Embrace Vulnerability
Hello Everyone,
How are you all doing? Last month I attended the 19th International Energy Psychology Conference. While there were many amazing speakers and I learnt a lot during this 3-day conference, the speaker that continues to stand out for me is a poet named David Whyte. David opened the conference on Thursday night with a beautiful reading of his poems clearly written from someone who has spent a lot of time reflecting on what it is to be truly human and how best to live a life from a place of aliveness and connection to everyone and all that is.
One of the topics that touched many of us was David’s invitation to embrace the part of us that feels vulnerable including the part that might sometimes feel reluctant to participate fully in our life. The idea of embracing all aspects of our self is not a new one. Hal and Sidra Stone, Ph.D., wrote a book called “Embracing Ourselves”. One of the first books of its time to introduce the notion of giving a voice to each part of ourselves, even the parts of ourselves we may judge as bad or dishonourable.
David described a time when he had to give a talk in front of 600 people and found himself not wanting to go ahead with this talk. After making the space to hear all aspects of himself he realised that he had inside of him a 7-year-old self who was balking at the idea of being so visible. Once he had a chance to connect with this younger aspect of himself and let him have a voice he found it easier to go ahead with his planned event. To understand that there may be a part of us who is reluctant or a fearful participant to some aspect of our life is not an invitation to necessarily think that these parts need to be fixed or changed in some ways. Moreover, the invitation is to honour, embrace and respect all of ourselves and in so doing embrace our humanity and the humanity in others.
So, this month I invite you to connect with a part of you that you don’t like (or judge) within yourself. It may be a part that is blocking you from showing up and expressing yourself fully. Feel into this part of yourself and see if it does in fact feel like a younger part of you. Notice what feelings are arising. Notice how the energy feels. Repressed energy feels thick and dense but as we feel our feelings the constriction often dissipates allowing our energy to move more freely.
You may want to get a pen and paper and dialogue with this part of you like you would if you were writing he or she a letter. Be gentle and patient with yourself if you find that you have a hard time befriending some aspect and still prefer to push it away. This exercise can take a bit of practice. See if you can welcome whatever is arising and allow any insights and wisdom to unfold naturally.
Have a great month everyone,
Much love,
Vivianne
