Growing up, my mom demonstrated an elegance in dealing with people she did not like. She would simply distance herself from them, and be done with it. She wouldn’t confront them messily and have an argument about all the things she felt they did wrong. She never trashed them to other people in her life, she simply created space between herself and them and moved on.
Through most of my younger life, I had an emotional scapegoat for when things went wrong. There was always somebody in my life whose fault it was when things didn’t go the way I thought they should have.
The face of the scapegoat changed, but for years, my habits did not. It was simply easier for me to blame somebody else for my life not being the way I envisioned than to own my own power.
Yoga, Reiki, and Meditation brought with them many gifts. One of the most powerful results of my practice is the gift of Svadyaya, or self-study.
As we begin to stretch the brittle fascia of the body, it softens and moves, releasing immobile places within us, and amazingly, our minds and spirits respond in kind!
Many people experience a similar release when they go through at Attunement, or connection with Reiki energy. They will notice a subtle releasing of old patterns and feel a sense of stepping into their own power.
Meditation offers an especially clear mirror into the self. As we train the mind to sit in observation, we get to watch all of the tricks our thoughts play on us! Becoming aware of the scheming of the mind frees us from it’s traps, and allows us to glimpse the powerful, limitless self within.
These external practices of yoga, Reiki, and meditation are outward reflections of the inward work that was happening, the work of keenly understanding the role I have in creating my own life.
I was able to look through the lens of seeing my own habits of self-sabotage, the habit of destroying relationships or opportunities before I had the chance to fail at them, because subconsciously, I believed that I would.
The real gift of understanding these patterns, or Samskaras, is in the ability to release them! How can you stop doing something when you aren’t even aware that you are doing it?
As Maya Angelou said, “when you know better, do better.”
In knowing better, I was able to act more in alignment with my true self.
What I never considered was how the scapegoats felt!
I’ve spent a lot of time this month listening to friends who are heartbroken. They are feeling the heaviness of blame placed on them by other people, and it reminds me of a habit I used to practice before I awoke to my own power.
I want to invite you, today, to fully embrace your own power in your life. With great power comes great responsibility, so also embrace the responsibility you have for creating the life you want.
Each moment is an invitation to awaken, and each day an opportunity to take a step, no matter how small, towards creating this life.