Let Your Light Shine!

Dear Soul Sisters,

My career is taking off and I am really excited! While this requires speaking engagements and radio appearances, I know in my heart I am ready. How do I keep my mid-west “don't shine too bright” roots from holding me back? There's a part of me that still feels afraid inside.

“We all agree that only a handful of people are allowed to be phenomenal, as if there was a scarcity of extraordinariness in the Universe. But all the wonders of nature are exceptional. Even a simple leaf displays splendor and noteworthiness. So why would we relegate the realm of the extraordinary to only a chosen few? Nobody is exempt from the challenge to uncover his/her remarkable essence. On our collective stage of human drama there's plenty of room to shine - to be amazing - to blow people away with who we really are and the world is only enhanced as a result....This platform of splendor holds everyone.” -Moriah Marston & the Tibetan from an article entitled “The Extraordinary Self”

Dear Shining Light:

Thanks for your question. First of all, we’d like to congratulate you! It sounds like you’ve been doing the work to realize your Divine dreams. While you may be feeling afraid inside, the strong, talented and capable woman that you are has been taking steps out there in the world. She knows you are ready to live BIG!

But first, you've got to take care of your inner child, who may need you to mother her a little bit. Somewhere along the line, she learned it’s safer not to shine and she’s scared of what happens when she does. Spend some time in meditation with your inner-child. Invite her to come talk to you and tell you how she is feeling. Ask her what she’s afraid of and what she needs from you to move forward with confidence and faith. Often times, a reminder that you cannot and will not leave her is so reassuring!

You may find that some deep hurt, pain, or anger emerges during this process. Make sure you are in a safe space and let it flow, get it all out! Each meditation session is an opportunity to heal and to shed something that no longer serves you. Healing this wound is like any other, it just takes time. Keep revisiting it in your practice until it doesn’t need any more attention. Then you'll know you're on your way!

We know first-hand that a Mid-West upbringing, though it has many advantages, also comes with some baggage. In fact, every family, culture, and environment has its own unique energy that imbues upon its members a wide variety of - often unspoken - rules and limitations. It sounds like perhaps you are struggling with some deserving issues. Many of us suffer from the same thing; it's part of our emotional and energetic heritage. We all have lineage baggage that we have been carrying around with us for years, sometimes lifetimes. Isn't it time we let go of it and set ourselves free?

Here are some things we believe might be helpful in this process: 

1) Pranic Healing - Pranic Healing is a healing modality that uses prana (life-force) to clear out negative energy and to balance, harmonize and transform the body's energy processes. One of the great things about Pranic Healing is that anyone can learn how do it and you can do it on yourself. To get started, check out Master Stephen Co's book Your Hands Can Heal You or try this basic exercise for cutting negative energy cords to release yourself from attachments to the past and to other people's ideas about what your life should look like.

2) Forgiveness work - We have talked about Colin Tipping and his work with Radical Forgiveness before and we really can't say enough about it. There are very few situations, in our opinion, that a healthy dose of forgiveness couldn't help. Try using Colin's free worksheets, “The Radical Forgiveness Worksheet,” “The Radical Self-Forgiveness/Acceptance Worksheet,” and “The Radical Manifestation Worksheet” to work through your shame/blame patterns around this issue.

3) Positive reinforcement - Spend some time thinking about what you really believe to be true about shining your light in the world and come up with an affirmation that reflects this. Post it somewhere you will see it often – on the bathroom mirror or your refrigerator – and repeat it to yourself whenever you see it or think of it. It could be something as simple as “I deserve to shine” or – to borrow a line from an old Sunday School song - “This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!"

You might have heard this famous quote from Marianne Williamson before but it bears repeating here,

“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.”

If you can get to an ego-less place in your work, you’ll see that it’s not really about you. It’s about shining your light to inspire others to do the same. There are young men and women out there that need to see you doing what you do so they can say, “I wanna be like __________ when I grow up.” Think of your favorite mentors when you’re feeling afraid. What would your life like be if they hadn’t put their work into the world?

As you move forward and let your light shine, fear and thoughts of not deserving will continue to come up. Greet them warmly, saying something like, 'Oh, there's my fear again, Hello fear,' and then gently let them go. Move forward in spite of your fear. Most likely, you'll find that someday it gives up the ghost and just disappears, leaving you feeling free at last!

Before we sign off, we'd like to leave you with this little bit of flash mob inspiration:

Watch this and soon, we believe, you’ll be shaking and singing your way to the spotlight!

May your biggest dreams come true!

Peace, oneness, love and light,

Jennifer & Lara

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