Empowered Life

Aside from my morning ritual of neti pot, tongue scrape, morning meditation practice and, last but not least, coffee, I recently added a simple step to my routine. After my meditation, I've been pulling a card from a deck called the Empowered Life cards. Since I've been focusing on writing my book this summer, I began to notice my morning journaling ritual was taking a backseat. I found that while I was busy documenting my past, I stopped examining what was happening to me in the present. By drawing a card each day and answering the question it presents, I'm forced to sit down and contemplate how I am feeling right now. It's gotten me back to a habit I began many years ago and one that has been instrumental in affecting profound change in my life — writing. And, more importantly, writing without worry of punctuation, proper sentence structure, or politically correct or polite thoughts.

Self-Inquiry

With her Empowered Life cards, my dear friend and colleague, Tracee Stanley prompts us to engage in the time honored yoga tradition of self-inquiry. Before we can initiate true change in our lives — whether that change means losing weight, exercising more, or breaking the glass ceiling at work — we must take an honest and hard look at the attitudes, beliefs, and thought patterns that hold us back and limit us from engaging our full potential and becoming a force for good.

This is not easy and can be, at times, painful. But often it's necessary if we are going to go from the person we are today to the person we dream about becoming. You know, the photo of the one you've posted on your fridge held by the magnet about inspiration and going confidently in the direction of your dreams! If it were easy, everyone would be achieving their goals with ease and we wouldn't have a billion dollar business of self-help, weight loss, and motivational programs.

One of the reasons people are still pumping out "how-to" programs and writing books is because much of what's being offered is not geared toward generating real and lasting change. There are so many quick fixes and thirty day cures that it's hard to keep up. If everyone were honest, we'd all tell people that the only way to change our lives is through consistent, dedicated, and diligent self-effort.

Listen — if we are unwilling to change our inner world, our outer world is not going to look much different. I hope the blogs in this upcoming series will prompt you to ask yourself some of the thought provoking questions necessary to empower you to move beyond your limitations and have the life you truly desire.

To kick us off, I thought I'd present a question to you that I answered on one of my first days drawing my cards. It's not an easy one, so saddle up, find a pen and some quiet time to write, and be fearless and honest. If you need, grab a glass of wine. No judgment. Let's do this together.

Question: What is the worst thing that you think about yourself? Is it true?