7 Modules · Self-Paced

The Invisible Weight.

A course on the emotion that hides everything else.

Shame is the emotion that tells you there is something wrong with you. Not something you did. Something you are. It hides underneath every other difficult feeling. Nothing else fully heals until this is named.

7Modules
Self-Paced
Start the Course — Included with Membership See all modules

Included with your My Inner Foundation membership.

Identify shame accurately, distinct from guilt, embarrassment, or sadness, and understand exactly where it lives in your body and your story.Name what you are carrying
Recognise the shame loop as it starts and have the tools to work with it rather than being captured by it.Interrupt the spiral
Understand the difference between a conclusion you drew at six years old and a fact about who you are now.Separate the verdict from the truth
People who hold themselves to standards they would never apply to anyone elseThis may be for you
Anyone who feels fundamentally different or secretly insufficientThis may be for you
What this course helps you explore
People who hold themselves to standards they would never apply to anyone else Anyone who feels fundamentally different or secretly insufficient People whose self-criticism arrives before anyone else can criticise them Anyone who finds it almost impossible to receive care without deflecting it Name what you are carrying Interrupt the spiral Separate the verdict from the truth Build a different relationship to yourself
The Premise

The work beneath
The Invisible Weight.

This course is designed to help you slow the pattern down, understand what is happening underneath it, and begin practising a steadier, kinder way forward. It does not ask you to become someone else. It helps you return to yourself with more clarity, language, and choice.

Shame is the emotion that tells you there is something wrong with you. Not something you did. Something you are. It hides underneath every other difficult feeling. Nothing else fully heals until this is named.
The Course

7 Modules. Self-paced lessons

Each module is a place to understand one layer more clearly. Move slowly. Let the language meet the part of your life that has needed more care, more honesty, and a more hopeful way forward.

01
Module 1
What Shame Actually Is

The distinction between shame and guilt, and why it matters more than almost anything else in this work. Shame is not about what you did. It is a verdict on who you are.

02
Module 2
The Shame Spiral

How shame feeds on itself: the attack, the withdrawal, the silence that confirms the original fear. Understanding the spiral is the beginning of interrupting it.

03
Module 3
The Body That Carries It

Shame lives in the body before it lives in the mind — the heat, the collapse, the impulse to disappear. Learning to read the physical signature changes the relationship to it.

04
Module 4
Where It Came From

Shame is not innate. It was learned in specific environments, through specific experiences, at an age when you had very limited interpretive options. This module traces it back.

05
Module 5
The Antidote to Shame

The research is clear: the antidote to shame is empathy: being seen in the hard thing and not being turned away. This module explores what that looks like in practice.

06
Module 6
Shame in Relationships

How shame distorts intimacy: the hiding, the performance, the pre-emptive self-attack. What becomes possible when shame no longer runs the relational strategy.

07
Module 7
The Long Practice

Shame does not resolve in a single insight. This module builds the ongoing practice: naming, witnessing, separating the verdict from the truth.

Begin when you are ready

The Invisible Weight.

A course on the emotion that hides everything else.

Start the Course — Included with Membership

Included with your My Inner Foundation membership.

Common Questions

Frequently asked

What is the difference between shame and guilt?

Guilt says 'I did something bad.' Shame says 'I am bad.' The distinction is not semantic. It determines whether the emotion motivates repair or produces withdrawal, self-attack, and concealment. This course teaches you to tell them apart in your own experience.

Who is this course for?

This course is for anyone who suspects that something deeper than low confidence or social anxiety is running in the background of their life — a persistent sense of being flawed, not enough, or somehow outside the life they want. You do not need to have identified it as shame yet.

Is this course a replacement for therapy?

No. This course provides understanding, education, and structured reflection, not therapeutic treatment. If you are experiencing significant distress, working with a qualified therapist alongside this course is recommended. The course is not a crisis resource.

How long does the course take?

The course has 7 modules and 21 lessons. Most people complete it across 3 to 6 weeks, spending 30 to 45 minutes per lesson. It is entirely self-paced, with no deadlines or expiry.

What will be different after this course?

Many people begin to feel a shift in their relationship to the emotion: being able to identify it as shame when it appears, understanding where it came from, and beginning to interrupt the patterns it drives. The shame does not disappear, but it becomes less automatic and less organising.

My Inner Foundation
Olivia Fox

A course by Olivia Fox, founder of My Inner Foundation. She writes about what she has lived, worked through herself, and sat with in others, translating real inner work and years of supporting people through these exact struggles into language that is precise, honest, and genuinely useful.

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What You See In Others → The Fraud Files → The Self-Sufficient Trap → The Drain →

Written with care

A gentle note before you begin

My Inner Foundation courses are educational and reflective. They are not therapy, diagnosis, medical advice, or crisis support. If you are in immediate danger or need urgent mental-health support, please contact local emergency services or a qualified professional.

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