Reclaim Your Power
For me, thinking about my why is about stepping into my greater spiritual power — recognizing my sensitivity and embracing it as part of my mastery over self. To move beyond fear into love.
RECLAIM YOUR POWER
Last week I attended my ambassador on-boarding for Lululemon and let me tell you I did not expect to have a personal breakthrough, but I did. Truth be told, I was looking and praying for one. You may or may not know that for over 5 years now I've been dealing with, learning to manage and get through anxiety. I've dialed in triggers and all that, but it has always felt, until my recent breakthrough, something I was at the mercy of — something I was powerless over.
In the exercise we did, which I'd like to share with you since it was so powerful, we went through a series of through provoking personal inquiry. If you have time, I encourage you to get a cup of tea, pen and notebook to take advantage of these powerful tools.
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It went like this:
➊ What values are at the center of who I am?
Identify some core values, mine ended up being love, freedom and connection. Note that we all have many core values, but dialing this down can give you a sense of what is really important to you right now. Your other values are still with you, just maybe not at the center at this time.
➋ Identify a current challenge.
Mine was overcoming anxiety and keeping my equanimity (personal power is how I interpret equanimity).
➌ Identify possible solutions.
I identified several solutions, including going to therapy, doing more meditation/journaling, etc.
➍ Go back to the origin or “why” of the challenge.
This made me go back and start thinking about why my anxiety started and what was going on at that time. What I learned was there was love missing in a relationship I was in and that I had a lot of fear around being alone, feeling betrayed, etc.
This allowed me to connect the dots on what I experience when I feel anxiety and it's rooted in fear, and where there is fear love cannot enter. Just like where there is love (which happened to be my first core value) fear cannot co-exist.
➎ Solve for why.
Instead of coming up with a to-do list of “solutions” to the “problem” solving for why was about going to the root. For me thinking about my why was about stepping into my greater spiritual power — recognizing my sensitivity and embracing it as part of my mastery over self. To move beyond fear into love.
➏ Uncovering limiting beliefs.
A. What limiting beliefs can I identify that keep me on the sidelines of my life vs. being in the game?
B. What is the impact of this?
C. What have you made that mean?
This what BY FAR the most game changing part of the exercise.
A. What I realized here is that my anxiety had gotten me to believe that I was powerless over it, that it was something that could happen to me without my permission or control.
B. The impact for me has been paralyzing — meaning, it stops me from going to places (I often feel anxious while traveling, on roadtrips, flying, etc — mind you, my first anxiety attack was while I was a passenger in a moving car).
C. I had made it mean that I have a problem, that I just wouldn't be able to do X, Y and Z because of it and I sort of just accepted that as my fate. I relinquished my power over to it and let it run my life and my decisions.
➐ What is the opposite of that belief?
This is something I can overcome.
I can move beyond fear into love.
I wrote out so many beautiful affirmations and had a truly breakthrough moment. When I realized that the anxiety I experience triggers limiting beliefs, it allowed me to take back my power — because I realized that this belief could be changed.
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So I wrote out a few things that helped me start to change this belief, literally verbatim from my notebook:
My anxiety makes me stronger, it let's me know when it's time to let something go.
I can go anywhere and I can do anything, free of fear and full of love.
I can go anywhere and I can do anything.
I can go anywhere and I can do anything.
LOVE
FREEDOM
CONNECTION
I can go anywhere and I can do anything.
I move beyond fear into love.
I move beyond fear into love.
I move beyond fear into love.
Love, freedom, connection.
When I tell you I CRIEEEEDDDDD, I cried. Because for the first time in so long I started to feel free of this fearful experience. I started to feel like it was behind me rather than hanging over me, waiting to takeover my life. I truly felt FREE, I felt relief and I felt full of love.
If you decide to do this exercise, it may look totally different for you. This could be a work challenge, a financial challenge or otherwise. I want to note that for everyone this won't be a moment of mind blowing breakthrough, but it's an opportunity to examine yourself in a new way as it relates to who you are at the core, what limits you from fully participating in your life and what it could look life if you moved beyond a belief that holds you back.
The thing that really hit home was how so much of the resolution I found was rooted in my core values. Love (the absence of fear), Freedom (the absence of powerlessness) and Connection (being rooted in who I truly am and my own power).
I hope that this “case study” is helpful and that you find some value in it. It has completely changed the game for me and I am more rooted in my power than I've been in YEARS. To that I give thanks to the Most High for always providing what I need.
Asè, Asè.
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THE AFRO YOGA PODCAST: SEASON II
I couldn't be more excited to return to IG live for the second season of the live podcast with my co-host @msnicole_c. This season, we’re coming with a whole new vibe. We'll be talking wellness with Black womxn around the world from London to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Our hope is to celebrate the diversity and richness of our identity while highlighting our unique experiences relating to wellness. You can stream the audio version anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Until next time, hotep y’all,
Angie