There are a few secrets, but here’s the first: you always have your power, sweetie, I promise. It may not always feel that way, especially if you’re an empath, because we often let the emotions, beliefs, behaviors, and feelings of others get comingled with our own. That can leave us feeling powerless and weak. But, that’s never true. Your power is always inside, waiting for you to access it.

When you start feeling like you’re powerless, drop into the feeling, instead of trying to resist it, or fight it.

Identify it. Name it. Claim it.

Without judging yourself for having the feeling, act as an observer.
– What am I feeling?
– Why am I feeling this?
– Does it belong to me?
– Can I claim it as my own?
– If I put a label on it, what’s that label?
– What is this feeling trying to teach me?
You see, my darling, we’re so programmed to believe that feeling “down” is a bad thing. I don’t agree. These times are opportunities to learn, adjust, and grow.

How can I be so sure? Because 1) The Universe is always cheering you on, conspiring to bring you the things, experiences, and people that you desire. 2) I’ve been broken. Not just a little broken, busted wide open, struggling to breathe, trying to claw my way out of a box of darkness.

At the time, it was difficult to believe that I’d ever bless that pain, but guess what? I absolutely do bless the person, the experience, and the pain itself. Because I did get to the other side of it, and I’m stronger, happier, and more joyful than ever. Instead of judging myself for falling apart, I asked the Universe what it was that I was meant to learn.

What I figured out was that my life was not meant to stay the same, it had to go through an utter shake down & break down, so that I could expand. Some people call this “leveling up” and I’m OK with that saying, as long as we don’t foster the concept that there are levels of achievement  with this stuff, because hierarchies tend to create a feeling of “better than,” or “worse than.” It’s not a contest, and we’re all on this planet for expansion.

Ask, what can I learn from this?

What I tell my clients and friends who are struggling is this: identify the feeling, name it, and claim it. Ask yourself what it is that you can learn from the feeling. Once you move past the pain attached to the experience, and act like an observer, you’ll start to get little nods from the Universe. You’ll start to put the pieces together – rather than feeling like a victim, you’ll start to feel like a student. Clarity will start to set in, and you’ll have a clearer vision of the opportunity in front of you.

When you act as a curious observer, you don’t feel compelled to attach your personality to this feeling – because let’s be honest…feelings are temporary. They come and go, and there is no reason for you to invite that feeling to stay. It stopped by to offer you a gift. Accept the gift, bless it and release it.

When a negative feeling comes on, if you’re paying attention, you can use it as an opportunity. Don’t resist it, or judge yourself, or try to “positive think” your way out of it. That really doesn’t work, and even if it does, guess what happens? The Universe will continue to serve up more opportunities for you to process and grow. Meaning, you’ll keep getting more of the same, until you conquer it.

When the feeling hits you,  identify it, and then drop into the feeling. Allow the feeling to drop into your heart chakra – seriously, use your mind to envision the feeling dropping into your chest and staying there. Get out of your head, the thinking space, and drop the emotion into your heart and let it linger there. What’s your heart telling you?

I used to think: drop it into my heart? What? I mean, I really was resistant to hearing from the Universe. I thought of myself as a fact-based person, I could always track down a solution with enough studying or research. And yet, my fact-based approach to life wasn’t exactly making my heart sing. My enthusiasm for life was always attached to the people, places, the future and the past. I completely ignored the now.

Once I started feeling my emotions, simultaneously acting as an observer, I suddenly had compassion for myself. I didn’t feel the need to beat myself up, and I didn’t feel the need to make the temporary feeling a permanent house guest. I learned that I could just observe, dive in deeper and figure out what the message was, and then release it.

I promise you, when you realize that your power center is your heart – and you always have the power, you’ll be amazed at how much easier and joyful your life can be. The power is yours, you can’t lose it. Sometimes things get fuzzy, sometimes it hurts, but you never have to stay there, darling. Your power center is within.