Ever noticed we're told to 'stand in our power' not 'think in our power'?
Did you know that one of the most common experiences of people with dyspraxia is lack of self-belief? I got my diagnosis really late in life but, as I cast my mind back over childhood: falling down stairs, into swimming pools, ditches and even a bed of nettles. As I cast my mind back over school: dreading PE, shattering my first adult tooth on the tarmac playground, successfully avoiding all four sports days at high school. As I cast my mind back to my working life where, after years of adopting every organisational strategy I could lay my hands on, I broke not from the pressure of leading but the pressure of the day-to-day admin. When I cast my mind back to then, and contrast it with now, I realise that two things have changed for me – and both are about claiming the real power of the Sage:
Thinking into your power (and why it doesn’t work)
Thinking into your power is one of the shadow sides of the Sage in our time. It is the part of you that is constantly alert to what you get wrong. In the case of dyspraxics this can look like: I fall over stuff because I’m not tidy, I’m disorganised because I’m not disciplined, I’m late because I’m not efficient. But, for all of us, there is an ‘idea’ of the perfect student and perfect worker who we’re competing against despite them not existing anywhere outside of the shared story we’ve come to believe. The shadow of the Sage looms large in a culture where learning by rote, over-testing, constant competition and ‘you have to do it all yourself or you fail’ dominate. When we try to think into our power we literally get stuck in our heads where the idealised, impossible shadow Sage lurks – telling us all the ways we’re substandard.
Standing in your power
Standing in your power is about learning to be brilliant, not competent. It encompasses two principles:
- Being good at everything makes you great at nothing. When we choose this belief we get to say ‘I’m standing here in my zone of genius knowing there is someone else out there who, if they are standing in their power too, will be the exact partner I need.’ Our ability to be powerful no longer resides in just our individual cranium.
- Intelligence is found in every facet of your unique being. Standing in your power means you are not a separate, waggling head on a stick, you have access to the intelligence of your emotions, your body, your culture, your land, your ancestors and whatever concept of the ‘divine’ holds true for you. I believe these are the aspects of the Sage we have been taught not to trust – which in turn forces us back into the confines of the head where the shadow lives.
Watch Magic in Mind below to learn more about the work we need to do to rebirth the power of the Sage
COMING UP...
- Magic in Mind LIVE The Shadow of the Sage, Monday 20th November, 11am London time in the Hearthspace
- Date for your diary: The Reclaim your Magic: the Sage on-line retreat takes places on Tuesday 5th December 10am – 2:15pm London time. Pop it in your diary now, joining details will be coming soon!
