone’s work and advice.
The Workbook
The workbook, in my opinion, is the major feature of this course. It’s over 100 pages packed full with heart-centering techniques, ideas for using your Core Desired Feelings, and lots of journaling practices.
She even makes space for examining potentially difficult situations, and how to anticipate responding to them with your CDFs in mind. This is a great practice for anyone who wants to learn how to morph their knee-jerk reactions into more mindful responses.
Additions
There is a book that you can get on Amazon of the Desire Map. I’m not sure how this book differs from the material you can get on the actual course.
But it’s there and it’s cheaper than purchasing the course. Although there is a 14-Day free trial with Commune (so you can always check it out before you get any of the additional materials).
My Core Desired Feelings
As I started this course and worked on narrowing down my CDFs, I wasn’t sure if it was going to work for me, or if I would find it powerful enough. Part of that was because I resonated with SO MANY different core feelings that I wasn’t sure I could narrow it down to four or five.
Here was my big list of power words:
- sovereign
- authentic
- exploring
- connected
- flowing
- vibrant
- alive
- clear
- open
- wild
- fresh
- nourished
- playful
- creative
- savoring
- abundant
- earthy
- free
- spirit
- integrity
- spirited
- radiant
- sensual
- grounded
- rooted
You’ll notice that many of these words are on my list of most empowering words. After working through the workbook pages, I was able to finally narrow down my core desired feelings.
One of the things to note is that I chose feeling words based on how powerful they felt for me. “Radiant” felt more powerful to me than “Vibrant”. “Integrity” felt more powerful than “Purpose”.
I also chose words that also had other feelings within them. For example, I liked the word “open”, but “fresh” and “sensual” also feel very open for me. “Fresh” feels very earthy, and “rays of light” embodies the word “spirit”.
My Final Core Desired Feelings List
Here is my final list of 5 Core Desired Feelings:
- Sensual
- Playful
- Fresh
- Flow
- Rays of Light
Sure, some of them are adjectives and others are nouns, but these were the ones that felt the most powerful to me.
I also associate each of them with a particular chakra. For example, “sensual” links into my sacral chakra, my creativity and birthing new ideas. “Playful” links into my solar plexus chakra–my self-esteem and how I interact with others around me.
“Fresh” is a heart chakra word–the feeling of crisp dew on the grass and leaves on a spring morning. It’s also a feeling of regeneration… not letting life get stale. “Flow” is both for my third-eye and root chakras, the coolness of water while simultaneously feeling safe and grounded.
Last, “Rays of light” pertains to my spiritual connection and higher consciousness, my crown chakra.
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4 Ways Your Core Desired Feelings Can Impact You
To be honest, I didn’t think this would stick around for as long as it has. But I’ve revisited my list every few days or at least once a week since I took the course a couple months ago.
These words keep coming up for me naturally as something will happen in my life, such as laughing with my children, and I will note to myself “playful”! Or perhaps the warm breeze feels particularly good on my skin, I will note “sensual”.
Here are four more ways that I’ve noticed an impact from these Core Desired Feelings.
1. You put up boundaries for anything that doesn’t make you feel this way
I realize that since defining the way that I want to feel, it’s easier to recognize the things that don’t make me feel that way.
For example, I recently was in a situation where someone was mansplaining something to me. It made me feel small and worthless, my energy stagnating and becoming bound up. It definitely didn’t make me feel like a fresh, playful ray of light.
So when I was in a second situation where that same man started to explain something to me, I was able to quickly respond and remove myself from the situation.
Setting boundaries is important, and these CDFs helped me to do just that.
2. You naturally gravitate toward things that give you these feelings
Conversely, when I feel more fresh and playful, I am more likely to do more of those things. I’ve been regularly walking and meditating this summer, both of which make me feel grounded and in the moment, leading me to feel more flowing and sensual.
I also play more with my children, read more books, and (with exceptions, of course) find myself snapping less at others. I get annoyed less easily.
3. It gives you a focus if you’re a “feeler” rather than a “thinker”
In today’s society, if you’re someone who follows your heart or gut, you may feel out of place. Because everything in our world is geared toward the rational, masculine “head” energy. So when you set goals based on logic and thought, it may feel unsatisfying to you.
This is how it was for me. When Danielle LaPorte talks about first coming up with her idea for setting heart-focused goals rather than just crossing things off her to-do list, it was a huge epiphany for me. The ability to focus on the feeling we want to achieve rather than the thoughts we want to achieve is a huge shift in thinking that really resonates with me (and I gather, with a lot of others as well).
4. You’re more discerning about what you consume
I’m talking about food, drinks, substances like alcohol, and media. Like setting boundaries with others, it’s also important to set boundaries with yourself about what kinds of things you bring into your life that may not be good for you.
I’m much more selective about the shows that I watch. I used to love watching psychological thrillers like Criminal Minds, Mind Hunter, or other psychologically twisted shows and movies (think Margaret Atwood).
But they would give me nightmares and PTSD-style flashbacks. Now I recognize that I’m not soft for not wanting to watch these any more, and I’ve cut them out.
This idea of mindful consumption is also very Buddhist in nature.
This can help cut out distractions and lead you to a more fulfilling and emotionally satisfying life.
My Desire Map Commune Review – Conclusion
I loved this course. I’m even considering buying the book and workbook to see if there are any more gems that can help me understand my own feelings and desires even more.
For those people thinking “I’m just going to make a list of my core desired feelings and go from there”, I would recommend that you actually take the course on Commune. Even if you only do the free 14-day trial of Commune and this is the only course you take in those 14 days, it will be very much worth it for you. There’s so much packed into this course (especially the workbook).
Have you taken this course? If so, what did you like or dislike?
Drop me a comment below!