An invitation home to your own center
Hello beautiful soul,
In my last letter to you, I shared the importance of continuing to prioritize our self-care, even as we activate around causes we care about. In these last couple of weeks, I’ve deepened into my own learning around this in a really profound way.
Even though over the years I’ve deepened an inner listening and self-care practice, in the past few weeks I witnessed myself momentarily revert back into a familiar pattern of wanting to get it “right” with so many things…from my sincerest desires to educate myself about how to be a stronger ally with the important anti-racism work, to meeting the ongoing uncertainty with COVID-19. While getting caught up in getting it “right” I briefly became more distant from the practices that ground me and bring me home to my center.
Some ways this showed up for me were…
- Being really looser with my boundaries
- Checking out by watching a lot more Netflix than usual
- Endlessly scrolling on social media
- De-prioritizing movement of my physical body
- Living in a place of adrenaline
- Taking fewer moments to pause and reflect
- Resting in those places of pause for a shorter amount of time than usual
I’m curious if you’ve noticed any of this for yourself too?
If so, you’re not alone. These are just some signs and symptoms I’ve noticed for myself when I drift away from my center, and they’re all indications that I get to practice coming back home. If the things I’ve listed above resonate with you, great. If not, I invite you to stop for a moment and take inventory: how does it show up for you when you drift from center? How do the signs and symptoms manifest in your life?
If I had to bottom-line it, I’d say I found myself feeling over-amped and over-extended. And what I noticed more deeply is that from this over-adrenalized place, with my thoughts and heart racing, it’s actually harder for me to absorb all the new information coming in. I also find that while I can function from this place, I’m way more powerful and effective when I’m grounded and centered inside myself.
Abandoning ourselves to a cause just doesn’t work. When we’re centered, we have more impact. We listen better. We speak with more compassion. We have the ability to respond rather than react to the world around us. It is from this place that allyship and forward movement is born.
So what can we do? For me, it’s been a process of witnessing these patterns as they show up, allowing them to be there, having compassion, and then choosing to come back home again and recommit to the things that keep me grounded. I get to listen in so that I can listen out more effectively and make choices from an aligned place.
I invite you to notice: What shifts in your state of being have you seen in the past few weeks? What’s serving you? What’s not? How can you continue to combine the things you know support you with all the new things you’re committed to learning and integrating? And can you be compassionate with yourself in the process?
Remember, connection with ourselves is how we access connection to the world. Give yourself space this week to listen and be compassionate with what you notice.
with love,
