Last night I attended my new pal, Agapi Stassinopoulos' Goddess workshop at Urban Zen. I'm not usually one to voluntarily insert myself in situations that hold the possibly of public feeling-sharing with strangers, but I was excited to meet my new pal, Agapi, and figured I'd let go of my own insecurities and fears of group hand holding and dive in. By the end of the evening I had been catapulted out of my comfort zone, surrendered to the support of a hand-holding circle and even shared something about myself. Oh my!
So, I bring to you the CliffsNotes on channeling your very own God/Goddess, because Agapi's work is practical, insightful, and a whole lot of fun. We learned to step in and embrace our archetypes, shine a spotlight on what we have to heal (which is also specific to the Gods/Goddesses) and bring that awareness about ourselves into our lives so we can ignite change in a very real way. Good stuff, Agapi. I'm a fan.
Step 1. Know your archetype. We all have one. I am Artemis, who represents independence, focused, daring, adventurous. Artemis needs to work on healing being cut off from emotions. Artemis is very physical, and has no limitations, and boundless energy. Yup, that's me. So much of a go-er and doer that I block emotions so I can achieve more. Emotions only hold us back right. . . oh my. So much work to do.
Step 2. Know what archetype you're not. Unresolved psychology and misaligned choices can have us believing we are an archetype that we aren't. Agapi has a humorous way to illustrate this. Jennifer Aniston is not Aphrodite, but Hollywood keeps trying to put her in that role. Aphrodite doesn't try to be sexy, she just is. Marilyn Monroe is Aphrodite. Uncensored expression, sensuality, but needs to work on boundaries. Artemis has boundaries.
Step 3. Reflect with compassion. Once we embrace who we are with compassion we can make a conscious decision to invite useful qualities into our lives that can lead us where we need to go.
Step 4. Time is irrelevant. This was a hard one to swallow but Agapi says Goddesses have no time frame. They're not American. Things happen in their own time and in their own cycle. We can put in the work, but the results and development work in their own space. Allow for space. It may come faster than you expect, but have patience if it doesn't and know that everything is as it should be.
Step 5. Get in your body. Artemis is good at this. Physicality brings me to life. When I practice yoga I feel more alive and I have the ability to begin to tap into my emotional life, as long as I am compassionate with myself and leave space for feelings and all the mushy stuff that makes me itch rise to the surface.
Bonus Step. Share your feelings with someone. I know, this is the hard part, well for me. I'm sure many people are very easy with this one. It took some compassion with myself to get through this one. I felt like my body was tingling by the end but all good things come from growth!
So I will share with you. I'm letting go of relying on my boundless energy (Artemis) to sustain my momentum and stepping into the confidence to assert myself and pounce with compassion (Zeus). Specifically I'm really great at balancing a ton of projects and getting a lot done. I'm working on becoming more like a lion. I'm taking my stance in the world and going for the pounce, (asking for specifically what I want) while moving with compassion.
Ok, your turn!
And here's a fun video to channel your inner Artemis. Get in your body in the morning with this routine that I designed to breathe into areas that hold tension, including our brains!