Many holistic-minded people feel the pressures of living in a male-dominated society. So how then do we find our own power and our voice?
This is a crucial challenge to face. By summoning the courage to do so, you will not only greatly help yourself. You will be able to support others so they too can create a more loving, balanced world.
The First Step
Here’s the first step. Recognize that if you are like most people, there are past traumas to address. As the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study noted, there are common areas that afflict us as children.
These areas include abuse, neglect, addiction, parents who have illness or were imprisoned, family separation and more. The aftermath of these difficult experiences carries into adulthood, often with negative mental and physical conditions.
We tend to bury these troublesome memories, holding the pain in a particular area of our body. Fortunately, we can release the pain and neutralize the memory.
Although some people are more resilient than others, these disturbing experiences affect each person’s well-being.
The Big-Picture View
Let’s take a look at the big picture of what we are evolutionarily doing here. There are certain areas your soul has chosen to explore in this lifetime. It usually includes past imbalances and traumas, which can go back to previous lifetimes.
The memory from the past is often hidden in the unconscious, but the pain is still there in the body. The body discomfort signals where to look — and once addressed, you can step into your empowerment.
Here’s the good news. Once you recognize these disturbances, you can start to heal and learn from these past challenges. You often can start to free the body of the pain.
Here’s something important to realize. You can learn the lesson and move forward more freely. That’s the assignment you’ve given yourself. Just have some patience and trust. Your soul knows the details even if you haven’t figured it out yet.
As you get clear (and there may be several aspects of the trauma), your body becomes lighter, and your mind gets clearer. In the process you may need to do some forgiveness of yourself and others when the time is right. Also your renewed life may need to focus on more self-care to nurture yourself.
Three Ways to Increase Your Self-Empowerment
Here are four practical ways to claim your power and find your voice.
- Use this “I feel …” statement.
Here is an easy, effective empowerment strategy. Use the following template sentence: “I feel ________ because I choose _____________.”
For example:
“I feel happy because I choose to be in flow and ease now.”
“I feel joy because I choose fulfilling activities today.”
“I feel empowered because I choose to enjoy success and prosperity today.”
Try these empowering statements and come up with your own. We use them regularly and recommend them to clients. It works great to get your day on track and to follow a higher timeline.
- Set boundaries.
Where we feel disempowered, we tend to be too yielding or controlling. Here are a few guidelines.
If others are controlling or manipulating towards you, it’s usually in predictable ways. They have a habit of being demanding and dismissive of you.
So get prepared ahead of time for what to do and say in those situations. With your plan in mind, you can respond calmly and deliberately.
It might sound something like “When you [sound demanding, get too close to me, etc.]. I feel uncomfortable.”
You may need to repeat what you said in a clear, firm way. And there may be a consequence for the other person, like you interrupting them or even leaving the situation.
Conversely, you may find yourself being too controlling. You may have rigid boundaries with others (“this is the way you have to do it!” ). Remember to pause at times and give people more space. Ask them questions in a neutral tone of voice instead of making demands.
When you change patterns, it will be uncomfortable at first, even if the familiar habits produce stress. So give yourself time and room to explore your more empowered choices.
- Following your passions and excitement.
When you do what you enjoy, focus comes easily. Stress and worries disappear because you are so immersed in what you are doing.
You don’t have time to fret as you effortlessly and timelessly do what you love. This may be through art, service, communication, coaching, healing, research and more.
The point is to engage in these passionate activities regularly. These abilities are sometimes called your “gifts.” In other words, you’ve been gifted by the universe with these innate talents. Share them generously.
Putting It Together
As we claim our power, we naturally find our voice.
The process includes addressing some of our childhood deficiencies. They have caused us to shut down or compensate for our discomfort.
The good news is that we can change, once we determine to do so. We can intend to use “I feel” statements, set boundaries and pursue the strengths we enjoy.
By doing so, we move out of survival mode. Nagging doubts go away. Worrying about what others think diminishes. There is no need to catastrophize and wait for the other shoe to drop.
This means we can shift into more awareness, more flow, more thriving. Being in the moment, we trust ourselves and the universe more.
We live more out loud. Yes, we still pause, slow down regularly and reflect. We can allow ourselves to be patient, to figure things out. We know that there is usually time to respond and not have to urgently react. That email or text can wait.
Final Thoughts
You can connect with what you really want to say and do. This is the magic switch that creates lightbulb moments and directions. That will be motivational for you and sometimes inspirational to others.
Yes, you can empower yourself and discover your authentic voice.
This may occur just a little, especially at first. Yet every bit counts. And you become more confident that you are on the right track, doing what is right for you.