I love our theme here at Flourish* by Sonika for March and part of April. We are stepping into our greatness.

When you make the choice of stepping into your greatness, you give others permission to do the same. Greatness is a choice.

What does it mean to step into GREATness? Here is the acronym for GREAT:

• G – goals, gifts, gratitude
• R – reflect, review, realign
• E – essence, energy, exercise
• A – awareness, accountable, attitude
• T – stepping into your own TRUTH

In this blog I will share the following with you:

• What is your essence
• Energy and why the importance of looking after your mind, body and spirit
• Why emotions aren’t good or bad
• The importance of exercise

What is your essence.

Your Dictionary defines essence as the core nature or most important qualities in a person.

Your mind and body (and spirit) is a unity. It isn’t separate from each other, but one. What you think, you become. Your thoughts has a direct impact on your body and the way you perceive the world.

Your thoughts become your words and your actions. This drives your behaviour.

This blog post is written from a feminine perspective. My truest nature is being a woman and I am writing this part from this perspective.

Essence is who you are true to your core nature.

I share this next part from Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom from Dr. Christaine Northrup. When you are reading this, it may sound strange, but just stay curious and open. Don’t judge it, just read it and let it settle.

Traditional Eastern philosophies describe the profound interaction between the Earth’s energy and that of the physical human body, add the strong connection between the female energy and the Earth’s own natural pull. Understanding women’s nature, with its natural ebbs and flows, as positive and powerful gives us a chance to heal and live a balanced, healthy way.

According to some Eastern beliefs, women’s bodies are different from men’s, in that the Earth’s energy moves up through our bodies and inward. This female energy is “drawing-in” energy or centripetal force. This centripetal female energy is irresistible. It is so powerful that if one lives in a family setting, most of the household will want to be around the person with the most centripetal energy – usually the mother – and will be acutely aware when she is gone.

This powerful energy is present not only in our biology, but also in our hearts and minds in the form of unique dreams and desires. When a woman finds the courage to articulate these desires to herself and also share them with others, she will soon find that her irresistible drawing-in energy will help fulfil them.

You have within you the dreams and desires to change yourself, your life, your family and your community. The world is ready to receive your essence.

Emotions

Did you grow up with the belief that some emotions are good and some are bad. Being happy is a positive emotion and angry or sad or fear is a negative emotion. I am not entirely sure where this idea came from, but it is BS.

Ani Anderson, the author of Find Your Souls Agenda, brought me to this awareness. Emotions aren’t good or bad, positive or negative. Emotions is the way the body reacts to the world around us. It creates a feeling within that are a natural response to our receptions.

The concept that good/bad, positive/negative emotions comes from your belief system. It can be in the way that you were raised. Maybe you were taught that natural emotional reactions are bad. For instance if you fell from your bike and got your knee scraped. It hurt like hell and you wanted to cry but your parent said, don’t cry it is only a scrape, it doesn’t hurt so much. Later on in life that scrapes became more emotional of sorts, like your boyfriend braking up and instead of crying you were told, he wasn’t good enough and you are better of without him.

This created the feeling that your emotions aren’t validated and important. This feeling is still present in your life today. Maybe you are hard on your partner or children or colleagues, because emotional reactions aren’t allowed. And this creates distance between you and your loved ones.

These negative connections to emotions can manifest in many other ways in your life.

In the critically acclaimed book, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, Dr. Christaine Northrup writes the following, “our bodies are influenced and structured by our beliefs. Every thought is accompanied by an emotion or feeling and very emotion creates a specific biochemical reality in our bodies. Beliefs drives our behaviour.”

We need to change our beliefs about emotions. Emotions are natural responses to our environment. They aren’t good or bad. They just are.

In what ways does your beliefs about emotions drive your behaviour?

Energy

It is time to embrace the energy that is you. Treat yourself with love and kindness. Cut out destructive habits that you have. Sleep enough, stay hydrated, eat nurturing and wholesome foods.

I have written an extensive blogpost about the energy that is your body. Please have a read here.

Exercise

I love what Angelique du Toit say – movement is life. When you stop moving you start dying.

We know the importance of exercise for our bodies. It helps to release all the feel good hormones, endorphins and oxytocin. It helps the body to expel and detox of what is not needed.

Exercise helps to create a strong mind and body, and connection to the breath. It helps to create a better attitude toward your body and better self-acceptance. It makes your bones stronger.

Not only is exercise good for the body, but also for the mind. It helps to lessen depression and anxiety. At the end of 2018 I was battling with extreme high functioning anxiety, so much so that for most days I did the bare minimum. I was beyond exhausted no matter how many hours I slept at night. Overwhelmed and guilt-ridden for my own inability to “fix” myself.

So I began slowly. I practice yoga, so I committed myself to practising three times a week and to have leisurely stroll with my family once or twice a week. Getting back to my mat, created the power within to take back my life one moment at a time.

When my anxiety is at its worst, I struggle to breathe. Yoga allows me to connect to my breath. This is a reminder that life is lived breath for breath, moment for moment.

Exercise helps to move easier into relaxation. When the body is moved and physically challenged, it created the space to rid the body of stress and built-up adrenaline.

Relaxation helps you to sleep better. Which helps you to feel rested and more energetic for your day and its daily tasks.

Movement is doing the right things daily that will give you the results. Movement will create momentum. Momentum creates productivity.

I want to shift the energy of this blog with this question: How would your life be different if you learned how to love and respect your body as though it were a precious creation, as valuable as a beloved friend or child? How would you treat yourself differently?

Your body is the tool which you use daily to live with passion and purpose.

When you step into greatness, you make the choice to live life differently. To live to your truest nature.

Take-aways from this blog:

• When you step into your greatness, you give others permission to do the same.
• Understand what makes you you. What is your essence? Your essence is what comes naturally to you.
• Emotions aren’t good or bad, positive or negative. Emotions are natural responses to your environment.
• Movement is life. Movement creates momentum. Momentum creates productivity.
• You are energy. Look after your body so that you can live with passion and purpose.