Don’t Let Your Power Be Eclipsed

It’s been a whirlwind here at the SpiralUp© development hub. I spent the summer flying back and forth from London, presenting my course, Full Spectrum Leadership, to women from four different countries. It was incredibly fulfilling. And, by the end I needed to refill my cup! So it was wonderful to spend last weekend unwinding at Lake Tahoe with my son and his friends. The lake was chilly, but I couldn’t resist––as you can see. Sometimes you just have to go for it.

While bathed in mountain sunshine, I also thought a lot about last month’s solar eclipse. It was a beautiful metaphor for what can happen to each of us. The definition of the verb eclipse is to obscure or block out the light; to deprive (someone or something) of significance, power, or prominence.

What blocks your power? Authentic power is your ability to both shape your inner experience and outer circumstance.

Your power is transmitted by how brightly you shine.

How are you narrating your experience? When I complain and judge, my inner wattage decreases. I am only as “lit up” as my inner dialogue and story. I feel most powerful when I slow down enough to compassionately interpret my circumstances and express my opinions, feelings and needs from the imperfect (often quirky) truth of who I am.

Give yourself a break

The constant input from being connected to our devices and media outlets takes a toll on our souls. We’re all desperately trying to keep up by multi-tasking. How many minutes can you sit at a red light before checking your phone? Not so long, I found out. A motorcycle cop just wrote me a $165 ticket for looking at my phone while at a red light.

But there’s a bigger problem to our constant busyness: inner guidance only speaks to you when you’re not preoccupied. You’ve experienced this: you’re walking in nature, or showering, or mindlessly relaxing on vacation and a thought trickles in, clarity on something you’ve been noodling—some spot-on direction. Down time, dreamtime, “wasting time” is the only time your higher nature has a chance to get a word in edgewise.

Taking time-outs requires a mind shift and creates a peaceful mind

What if we measured our worth by how present we are in each moment rather than how much we get done? You really only ever have this present moment. How will you spend it?

Instead of pressuring yourself with the threat of not measuring up in some way, try to savor and magnify pleasurable moments and celebrate little successes. As Marc Lewis and other researchers have shown, the longer an experience is held in awareness and the more emotionally charged you make it, the stronger the trace in memory. Studies show that just 15 to 30 seconds of savoring changes how you think at the level of neurobiology.

So when something good happens, (a meaningful interaction, the aroma of your favorite hot beverage, an acknowledgement from someone at work, a hug from a loved one) enjoy and amplify it. Do that by feeling the physical sensations and expanding the pleasure of the experience. You could even write about it or as you fall asleep at night review all the “good” from your day.