Facebook Pixel
Searching...
English
EnglishEnglish
EspañolSpanish
简体中文Chinese
FrançaisFrench
DeutschGerman
日本語Japanese
PortuguêsPortuguese
ItalianoItalian
한국어Korean
РусскийRussian
NederlandsDutch
العربيةArabic
PolskiPolish
हिन्दीHindi
Tiếng ViệtVietnamese
SvenskaSwedish
ΕλληνικάGreek
TürkçeTurkish
ไทยThai
ČeštinaCzech
RomânăRomanian
MagyarHungarian
УкраїнськаUkrainian
Bahasa IndonesiaIndonesian
DanskDanish
SuomiFinnish
БългарскиBulgarian
עבריתHebrew
NorskNorwegian
HrvatskiCroatian
CatalàCatalan
SlovenčinaSlovak
LietuviųLithuanian
SlovenščinaSlovenian
СрпскиSerbian
EestiEstonian
LatviešuLatvian
فارسیPersian
മലയാളംMalayalam
தமிழ்Tamil
اردوUrdu
Unbound

Unbound

A Woman’s Guide To Power
by Kasia Urbaniak 2020 288 pages
4.36
1k+ ratings
Listen
Listen to Summary

Key Takeaways

1. Recognize and Break Free from Good Girl Conditioning

Good Girls are chaste and selfless. They're modest, accommodating, upbeat, friendly, low-maintenance, and appropriate—while remaining sexually available to sanctioned partners, of course.

The Good Girl trap. Women are often conditioned to be "Good Girls" - accommodating, selfless, and non-confrontational. This conditioning creates a compression or "Smush" between being "too much" and "not enough," leading to incongruent communication and a lack of power.

Breaking free. To break this conditioning:

  • Recognize the invisible bind of Good Girl expectations
  • Understand how it affects your communication and power dynamics
  • Practice expressing desires and emotions without shame
  • Learn to ask for what you want without fear of being "too much"

2. Master the Power Dynamics of Dominance and Submission

Power isn't a mood, an outfit, a moment, or a pose. It is the ability to access your deepest desires, express them fully, and use them to influence other people and the world at large.

Attention as power. Power dynamics are fundamentally about the direction of attention. Dominance involves directing attention outward, while submission involves turning attention inward.

Key concepts:

  • Dominance: Attention out, leading, instructing
  • Submission: Attention in, connecting to desires and emotions
  • Congruence: Aligning your attention, words, and body language
  • Switching: Flexibly moving between dominant and submissive states

Practice exercises:

  • The Description Exercise: Practice holding attention on another person
  • Pushing Hands: Learn to seamlessly switch between pushing and receiving

3. Harness the Energy of Your Desires and Emotions

True desire is a fully embodied truth, an appetite for what makes you feel truly alive—a lust for the life force.

Embrace your desires. Connecting to your true desires is essential for accessing your power. Recognize that you have no control over what you want, but you can choose how to engage with those desires.

Exercises to uncover and harness desires:

  • Bad Girl Protocol: Explore forbidden or taboo desires
  • Book of Desires: Keep a running log of things you want
  • Emotional Alchemy: Transform suppressed emotions, especially rage, into fuel for action

Alchemize your emotions. Don't suppress difficult emotions like anger or shame. Instead:

  1. Locate the emotion in your body
  2. Approve of its existence (without judgment)
  3. Use it to influence yourself and others

4. Develop Legitimacy and Self-Celebration

Self-celebration dispels shame. It helps you trust that you are good.

Cultivate legitimacy. Feeling legitimate about your desires is crucial for powerful communication. Practice the Legitimacy Exercise:

  1. Imagine having what you want
  2. Note physical sensations
  3. Identify emotions that arise
  4. Explore mental implications

Celebrate your wins. Regularly acknowledge and celebrate your achievements, no matter how small. This reinforces your ability to create positive change and builds confidence in your desires.

Practices:

  • Victory Log: Daily journaling of wins and celebrations
  • Mistress Group: Share victories with supportive peers
  • Reframe "failures" as valuable information and learning experiences

5. Transform Relationships Through Strategic Asking

Asking raises people up and creates unprecedented opportunities for cooperation and engagement.

The power of asking. Strategic asking can create new roles for people in your life, deepen relationships, and manifest your desires. Overcome the fear of asking by recognizing its transformative potential.

Guidelines for powerful asks:

  • Be specific about what you want
  • Connect to the legitimacy of your desire
  • Consider both dominant and submissive approaches
  • Use the Three-Way Ask technique to find congruence

Create roles through asking. Each ask is an invitation for someone to play a new role in your life. Think creatively about how you can elevate and expand people's functions through your requests.

6. Navigate Resistance and Ambiguity with Confidence

Healthy conflict is where two worlds meet.

Embrace resistance. When faced with a "no" or resistance, don't retreat or attack. Instead:

  1. Keep your attention out on the other person
  2. Locate their resistance (what are they protecting?)
  3. Approve of their state (acknowledge without judgment)
  4. Influence by moving them from what they're fighting against to what they're fighting for

Cut through ambiguity. Use the location tool to clarify ambiguous situations:

  1. State your perception: "It seems like..."
  2. Ask for verification: "Is that true?"
  3. Follow up with questions to gain more information

Techniques for difficult moments:

  • Turning the Spotlight: Ask a question instead of answering
  • The Jason: Practice sustained attention out through rapid-fire questioning

7. Calibrate Your Responses and Make Outrageous Asks

Context determines calibration.

Master calibration. Learn to adjust the intensity of your responses based on the context and your desired outcome. Keep your attention out to read the other person's reactions and adjust accordingly.

Calibration spectrum:

  • Soft touch: Playful, curious, inviting further engagement
  • Medium touch: Direct, clear, maintaining connection
  • Hard touch: Firm boundaries, shutting down inappropriate behavior

Make outrageous asks. Don't settle for fixing problems - create something great. Push your asks beyond the tipping point where they excite and inspire you.

Characteristics of outrageous asks:

  • Transform relationships and create new possibilities
  • Invite others to express their love and admiration for you
  • Challenge you to step into your full power and potential

Remember: It's better to ask for too much than to silence yourself. The world needs your voice and your desires to create positive change.

Last updated:

Review Summary

4.36 out of 5
Average of 1k+ ratings from Goodreads and Amazon.

Unbound by Kasia Urbaniak receives overwhelmingly positive reviews, praised for its unique perspective on female empowerment and practical tools for overcoming societal conditioning. Readers appreciate Urbaniak's blend of experiences as a dominatrix and Taoist nun, offering insights into power dynamics and communication. The book is lauded for its practical exercises, helping women identify desires, ask for what they want, and navigate difficult conversations. While a few criticize its approach, most find it transformative, recommending it as essential reading for women seeking to reclaim their power and voice.

Your rating:

About the Author

Kasia Urbaniak is a former dominatrix and trained Taoist nun who has combined these seemingly disparate experiences to create a unique approach to female empowerment. Her background in both dominant and submissive roles provides her with a comprehensive understanding of power dynamics. Urbaniak's work focuses on helping women overcome societal conditioning, teaching them to access and express their desires effectively. She has developed practical techniques for navigating challenging situations and influencing others. Urbaniak's unconventional perspective on power and communication has gained her recognition as an innovative voice in the field of women's empowerment and personal development.

Download PDF

To save this Unbound summary for later, download the free PDF. You can print it out, or read offline at your convenience.
Download PDF
File size: 0.18 MB     Pages: 10

Download EPUB

To read this Unbound summary on your e-reader device or app, download the free EPUB. The .epub digital book format is ideal for reading ebooks on phones, tablets, and e-readers.
Download EPUB
File size: 2.98 MB     Pages: 7
0:00
-0:00
1x
Dan
Andrew
Michelle
Lauren
Select Speed
1.0×
+
200 words per minute
Create a free account to unlock:
Requests: Request new book summaries
Bookmarks: Save your favorite books
History: Revisit books later
Recommendations: Get personalized suggestions
Ratings: Rate books & see your ratings
Try Full Access for 7 Days
Listen, bookmark, and more
Compare Features Free Pro
📖 Read Summaries
All summaries are free to read in 40 languages
🎧 Listen to Summaries
Listen to unlimited summaries in 40 languages
❤️ Unlimited Bookmarks
Free users are limited to 10
📜 Unlimited History
Free users are limited to 10
Risk-Free Timeline
Today: Get Instant Access
Listen to full summaries of 73,530 books. That's 12,000+ hours of audio!
Day 4: Trial Reminder
We'll send you a notification that your trial is ending soon.
Day 7: Your subscription begins
You'll be charged on Mar 22,
cancel anytime before.
Consume 2.8x More Books
2.8x more books Listening Reading
Our users love us
100,000+ readers
"...I can 10x the number of books I can read..."
"...exceptionally accurate, engaging, and beautifully presented..."
"...better than any amazon review when I'm making a book-buying decision..."
Save 62%
Yearly
$119.88 $44.99/year
$3.75/mo
Monthly
$9.99/mo
Try Free & Unlock
7 days free, then $44.99/year. Cancel anytime.
Settings
Appearance
Black Friday Sale 🎉
$20 off Lifetime Access
$79.99 $59.99
Upgrade Now →