becoming you

The teenager on the way to school, in a bright pink sweatshirt (something a boy never would have worn when I was growing up). The man in a down vest and work clothes crossing the street to his work truck. Me, walk-running down the neighborhood sidewalk, taking in the morning.

We are all becoming.

The sun rising a bit earlier each day as spring becomes more and more apparent. The birds chirping, singing, and chatting and with different birdsong than in winter. The earth greening again—buds, shoots, sprouts coming forth.

All in its natural order, in its natural becoming.

I like to think of this life force energy as the “optimizing thrust of Being” (from AH Almaas’s Diamond Approach Work).

Nature is and becomes who she is naturally. Seasons follow one after the next. Plants and animals respond in kind to grow, blossom, hunker down, and hibernate.

Becoming is part of the natural cycle—
it happens without effort or conscious planning in nature.

We are part of nature, too. Our brains are hardwired to do certain things naturally—and the most basic hardwiring is to SURVIVE! The body, heart, and mind are amazing! They will do what’s needed to survive at all costs. Sometimes that means shutting something down to focus energy on survival somewhere else:

• Maybe we ignore a pain in our body in order to keep working.
• Maybe we don’t remember or even feel how upset an event has made us in order to stay connected to someone in a friendly way.
  
• Maybe we forget a dear one is going into surgery in order to protect ourselves from feeling fear of loss.

In some ways, having a more developed brain makes humans a bit more complicated than nature…

Instead of naturally becoming, as nature so effortlessly does,
we may be un/consciously shutting down parts of ourselves…

But these bigger brains can also support us. When the primitive brain reacts in a hunkering-down way to survive, the “higher” brain can also come online. This is the part of us that can support us consciously in our becoming.

Your “higher” brain can help you to become more completely you.

You are not only a collection of survival reactions. You have a heart that is touched by experience and yearns for connection and a mind that has the capacity to consider, discern, choose, and be mindful.

What does becoming you look like?

To practice becoming more of you, use your “higher” brain to mindfully choose one step from each center of intelligence to support you this spring—ask yourself:

• What does my body need right now to in order for me to become more fully me?
• What does my heart need…?
• What does my mind need…?

Listen for the answer. It might come in words, or symbols, or pictures, or in a hunch, or a feeling…(Practice based on Sara Avant Stover’s 4-Part Check-In from her book The Way of the Happy Woman.)

If it’s the same old response, it may be that you really need to keep practicing something to integrate it more thoroughly (like me and making sure I remember to keep dancing). Or maybe it’s something new that you want to open yourself to becoming.

Spring is the perfect time to take a babystep into becoming more of you.
What’s calling you?

I’d love to support you in becoming more of you! You are, afterall, the only one who can do it. 🙂

• Sign up for a Free Discovery Session to see how my work can support you!
• Attend my noontime Mindful Movement & Yoga class on Tuesdays in which we explore movement that is right for you.
  
• Learn more about how to manage your sugar consumption at Beat the Sugar Blues on April 16th—getting this one under control can really help in who you become!
• Join my Spring Yoga, Meditation & Life-Balance Mini-Retreat for women on Sunday April 24th from 2:00-5:00 and nurture yourself.
• Participate in a 4-Part Series for women: The Transformational Journey of Menopause, starting April 26th.

p.s. Do you have friends who would love support in making mindful, aligned change? I’d love it if you would share this post with them on Facebook!

Yearning for more presence and less overwhelm?
Sign up for 10 Simple Ways to Welcome the Sacred into Your Daily Life!