Coming back to you
Dear Team Joy,
Team Joy is quickly becoming a weekly(ish) newsletter. As always, I have missed you, I am grateful you are here, and continuing to go on this journey with me.
Quick aside: I am experimenting with migrating to ConvertKit because I sense it has better functionality. If you could take approximately 5 seconds to fill out this form I would be so grateful! (Truly 5 seconds, its just name & email).
Ok, today we are talking about coming back to who we really are, and making decisions from that place in our lives.
How do we come back to ourselves?
We all get stuck sometimes. We forget who we are. We forget what we are made of. We forget our own magic.
We make ourselves sick with worry. We run through thoughts in our head that make us feel small. We tell ourselves we need to have everything figured out. We cycle and we cycle and we cycle, only to find we haven’t actually moved very far at all. We are tired.
But then there are the moments we remember who we are.
Moments when that big satisfying breath finds us and we feel our chest swell, our belly expand, the air passes through our nostrils, and then, maybe for the first time in a while, we settle. We exhale. We are home.
Take a moment to breathe now…
Inhale…exhale…
When we remember to breathe, the frantic one within us, tired and scared, pauses, looks around and slowly inches closer to what feels like the core of us, seeking comfort, and needing a hug. The frantic one begins to release their grip on the world, and slowly experiences the relief of no longer pretending to be in charge. They are a helper, and a good one, but they can't set our vision.
Who does?
The vision is held by the one within us who stays present through the big inhale and exhale. Within me, when I am settled and close my eyes, I can envision this regal being raising her head and looking out at the path before her. Without moving her body, she witnesses. She witnesses the beauty around her, and is wise enough to witness the beauty within her too.
Standing tall she is observant, she knows, she trusts.
When she is ready, she holds the hand of the frantic one and they walk down the path, together.
The work of learning to come back to myself has been humbling, frustrating, and life-changing. I find myself feeling frantic often. But when I remember to breathe, and access the part of me who is wise, powerful, and un-rushed, I feel relief. I feel capable of seeing and following my own path forward.
✨ Reflection question: What helps you come back to yourself?
Every week I speak with clients who are holding big questions on their heart.
Do I stay, do I go? Do I speak, do I stay quiet? Do I say yes, do I say no?
Am I allowed? Am I too much? Is this ok?
These questions are all important, but I sense there's a question before these questions.
Am I committed to humbly, inquisitively, taking the time to listen to myself?
Am I willing to be patient enough, to stay with myself and let my own answers emerge?
Activate
I launched Activate last October. A small group coaching program where six incredible humans meet every week for six months. By showing up, week after week, with their full attention to learn more about themselves and witness each other, they are changing.
Leading it is changing me.
Activate is about a lot of things, but I sense it is fundamentally about the work of coming back to ourselves, together.
Although we are responsible for doing this work, we are not meant to do it alone. I will share more about it next week, but for now, remember the small step that is always available to you is taking a deep breath.
Much love,
Isabel
P.S. If the wavelength of this week’s note resonates with you, I encourage you to check out this album by Above & Beyond.
P.P.S. If you feel inspired to connect or learn more about my work, reply back to this email or click connect with me below.