Awaken your power.

"What if we begin at the beginning? If begin with "maybe nothing I've ever been told is true," then the possibility is that we can start to deconstruct some of the ladder of belief that we've been attached to, We can start freeing ourselves up to explore other places and opportunities and ideas and creativity we can slowly start to return, at least in our mind, to that child, we once were, that has that open curiosity and imagination and wonder about this world.

"And if we've learned anything, we have learned that there is no warrior coming to save us. That real life is not like the movies. There is no one person that is assigned to save the world and let the rest of us just go on living our life. It's here, it's now, change is upon us."

We're not here to rest. We're here to grow wiser, we're here to ask ourselves the hard questions. We're here to look at our dark sides and our shadow sides, and our blind spots. Those are the keys to developing even greater wisdom, and then sharing that with others—not through our words necessarily, but through our very being, through our very presence. This is wisdom. This is the journey and it is motivated from the soul.

wake up Waking up is not just about us. It's not just about an individual. Waking up might be a an individual journey, but the result of our waking in our own lives is a gift to the collective society and it guides the energy for where society moves next. If you would like to actively participate in the direction that society moves, then we must wake up, we must be mindful for that will encourage more people to wake up more people to be mindful in their lives, which will encourage better, more mindful choices for all of society." .40 - It's time to maybe start thinking about maybe how we can take advantage of this period of time in a way that we haven't quite yet. 2:00 - Why Now is the Best Time to Wake Up - Introduction "We are here as souls in order to wake up. It's interesting to think that we are asleep. I know that that sounds weird. Of course, we're awake. Of course, we're moving through our days. Of course, we know our name and we know the date but there's a difference between simply going through our lives on autopilot and kind of just one foot in front of the other "the next right thing" as I call it, and actively choosing each moment of each day as a fresh new experience. 4:00 - Not fitting in "And yet most of us start to settle into what society has decided what is culturally accepted. And the more we do that, the more we're just going to fit in to the crowd, the less likely we will be living our true soul path. Because I promise you this—somebody who is living their lives aligned with their souls. Someone who is awake and conscious and mindful, isn't going to fit in. They're going to stand out in some quirky ways. They're going to have something about them, that maybe you just can't put your finger on, but they just don't necessarily do what you expect or say, what, what you what you might want them to." 6:16 - Authentic Life "It's so unusual to encounter somebody who is willing to be authentic to to express how they really feel without sort of, well now I'm at work and this is the persona I wear. And now I'm with my family and this is the persona I wear. These personas are what I call "skin:s are exhausting. They fatigue every single system of our body. And most importantly, I suppose they they hide our souls, they cover up our souls, they muffle our souls. So if we're waking up, part of that process means to be living authentically, to be true to our emotions and how we're feeling, to speak truth, to be an embodiment of our truth, and to not let social norms and expectations always trump that." 8:04 - Waking up Looks Like... "So this is what waking up looks like. It's about authentic presentation of ourselves, authentic acceptance of our emotions, a kind of wholeness in our being a connection of body, mind and soul that all comes together to to be in this life that expresses and experiences each moment as original as fresh and ripe for opportunity. This is really hard to do in normal life because life is moving so fast. And it's just one thing after the next after the next meeting, upon meeting after conference call, and then the rush hour drive home and then, you know, making dinner getting the kids ready. It's just this merry go round of busyness." 9:00 - First Reason Why - We are all slowing down "And so this is the first reason that right now is the best time to wake up to move on this path of saying, I'm alive. And I have emotions and I have thoughts and they might not always point in the same direction as everybody else is facing. It's a good time, because when things slow down, we can observe more closely. It's really hard—if you picture a merry go round—to spot the faces that are going around and around. But as it starts to slow down, you can start to recognize some of the different faces. Imagine that these faces are your emotions, your feelings, your thoughts, the parts of you that are just moving through life so quickly a smile frown a sadness, an anger,

"My mindfulness is largely a practice of curiosity. It's a practice of wonderment and wondering about this process of being human about the interconnectedness between all of us, and how certain people come into our lives and why they do and how this or that person triggers us. Isn't that interesting?"

"Discomfort allows us to move inward, to reflect, to consider to contemplate, so that we can change and we can adjust and grow through that discomfort."

Part of a journey to wholeness, part of a journey to awakening power, is to expand our emotional experience so that we become fuller, more whole human beings. That's what my work is all about. That's what this podcast is all about. And I dare to say that that is what this time is asking us to do.

I'm so glad to be able to do this podcast right now. It means so much to be able to chew through some of these difficult things that are going around in our head as we all deal with the effects of the Coronavirus. If you are an artist or creative or a visionary or a leader in any capacity right now, I think today's episode will be especially valuable for you. Andrea and I talked about how important it is to stay connected to our creativity and our curiosity and our hope for a new world as we continue to stay present compassionate and empathetic during this period of time. And if you know somebody who's creative and is in this space of making art for the world, and perhaps especially if they're struggling with that right now, definitely share this episode with them. 1:00: Introduction to Andrea's Podcast: Our Story Speaks 4:00: Value of our work - Importance of continuing your art, podcasts, book, and other creative pursuits during Coronavirus creativity 9:12: "It is not the time for any of us to stop moving in the direction of growth, progress, passions and purpose." 10:55: Collective Consciousness - how it affects all of us 12:50: New Normals - Our resilient souls "Life doesn't happen to you, it happens for you," Byron Katie 14:00: How to show up for/in discomfort 14:54: Spiritual Opportunity 15:00: Mother Earth 15:45: Ayurvedic approach/philosophy 17:30: The Lifestyle we've been "sold" 19:00: How to be in discomfort - Yin Yoga 20:20: Modeling for children 21:00: Our interconnectedness/reaching out to each other 25:10: Empathy/Compassion Tonglen Meditation Practice 29:00: Women's roles in leading with love and courage  - power, empowerment, thoughtfulness, creativity 31:30: A new world - staying in a place of curiosity 32:00: What are these feelings and where are they coming from? 33:15: Courage and Fear in our circles 34:40: Time for wholeness 35:10: Clarissa Pinkola Estes message on coronavirus 36:15: Tips to stay in the space of hopefulness and curiosity 42:00 Importance of writing down these stories Andrea is the creator and host of Our Story Speaks, a podcast platform for women to share the ideas, experiences and stories that connect us all.  Andrea has a background in social work, a passion around women's issues and a belief that meaningful connection with other women is the way we heal our traumas and create great things.  Andrea lives in Oregon with her two small sons. Here are my links/contact information: Our Story Speaks Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/our-story-speaks/id1478819794?uo=4 FB & IG -@ourstoryspeaks ourstoryspeaks2019@gmail.com ourstoryspeaks.com (coming soon!)

Think of this period of time as a form of revelation, as a form of truth now coming to the surface because it can't be hidden under business. It can't be hidden under power. And we can't hide. Our true selves are going to come to the surface.

It's really important to go write right now. It' doesn't matter what shape it takes in the end. You have a thought, write it down, save it for yourself. And you can come back to it later. And maybe the only point of that thought was that it comforted you right now. And maybe it's something more, and it's not your business right now. Your job is just to be present with what is.

  This podcast is divided into 2 parts—the first 15 minutes are devoted to a discussion on identity. Starting at about the 15 minute mark, I transition into a 30-minute Yoga Nidra —a long, guided meditation through the Koshas—the "sheaths" or "layers" of the body. I wanted to do this episode today, outside of my normal rhythm, as something I can do to help during the Coronavirus and stay-at-home, social distancing measures we're implementing and following. As hard as this period of time is for so many, it can actually be a good time to explore some answers to the Big Questions: Who am I, and Why am I Here? Enjoy. Keri Hello and welcome to a special episode of Awaken Your Power. This one is going to land in between my usual rotation of every other Tuesday. It is in response to the corona virus and the social distancing that we're all practicing right now. And it's going to be divided into two sections. The first section is going to be a discussion on identity and purpose and meaning and who are we, and we're gonna take a deep dive into what it means to wear an identity. I often use the term skins as a metaphor for identity. And the second half of the episode I will be guiding you through a Yoga Nidra, which is yoga sleep, essentially a deep relaxation that you can expect to last anywhere from 20 minutes to 30 minutes. And we're going to go through the Koshas or the coverings or she's of the body. This is going to go hand in hand with our discussion of identity because the idea of this particular meditation practice or Yoga Nidra is to, one by one, remove the coverings that hide our soul in this world. So I would invite you now as we start to talk about identity and move into this first section of the podcast, to also take this time to set up a space where you will be able to lie down in silence and preferably in darkness as well with as little disruption from any of the senses as possible. So for this particular meditation practice, we don't want any sense or any lights on. We want to kind of remove all of the input, so that we can go deep into our own body, mind, and then we'll go even deeper and deeper into that. So again, maybe make a space with some blankets and pillows, make sure that you'll be warm and comfortable and undisturbed. I will put in the show notes on my website, the minute that that starts so that you know, if you want to jump directly to that later, or do that multiple times, I would definitely recommend that. But first, I want to talk about this opportunity that we have right now to explore the questions Who am I? And Why Am I Here? for with a little bit more depth. This is a topic that is always near and dear to my heart. It was definitely a major theme of my book Embodying Soul: A Return to Wholeness. I see skins or really identities and labels and personality, characteristics and our titles I call them all skins as coverings of our soul as ways that can depending on how we use them, either bring us a little bit closer to ourselves and our soul or keep us from that. That kind of relationship. I want to start with this quote by Emily McDowell. It says, "Finding yourself is not really how it works. You aren't a $10 bill in last winter's coat pocket. You are also not lost. Your true self is right there, buried underneath cultural conditioning, other people's opinions, and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. Finding yourself is actually returning to yourself an unlearning an excavation of remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you." When I think about being a kid when I go back there. And again, when I wrote about this period of time in my life, I remember a sense of freedom and play. I think the human journey is really about coming into this human body, and then taking on labels playing roles playing the game. And as children a little bit closer to our soul, we remember that so we would play games,

  Introduction 2:08 About Emily's Book - Damsel No More: The Secret to Slaying Your Anxiety and Loving Again After an Abusive Relationship.   4:45 Healing Through Writing - Gaining Perspective & Forgiveness 7:39 - Why Healing Doesn't have to be Painful 10:12 - Life Stories as Goldmines 11:08 - Discussing Anxiety vs. PTSD 13:05 Differentiating Anxiety from General Fear 17:15 - How Emotions are Like Candy! 18:38 Emotional Management for Kids and Adults 22:11 - Need to Belong 23:36 - Gaslighting, Narcissism, and Cultural Zit Popping 26:30 - Purpose of Finding your Magic, Especially in Times like ours 27:33 - Working with the Collective Consciousness 29:02 - Live Your Purpose 29:42 - Importance of Telling/Sharing Our Stories (Especially the small ones!) 36:57 - No We Aren't All Empaths 41:08 - Empaths vs Introverts   ABOUT THE GUEST - EMILY DAVIS Natural intuitive, bestselling author, and metaphysical coach Emily Davis began accessing her spiritual gifts as a child. Over the years all the fear and yuck of modern day life got in the way of that magic and, after leaving an abusive relationship, she set out on a quest to recapture her spirit! Now, Emily specializes in helping people discover their purpose in life through unblocking their intuitive gifts and learning to use them without fear. It is her mission to make magic part of everyday ordinary life. Emily and her family, including her many furry muses, adventure from Lake Tahoe, California where she also co-hosts her metaphysical comedy podcast Perceptionists Anonymous! Website and Social Links https://www.facebook.com/groups/masteryourmagic/ https://www.damselnomore.com/ https://www.instagram.com/likerofwords/   Podcast Links! (Perceptionists Anonymous) https://open.spotify.com/show/4cs6JIcnTkS3tWUWxnYYs4 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/perceptionists-anonymous/id1481128773?uo=4 https://www.instagram.com/perceptionistsanonymous/  

Authenticity is a willingness to pursue your interests, your values, what makes you happy, and then also a willingness to speak your truth and express your needs without apologizing for it.

You did not choose this life for it to be easy. You did not choose this life to escape or get by on habit and routine. You wanted to come here to change, to evolve, to grow, and to learn. And sometimes just because of the nature of life, things get backed up. We've been on autopilot for way too long. And so all of this change and all of this transformation that was coming to us is sort of bottle jammed, and we must now move it out. This is sometimes what causes a Dark Night of the Soul as well, when we've spent too many years not paying attention, not doing our healing work, not integrating the lessons into our lives.

In this episode, Dyanne Kelley and I talk about what it takes to keep moving on a journey toward greater truth and authenticity. We agreed that it begins with deciding that we are worth saving. We also discuss the value of women's stories, the emotional challenges such as guilt and shame, and discuss what it means to ask ourselves the question, Who Am I, Really?

In this episode, I chat with my friend and founder of Mxe, Heather Corndorf. Here's just a snippet of what she had to say: "Heather: Right and that these are all the the core values are, these are internal words at MXE, and it's our vision. So, on the surface, it looks like we're, you know, moving around and dancing, laughing which we are, but the whole purpose I see this vision that these people that coming in, they are going to love themselves unconditionally. They're going to have compassion, respect, and then they're going to be able to have the same for the people on the street that they don't know. And their family and friends, and then that's going to just move like wildfire. So, I think that when we see people fighting, when we see racism, when we see leaders saying and doing things that make your jaw drop there is a little bit of pain, there's a lot of pain. And I think that a lot of that has to do with the lack of self love. When you are in pain, you want other people to be in pain. It's just, it's contagious. You actually want people to be in more pain than you. And I think the same happens with self love."

There's all kinds of information out there, but then there's also this incredible power we all have just innately, and that's our intuition.

A lot of what this podcast is talking about so far is power as it relates to our place in the world—our courage to stand up for things, our ability to influence, lead and persuade, our strength as we move out into the world with our voice and our sense of personal authority. But there is another angle to this kind of power that we are trying to awaken. And that's the power of sovereignty. That power of being in oneself in solitude, in aloneness, and being okay with that. That too, is a kind of power.

Personal growth was not only for childhood. We are all walking around, wounded in some way. For this planet to heal, and for us humans to continue to evolve, we must begin ourselves. If we don't fully recognize our human stories for what they have to teach us, hoping instead, that by ignoring them they will go away, we will never actually be free

Growing our power is a process of deepening our knowledge of ourselves and this world and our place within it.

But now I've learned the importance of empowering myself. When it comes from within, it's a completely different kind of power. It is not a contingent or conditional power. It simply is a part who we are.

  Anger's Fire "Anyone can become angry, that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose and in the right way that is not within everyone's power. And it's not easy." Aristotle anger Anger is a challenging emotion because it is fire and fire is hard to manage. But when used appropriately, it can create a fire that brings light and illumination into the world. It can bring clarity, it can allow for digest of old ideas and beliefs. It can clear away falsehoods and masks and lies so that we can see the truth beneath all of that. Anger has an important role in this human life. And for us to continually try to pretend that we don't have it, or on the other hand, succumb to it so completely, that we become the actual embodiment of anger. Now, having kidnapped anger, this messenger rather than having allowed it to come and do its job, and then leave. We get angry about things because they matter to us at some level. And unless we allow anger it's full right to exist in a mature and thoughtful way. We're never going to get the message and will continue to replay it again and again. Everything takes energy, and we need fire. We need the illumination that sometimes only anger can provide. And the more we cultivate a relationship with anger, the more readily his messages are understood and taken in and accepted, the less he'll will have to visit. The more we will tame this dragon of ours, and he will be at our service. Without it actually causing pain to ourselves or others, we will be able to act upon the underlying message. We will be able to see what only fire allowed us to see.  

Figure out what it is that truly will make you happy from inside and stop chasing after reputation and status, which are as transitory as a media cycle, as impermanent as a snakeskin.

Resisting the Pull and Power of the Status Quo   The status quo is a force of power that keeps a society stuck. But, to best challenge the societal status quo, we must first challenge our own. Why is it that as we grow up, we become incurious? As we move from childhood to adulthood, we slowly lose that sense of pushing back, questioning authority, or challenging norms and rules. What's even worse than that? Becoming rigorous defenders of the status quo, bound and determined to prevent anyone with a new idea and a new thought, and a different way of doing things to gain a foothold. We all know that the status quo keeps us stuck. It keeps us from our own growth. Therefore, it is important for us as human beings, if we want to remain awake and aware, if we want to come into our own power, that we challenge the power of the status quo. For it truly is a power. It is a force of energy backed by decades, generations, maybe even a millennia of custom, tradition, and belief. For our personal and collective growth, we need to create a society in which we look for the friction and we look for the rub and we embrace the discomfort. It is in the process of taking something down that we build something better in its place.

We did not come into this body to be quiet or safe. We did not choose to be alive in this time and place to be sidelined, victimized, or used. We did not choose to call this endangered planet home only to be ignorant, dismissive, complicit, or bought and paid for in its demise. No soul takes a leap of faith into a human body, and then decides that silencing itself is the best way to spend a handful of decades. We did not come here to be a silent witness, a mere bystander, an enabler, or an apologist for the ugliest aspects of our society. We are here to move the needle of justice definitively forward, not just watch it hopelessly wobble. In the words of Andrew Harvey, we are here to “transform this whole planet and all of its institutions, all of its arts, all of its sciences, into burning mirrors of love and justice.” Well, then, what are we waiting for—signs or data showing us that climate change is an existential crisis? Events and lives lost that prove that racism and white supremacy movements have not gone away but are, in fact, empowered and rising? Another mass shooting? We did not come here with a plan to shelve our own personal power. We did not think to our soulful selves how we couldn’t wait to come down into a body and then acquiesce to someone else’s agenda at the expense of our own health, well-being, or principles. I understand—no one wants to be a sour-puss, naysayer, whiner, the lone dissenter. No one likes the kid who raises her hand in class while everyone else is ready to go to lunch (guilty as charged). It’s natural that we all want to belong. But if we put on a team shirt that violates or muffles the call of our soul, we aren’t doing the world any favors. If something is true, then let’s state unequivocally that it is true. If it looks like a truth and walks like a truth, it probably is a truth. But if it is false and masquerading as a truth? If it is hurtful and abusive and telling us that it is the new normal and we ought to get used to it? Then it is up to us to find the courage to stimulate, kindle, evoke and unyoke. The world is counting on us to live up to a higher standard of truth. If we do this, the stories people tell in the future might not be about long-ago battles between good and evil. The stories they tell might be about those of us who woke up to our power when we needed to the most.