Who Profits, When You Are Less Than Yourself?

Today’s practice:

Notice the inner places where you’re holding your breath, walking on eggshells around the living room of your self.

Notice the contraction of your muscles, the hump of your shoulders, the pitch of your pelvis, the way you sip air instead of taking it in freely and fully as a gift of divine grace.

Notice the quality of your being when you scrunch down to be less than the radiant, miraculous, multidimensional human that you are.

How do you feel?

Now, ask yourself this question: Who profits from my diminution? Who — in my life, in my circle of family and friends, in my work, my ancestry, in the historical, political, cultural, social, economic life of my world — profits, when I act from this diminished self? When I become less than all that I am?

Ask yourself a further question: In what ways do I benefit, from this stance? Are the costs of truncating myself in these ways worth the benefits?

Be truthful, with your responses. Take your time. There’s no shame or blame involved here, just playful curiosity and willingness to know your truth.

Now, choose. Choose to stand up tall. Choose to open your chest, widen your shoulders, let the weight of your torso rest in the bowl of your pelvis. Choose to entrust the upright wand of your body to the miraculous stability of the soles of your feet.

Declare your sovereignty. Banish the profiteers from your kingdom. Bring those of your inner selves who have grown accustomed to a hunched-over life, back into your heart, back into the safety of your love and belonging, back into a clear-eyed orientation to your world.

Choose your power. Choose the power of your full presence. Choose to be the light of your world.

Be radiant. Then, radiate.