I was asked this question last week, by a young woman in Australia, who was flooded with grief and feeling quite powerless, as the fires raged out of control throughout her homeland.
What’s the point of being our embodied, vibrant selves when the world needs action and solution?
The simple answer is if you’re not fully in your body, then your actions are less effective, because all of you is not committed. Your mind is less clear. The energy should never stay trapped and leave us impotent and stunned. We need it to move and empower us, so we have the clarity to do what’s needed and what our heart longs for.
But I’d like to expand on this.
Sharon Blackie, an author I’ve been reading lately, who is well-researched and profoundly connected to land offers some thought-provoking comments, which I expand on below.
Unless we ARE here, then we’re not tuned into the possibilities that are open to us.
Another way of saying this is, how will you know what is needed and what the world is pulling you toward, from your soul, if you’re tucked away inside yourself? And yes, this means you also need to feel into the depths of your pain, grief, shame, and rage. Not easy I know, as it can feel like we’ll fall into an endless abyss, if we let go. But your body is already containing these emotions with contracted effort. If you soften the contraction, open them up and let them move through you, as the potent forces they are, they heal, strengthen and guide you.
Can you put your feet on the ground and breathe more deeply, creating space for what you feel to move and expand, while feeling Earth hold you?
We’re here to risk everything and it must be connected to place
I don’t think Earth would ever want us to hold back our potential, which is why I speak often of our real need to stop shrinking. When you hold back your vibrancy and fierceness, because some old wounds left you believing you have less to offer this world or it’s not wanted, it happens in your body. You contract in, weaken parts of yourself and are less felt in the world. And I get it, every day, it’s a choice to keep stepping into your life no matter what.
Is there a risk you can take today that will vibrate through your cells and move you just beyond where you usually stop yourself?
Part of reclaiming place is to be in our bodies
To go boldly and hold our place, we need to be profoundly embodied. Your body gives you a container to sustain your boldness and be felt in the world. (what I’m calling bold isn’t the chest-puffing kind that comes to mind. It’s bold to be tender, sensitive and show up.) Boldness isn’t a one-time explosion, but rather a constant practice of awareness, breath and courage. Catching those big and small ways you lose contact with yourself and choosing to breathe, fill your skin, and then move from that fullness.
Is there a situation today, where you could choose to stay, breathe, feel, and more fully take your place?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you’d like to practice moving beyond powerlessness and embody your emotional experience in a vibrant way, follow this guided practice:
https://soundcloud.com/marcela-widrig/undoing-powerlessness