“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~Marianne Williamson
I love this quote. It speaks to the insecurity that manifests itself within us all at some point in our lives and dares us to consider otherwise.
I have been participating in the Chopra Center 21-Day Meditation Challenge on Miraculous Relationships and today was Day 5 - Miraculous Esteem. What struck me immediately as Deepak was centering was how easily I could see the connection to my own life. As we began the meditation, I started to cry tears of painful recognition that so often I feel incredibly unworthy of the blessings I have in my own life.
I second guess myself all the time. Am I worthy of being a wife to this wonderful man? Am I really deserving of being a mom and, furthermore, am I doing a good enough job? Do my friends really like me for who I am or are they just putting up with me out of pity?
All ridiculous questions of self-worth that I quickly dismiss when I have them knowing the years of self-discovery it's taken to get to where I am, leading to the knowledge of how fucking awesome I am!!
Still, more often than not, I still get niggled by doubts around the fact that I am a yoga teacher; a role I take very seriously and am very passionate about. I love my work. Couldn't ask for a better job. I get to hang out with like-minded individuals mostly committed to personal growth and exploration and I get excited when I think about how much more there is to discover about myself.
"It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us."
"It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us."
I get tripped up by my insecurities around teaching because my feelings of self-worth tell me I have no right to stand up in front of a group of people and claim to know anything about navigating the different terrains of life. What do I know??? I stop myself short all the time, thinking I'm going to offend someone with my point of view. And yet, I know from everything I've been through in my life, that I am well qualified to speak to a multitude of human conditions and have first hand knowledge of what's it's like to be in those situations.
"We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"
Only very recently, I've begun to find that space within me that has the courage to speak to what is on my mind with passion in my voice. I almost don't recognize my voice as my own and yet it feels so liberating to be breaking free from the constraints that hold me back so often. I've found the key is to really understand myself in relation to what I'm discussing with others. I have to have that connection with myself in order to help others connect to it as well. When I find that conviction, the energy and passion comes through in my voice and I sense that I'm truly connecting with my students and they are connecting with me.
"Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you."
As a society, I feel we have lost our voices and have become disempowered. We shy away from speaking our mind because we don't want to hurt others, create conflict or make people feel uncomfortable. We were taught at an early age, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." "In a public venue, steer clear of religion and politics." Or somewhere along the way, we got the idea in our heads that saying "I love you." is only meant for couples. I can't tell you how many people I say "I love you" to on a daily basis and it feels so good to express that when I genuinely feel it. It's not just my husband and my kids, but my friends and fellow teachers. Most of the time it's reciprocated, other times it's not, but that doesn't matter, it's the fact that those words get out there so the other person knows they are loved.
If there is one thing I hope this blog post leaves you with is the courage to find your voice and learn to speak from a place of absolute truth within you and don't be afraid of your voice. Sometimes it's the only thing we have that can make a difference. When we speak our truth, we speak from a place of love and inner knowing and there is no space to question your self-worth at that point, because you just KNOW.
Namaste!
Kristen
"We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"
Only very recently, I've begun to find that space within me that has the courage to speak to what is on my mind with passion in my voice. I almost don't recognize my voice as my own and yet it feels so liberating to be breaking free from the constraints that hold me back so often. I've found the key is to really understand myself in relation to what I'm discussing with others. I have to have that connection with myself in order to help others connect to it as well. When I find that conviction, the energy and passion comes through in my voice and I sense that I'm truly connecting with my students and they are connecting with me.
"Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you."
As a society, I feel we have lost our voices and have become disempowered. We shy away from speaking our mind because we don't want to hurt others, create conflict or make people feel uncomfortable. We were taught at an early age, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." "In a public venue, steer clear of religion and politics." Or somewhere along the way, we got the idea in our heads that saying "I love you." is only meant for couples. I can't tell you how many people I say "I love you" to on a daily basis and it feels so good to express that when I genuinely feel it. It's not just my husband and my kids, but my friends and fellow teachers. Most of the time it's reciprocated, other times it's not, but that doesn't matter, it's the fact that those words get out there so the other person knows they are loved.
If there is one thing I hope this blog post leaves you with is the courage to find your voice and learn to speak from a place of absolute truth within you and don't be afraid of your voice. Sometimes it's the only thing we have that can make a difference. When we speak our truth, we speak from a place of love and inner knowing and there is no space to question your self-worth at that point, because you just KNOW.
Namaste!
Kristen
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