I actively sought out conversations with women about their dreams of personal evolution this summer. These discussions were rich and meaningful, just the way I love them. I met with over a dozen women and learned that above all that we are all the same. That we are talented, skilled, educated women waiting on the edge before leaping into our dreams, filled with beliefs that we don’t know enough or will be judged for what we share. Beliefs that what we have to say is not as valuable as other voices, that someone else is already doing it better, that we are too late to get started. What I learned is that there is in many of us an itch, a voice, a calling that is getting louder and louder and some of us don’t quite know how to answer it, let it out, or free it from the insides of our heads. In my conversations I heard doubt, fear, isolation, and self limiting beliefs. And man that felt familiar. Very familiar.
When I wasn’t on long walks, sitting in tipi’s or lawn chairs immersed in the greatest conversations, I was reading. I read lots about why there is an almost universal feeling rising up among women, a feeling, a need to share their voice, connect to their innate wisdom for healing and thriving, I read Lisa Lister, Martha Beck and Rebecca Campbell and heard about the centuries of conditioning telling women that this inner voice and all it has to say is wisdom calling junk. It’s not scientifically proven. Its not tested. It is granola, hocus pocus, ungodly, heathen information. Women who have shared were not only easily dismissed, but persecuted. So we’ve been well trained to smile and be pretty, and shut up.
What is interesting to me, is that the more I practice yoga/ayurveda the more this inner voice, this big desire rises up, wanting to be shared. This practice is a huge part of how we are going to transition through this murky middle ground and find our platforms. Practice rooting down, getting quiet, taking care of first things first, and harness the ways and means to share our individual, empowered authentic truths.
So what if we leash the power that comes from yoga, mediation, hiking in nature, digital breaks, sleeping well, slowing down, caring for our digestion, and healing our body. When we drop in, listen, respond and feel the rewards of a strong and vital body it opens up the vast additional energy that we’ve been needing, that boost to help each of us reach our higher purpose. A place where we make decisions from a deeper more connected wise part of self, where we are totally in line with our higher life goals, and we are feeling amazing. Vibrant, Alive, Thriving.
We can do this. I’ve been practicing!