I am back to feeling up in the air about whether or not I will launch the 8 week Reclaiming Beauty workshop this fall. My collaborator took an opportunity to move to California with her husband, and I am again face to face with questions: Am I ready to put my passions and purpose out there? Am I truly living my life in authentic alignment with my Reclaiming Beauty philosophy?
Through my parallel process of this Strength/Lustre year, I have been exploring my mind/body/spirit to see where I can more finely tune my inner experience to be living from my own philosophy. I texted my sister with some thoughts that have been heavy on my heart through this process, and she responded, “You need to read this awesome blog, embody yourself. The author is so wise.” She reminded me to tune in again to my inner wisdom. I’m left with a question that my clients often ask me… Why is our own inner wisdom so hard to hear?
I know for me this challenge – to hear and heed my own inner wisdom – is impeded by old and stale false beliefs of self-doubt. My self-doubt stems from believing my power is drained by my emotional/intuitive/sensitive nature. Here again are the feminine archetypal qualities that I champion and channel into my work- and then in my inner work must champion in myself over and over again so that I don’t take the self-doubt out on my body/spirit.
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then my thoughts, the actions they lead to, and wondering why I still feel stuck in this self-doubt will definitely make me crazy. When I catch myself falling back into the old false belief system, I have an opportunity to practice what I preach. I love to quote Bob Marley to my clients: “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.” We must question our inner authority – freeing our minds requires questioning the beliefs from which we are living. (thank you, Geneen Roth) When I can use my inner wisdom to compassionately witness this negative mental process, I become angry at all the reasons this belief was formed in my mind. And anger brings energy that can be channeled into change. I am tired of draining my energy through this self-doubting… I know my power can be fully claimed so that I can be effective and authentic in my life and my work.
