Weekly Insights: Reclaiming Power Through Self-Love...

Part of the human story is to experience Love, happiness, and joy; but the balance to those high emotions can show up as our greater challenges, pains, and traumatic events. Without the proper tools to accept, forgive, and move beyond the hard times, these lower vibrations can slowly deflate our personal power. It is up to us to decide what consumes our energies, and what boundaries we set for ourselves to protect against the energy vampires in our lives. The key is in finding harmony and balance. There will always be hard times and challenges, but the key to the life experience is not getting stuck in the darkness. We have to keep moving forward, caring for, and Loving ourselves enough to choose the path of growth and transformation over attachment and suffering. Every day we choose how we spend the time we are given, and it is vital that we stop wasting it in the areas that continue to cause us pain.

Forgiveness has never meant accepting abusive behaviors. It is not something done for the sake of others. Forgiveness is selfish. It is about self-care, self-Love, and self-healing. When we forgive, we set our hearts free of the weight of the pain that comes from holding on. One of the keys to reclaiming personal power is in forgiving the past and letting go of the pain that seeks to live off of our energy until we have nothing left to give. Accountability is still vital when there is forgiveness. It is never okay for the truth to be evaded in order to make one person more comfortable at the sake of another. Forgiveness does not excuse what has happened, and is not a reason to soften boundaries or allow the abuse to continue in any way. It is a process of letting go that takes time and conscious decisions every day in order to allow the soul to feel everything while not carrying another person's poor choices. It is an act of personal liberation.

Emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual boundaries are mandatory in reclaiming our personal power. This can sometimes require us to cut ties to the people, places, and situations that originally caused the pain and trauma. There is no space for arguments or emotional responses with abusers who seek to blame, gaslight, or cause more problems. Boundaries are the key in healing and reclaiming personal power. Without them, we cannot fully move forward. The reaction-response loop only causes more trauma and keeps us in cycles of pain for longer periods of time.

Instead of walking away from the part of ourselves that have been broken, it is important to embrace and own all parts of who we are. The things that have happened in the past are important pieces of the puzzle that have helped to make us who we are today. Our higher purpose is oftentimes defined by our most painful and traumatic experiences. Sometimes in the process of healing the past, waves of sadness and pain wash over us and we need to grieve, cry, or express the feelings of loss that have manifested out of the trauma. When we allow ourselves to be, and we hold space for ourselves to release the pain, we can move it out of the energy bodies and feel lighter. Tears are said to be the water for our living gardens to grow. When we cry, we are helping the alchemical process of personal transformation. This is part of how we can express self-Love and give back to ourselves on our healing journeys.

Aside from feeling the emotions, protecting boundaries, and forgiving the past, we can take physical steps to create small and sacred rituals that help us move forward. Cord-cutting with crystals, candles, visualization techniques, meditation, breath work, or plant medicine can be extremely beneficial. Journaling, vibrating affirmations, writing out feelings in personal letters to those who have caused pain, and other ceremonial practices can be greatly beneficial in helping to reclaim personal power.

The key to moving beyond the pain and struggles of the past is in replacing the traumatic memories with Love. Love manifests through accountability, truth, forgiveness, self-care, healing boundaries, feeling one's feelings, and facing these issues head-on instead of avoiding or escaping reality altogether. The pain we have experienced is very real, and it is meant to be acknowledged and processed. We only need to care for ourselves and address the need to express the truth, hold space for the healing process, and do what is best for ourselves at every turn along the way. Every painful experience offers an opportunity to learn more about who we are and grow deeper into self-Love and personal power. Trauma is not mean to be repeated, but received as a deep lesson about this life. How can we not only survive our past struggles, but thrive and become stronger because we were able to rise above them? We are never defined by the painful situations we have experienced, but instead by how we transmuted the darkness into the Light during these painful moments. Instead of losing aspects of who we are, we can gain more strength and personal power from our resilience during challenging times. This is ultimately how we reclaim our personal power through the path of self-Love.