A Story of Empowerment

As CBS News corespondent Steve Hartman once said, "Everybody has a story." Each story is as unique as the individual. Some stories have mysterious twists and turns to the plot while some have tragedy, romance or wonder. They all have one thing in common. Nobody has to be defined by their story.

In the shamanic practice story is a powerful tool. The shaman, often referred to as the Master Storyteller, will work with a client to help them see that while the events and relationships that have occurred within their story are undeniable and very real, the amount of power we give to them is always within our control.

So many times this depends upon our perspective, our willingness to let go what is no longer or has never served us and to embrace any gifts or lessons that have come our way from the unfolding story and its energies. We can use these events and relationships to propel us forward, to grow and expand and learn more about ourselves, or we can use them to keep us stuck and in a victim role. Authoring our story and choosing what to emphasize, to serve as fodder to our life's journey and to what we want to call our truth is where the power lies.

When we reflect on our life story we can find the places that serve as traps for us. Think back to your past, note the memories that come up, feel the emotions that are attached to them, pay attention to the energy of your body, and note how your soul feels? Your body, mind and soul can help you to discern if your story is empowering for you or not. Anger, guilt, blame, sadness, fear and bitterness will weigh us down and our story is not serving us as an effective tool. But if we find in these reflections peace, fondness, honoring of life lessons and trust of the future then we know we have done the work to move forward in a healthy relationship with our story.

How do we step away from the negative emotions and energies of our life story? There are many answers to that question, but the first step that will lead in the right direction is learning how to create a new version of the story. We have the ability to choose how we will continue to react to what others have done to us or what they have not given us. We have the choice of whether to stay stuck festering about a life event that was not fair, tragic or life changing or not. We can look to these places for insight and lessons, learn to walk away with this and apply it to our current moment and take it along with us. All the while, we then leave behind all the negative energies, the wounded ego, the guilt or shame that does not encourage our soul's growth.

Learning to find a life story that is empowering, supportive and has possibilities give us a chance to step out of our past and be fully alive in the moment. It gives us the ability to be open to all the options and opportunities that life will offer. It affords us to embrace the energies of forgiveness. When we become engaged in the role of author of our life story, we no longer leave it up to others belief, actions or energies to dictate what our future holds. Instead we are in charge and we can bring all our creative energies and dreams to the story of today.

Blessings, Lisa

Rising Above the Rules

Life is filled with rules. They surround us and our actions. From the time we are young we are taught the rules. We are expected to abide by them and to allow them to create safety and order in our life. To go against the rules is frowned upon and sometimes even punishable. Yes, there are some very necessary rules in life. They serve us well.

But, let's face it, there are times when we create so many rules in our life that we keep ourselves small, we box ourselves in, we create a false sense of safety from them. Knowing that these rules are our ego's attempt at bringing expected order to our life, to ensure we don't live too fully, expand to much, create with abandon or explore with adventurous delight. The ego of our being cannot handle that much fullness in our life. So we create rules.

Sometimes we need to rise above these self created rules. Perhaps there was a time they served us, but evaluation and reassessment is key to growth. There may be a time to put the rules aside. To question where did these rules come from? What were they protecting? Where they born of judgment or expectation?

Rules can kill spontaneity. Rules can deflate surprises. Rules can wash away our exuberance. All aspects of a full life. Are your rules wide and deep enough to allow these to be within you? Sometimes we have to push pause on our rules and take a good look around.

The soul thrives in the richness of life, in its beauty, in the everyday miracles and wonder. It is imperative that we make sure our rules support this. Possibilities make room for growth and discovery in life. Choices are important to our practice of balance. Bringing our authentic truth and soul's wisdom to the conversation of how our rules are serving us will bring clarity and awareness. From there we can make powerful decisions about our rules.

Blessings, Lisa

What Defines Your Reality

What defines my reality? A question that I have worked with over time so that I become more aware of where I am energetically in the moment. This question has given me opportunities to keep my process clear, to find my direction and to heal what comes up.

We see in our lives situations, energetic relationships with people, places, events, things, that we try to understand, embrace or let go. Our reality in the moment ebbs and flows with the work we do around these. Remembering this is critical.

Think back to the last time you were frustrated with a situation. Perhaps it had something to do with work, or a family relationship or even the traffic. Your perception created your reality in the moment. You had the choice to see this from a perspective of complete overwhelm, bringing in all kinds of negative self talk and energies. Or you could stand grounded in the knowledge that the feelings and emotions wrapped around the moment would eventually pass, that you would more than likely resolve the problem, make amends with your family, and, yes, get through the traffic and arrive at your destination.

We need to learn how to train ourselves to view life and its events from a place of gentle understanding that our ego often likes to take charge and be in control. When this happens we often are walking a tightrope of emotions. We see ourselves so differently than who we are truly and authentically. Our reflection of our Self and the events we are in can become skewed and inaccurate

We have all been there, listening to someone go on and on about a situation in their life, how limited their choices are, how much a victim they are of the circumstances, how unfair it all is, how impossible things have become and so on. We have listened to the voice inside that responds with comments like, "Well, that is because you won't let go of the old story, or You are not ready to embrace your truth, or That is only one way to see this." What if we took these kinds of comments and applied them to our own dialogue the next time we are defining our reality.

Imagine what could shift, imagine how quickly you could pull yourself out of the egoic sludge and move on, imagine what you could learn about your inner Truth! It will most likely take you out of your comfort zone the first few times you try this. Even pain can be a comfort zone for us, especially if we feel we know no other way. But, with gentle tenderness and consideration that we are a work in progress, we can find that taking small steps in this understanding of our moment by moment perception can be a path to living in our Truth, in the moment, and not projecting into the future the what ifs or draggin along the past's old story lines.

Blessings, Lisa