Welcome to Guided Harmonies, a podcast where I put words to my therapeutic music. My name is Margaret Dahlberg and Today’s episode, Powerful Powerlessness, is part of the journey toward self-love and acceptance. We can feel our greater power when we accept our powerlessness to change. Music is filled created with vibrations. These vibrations connect to the vibrations and frequencies of your own body, inevitably creating a deeper sense of well being.
Let’s get started.
Find a quiet place and sit back or lie down. Close your eyes and let the Guided Harmonies do their thing.
As the music surrounds you, take some time to check in with your body. Are you resting comfortably? How heavy does your body feel? Are there any areas of tension or holding? Tune in to your jaw, your shoulders, your eyes – is your back heavy? How about your belly. What about your feet and legs or your hands – are they completely relaxed?
Now notice your breathing. Is it laboured or smooth? How deep are your breaths? Can you find space in your torso and invite your inhales to fill it without forcing anything? Let it be easy. Like you are gently coaxing your ribs to expand while the air to move toward your pelvis and into your shoulders.
You do many things very well and you are truly special in many ways. What do you know about yourself when it comes to the things you are not the best at? Can you explore those parts of yourself that you prefer to keep in the shadows. Those imperfections in your character that impact your loved ones? Take a moment to reflect this from a place of curiosity and kindness. Maybe you wish you were more organized or intuitive or patient. . . what comes to mind?
Imagine you are a young child, around 5 years old. You are in a happy place, filled with wonder and joy. Think about the things you were most fond of when you were that young? Children that age love to have favourite things such as animals or characters. Take a moment to reflect upon that time in your life in its happiest moments. Now imagine you are working hard to colour in a picture of your favourite thing. Notice the great concentration and conviction in your face and posture as you work with determination. To a 5 year old Colouring a favourite thing is a serious project. When you are finished, you proudly display your accomplishment.
Adult you sees this picture and is aware on its imperfections – you likely scribbled out of the lines in a few spots, or perhaps you didn’t fill in every single area perfectly. Yet you worked so hard to make it right. You truly did your best. Yet it likely wasn’t THE best. You wanted it to be perfect and yet you didn’t have the brain capacity at that stage of development to do so.
Let’s return to your reflection in present day about the things you are not the best at. You likely work hard at getting better at these things and yet it is simply not in your wiring. Still, you try and you will continue trying. Yet you do not have the power to make these changes. Your brain is not meant to function this way.
This is a place for surrender. Surrendering to the reality that you are not perfect. You cannot do everything that you want to do. There is no place for judgment here. It is simply unrealistic to expect more from yourself. It is time to set yourself free. Free yourself from judgment and pressure to be something different.
Check in with your breathing again. Imagine what freedom from judgment may feel like as an inhale. Not forced, but smooth, gentle, open and deep. Invite your body to experience this sensation of breathing as you feel your self love and acceptance.
If you plan to open your eyes, take a moment to prepare yourself. Perhaps invite your breathing to intensify