Embrace Who You Are
We have all been transformed from the inside out over the course of the past 3 years. No one has been untouched by the massiveness that has been these wild and uncertain times. Each of us touched in our own unique way, yet, all have been changed to some degree….
This moment in time is an opportunity for not only reflection of the journey these years have taken you on, but also to embrace who you are now.
For some, feeling buried by the rubble of these years and their unfolding, remains. For others, they may be soaring in their lives and feeling free and expansive. Some (and, I am hoping many) are humbled, raw, and vulnerable in all that has transpired and are in the process of truly landing in this new, somewhat shaky, yet palpably grounded space of authenticity of who they are in this moment in time.
Wherever you are on this day, in this time…3 years since our world turned upside down…I invite you to turn within in honor of your unique journey. To acknowledge all that you have navigated over these dense months and years and where you are now.
Can you access yourself in the present moment? Do your actions align with your true self as you are now, not 3 years ago? Where are the gaps in your alignment…the sticky places in your heart that perhaps need some mending?
The phrase, allow yourself to melt into YOU, keeps circulating in my consciousness. It has appeared in nearly every client session this past week and I am feeling it in myself. This, to me, is foundational in continuously cultivating a life-giving, life-honoring, self-adoring, fiercely-loving relationship with ourselves. Ground level work in exploring and embodying a true embrace of exactly who we are now.
There has been this sense of holding-on-for-dear-life these past several years, for so many. And, while, life is still wild on multiple levels, it does feel as though we are pivoting into a new realm of living and being…as individuals and as a collective.
The invitation here is rather than taking our energy up and out during this seasonal pivot, perhaps, let us drop it down, soften and get grounded….allow the melt.
Not in a rigid, tense, controlling way, but rather in a way that we feel yielded, surrendered, connected from deep within, and melted into and embracing exactly who we are.
This is very different than collapsing…melting into ourselves is a sense of receptivity and awareness of ourselves in this present moment.
It is a palpable and embodied experience of grounded presence, of surrender, of trust in ourselves and faith along the journey.
It is consciously choosing moment-by-moment to drop down into our bodies, tune into our heart-stirrings, and relax our upper bodies (i.e. let go of the tension and stress in our upper shoulders and neck!).
Melting into ourselves is allowing life to flow without needing to try and control and manipulate it at every turn.
So, as we collectively move back out into the world in a more outward and celebratory (definitely celebrating after the extremely cold, dark Winter we just had!) way, with Spring having arrived…how can we stay anchored in ourselves? Not in a rigid, tense, controlling way, but rather in a way that we feel yielded, surrendered, connected from deep within, and melted into and embracing exactly who we are.
Standing tall in the truth of who we are with an embodied presence takes practice and commitment. We have the opportunity to decipher that deep sense of our most authentic and unconditional acceptance of who we are.
Embracing who we are means to step out into the world with ourselves intact.
Saying what we want to say, living our lives from a place of integrity, and standing tall in the truth of who we are with an embodied presence -- all take practice, a willingness to be in inquiry with ourselves, deep awareness, and the openness to follow our own paths of uniqueness in the world.
Part of embracing oneself is learning how to sit with ourselves– breathe with ourselves and finding ease in those pauses and those times of in between. It is a moment of letting oneself land – of allowing the breath to hold you, your system to settle, and an alertness/aliveness from deep within to erupt.
Embracing who you are is about fine-tuning your sense of self – it is a lifelong process with endless opportunities along the way to decipher the truth of who you are and to operate from that place. What feels good? What feels off? What feels in alignment?
It is taking all of these practices and pulling them into 1. It is allowing and inviting yourself to breathe into your own skin, into the core of who you are and truly operate from that connected and embodied place.
Inevitably it is about falling deeply in love with yourself and who you are at your pure essence. Not allowing any external input to shape you – to sway you – to move you.
It is a process of deciphering what feels in alignment to your unique and individual soul on every level.
Embracing oneself doesn’t have to be big and showy (as is promoted on social media) but rather is subtle, deep, and connected. It is those moments of pure ease in exactly who you are.
Embracing oneself is an inside job – it is not about proving ones worth, worthiness, and loveableness to anyone but oneself. It is a deep dialogue with ones own heart and soul and the ability to truly dance with life --to step out of the stories – allowing them to BE but not engaging in them. It is to move through life intact with Self in the present moment.
Embracing the whole of who we are….It means honoring who we are – our uniqueness, preferences and ways of operating in the world…Letting go of the need to please, falsely promote (social media damages this in my opinion – where the basis of many in their self-worth is on how many “likes” they are getting on their posts) – and truly be exactly who you are.
To embrace ourselves is to HOLD ourselves close, to honor who we truly are, and to move through life integrated, open-hearted, and with clarity.
How can we access our truest selves to embrace?
· Slow Down!!
· Bring in more mindfulness
· Cultivate quiet moments (as often as possible!)
· Create space in your life/schedule to just BE
· Create an affirmation of TRUST (especially for those who think that if they let go all will fall apart!)
Although so much pain has happened and continues to unfold, I hold the vision that this incredibly tumultuous time has brought the transformation that each of us needed as individuals and that the collective is hungry for.
Personally, I am feeling the magnitude of the impact that these 3 years have had....and, am choosing to focus my energy on the unwinding and forward momentum.
On who I am NOW.
On the gift of this present moment.
On what is next.
On what my visions are for this next chapter.
On what insights and medicine I can consistently bring into my day-to-day moments of life that I gleaned over these years.
On what I learned, how I grew, and what impulses live in me now that were, perhaps, dormant until this upheaval.
On GRATITUDE for what has passed and where I am in this moment in my precious life.
I am committed to service of humanity and am always out here for support, connection, reflection, and with the pure desire to continually bridge the gaps in our humanity....to keep things authentic, vulnerable, transparent, and REAL.
With LOVE! Alison