3 Affirmations To Remember When You Don't Feel Good Enough To Do The Thing.
I’ve been training, performing, creating or teaching dance all my life.
To say that Movement is my life passion would be understatement. Our family’s impact with death and grief, when I was very little, sent my mom in search of ways to help me navigate my chronic anxiety as a child.
That search for a solution became my medicine and my ministry 👉🏾 @themessymovementlab
Movement in this body
In this Black, Queer, Femme, Fat, Disabled, Non-Binary body has always been a #fight.
From Body shaming, to being sexualized as a child for my developing body, to incessant anti-blackness within white and white adjacent arts institutions that prey on Black Children for grant funding and then proceed to demoralize them the entirety of the program for not being white and thin. This body has seen it the hell of it but I’m still here.
I think it’s important to mention some of the identities I hold In this conversation on calling on Movement as a way of life, I want you understand the daily roadblocks that I also experience in being able to stay committed to a practice and my art.
As a performer and as a athlete- (I’m getting better at claiming that) - I know how hard it can be to stay connected, to keep coming back to the mat. I know how the anxiety can build up. I know the overwhelm. I know the doubt. I know the fear. I know the rejection.
I also know that the message you need to bring to the world can’t get here if you don’t trust and feel connected to your body.
Whether it’s your first Grammy performance.
The pitch for your book deal.
Going deeper with your message in your business.
Getting back on the stage or camera again.
You don’t have to go it alone.
3 Affirmations To Remember When You Don't Feel Good Enough To Go After What You Want.
You don't wake up everyday finding new ways to approach your work if you don't care about. Honestly, you wouldn't be reading this email if you weren't questioning whether you have what it takes to succeed. That type of curiosity is so tender and vulnerable. Protect it.
Here's where I want you to shift :
are you approaching the work daily because you love the craft of getting your hands dirty, feeling out the problems and wrapping your mind in it's endless web of solutions?
Capitalism, while necessary for our survival in this current system that we live in, it doesn't always work as the driving force for inspiration behind a creation. If your work is your work then do it everyday simply because it's who you are.
Get into the habit of prioritizing this energy taking up space in your day and your life and see how it feels to just be able to dwell in the energy of being a painter, speaker, marketer, cook etc.
Adopt the idea that "I am here to do this work". Charging up your perspective with a sense of self-given certainty and knowing creates a dynamic shift in the way you work and sense of authority you will have over your craft.
Why can I talk to you about this? Again, because I know what it's like to have your external circumstances erode at your confidence and sense of self-esteem. What helps to support rebuilding self-esteem is ritual, patterns of redirected action and thought until a new reality or experience makes itself know.
There is literally no one else in the world with your lived experience. No one else has your quirks. No one else has your sense of style. No one else has your story. Even if other people are in similar playing fields, no one else can breathe the life into something the way that YOU DO.
This is hardest to remember when we are in comparison mode. And as uncomfortable as it may sound, the people who challenge you the most in your confidence are the people who can teach you exactly what you are craving to reach for in your goals and/or embody in your life.
Do we have to get buddy buddy with everyone? No, of course not. But when you feel that twinge of discomfort, challenge yourself to lean in and ask what can I learn about this shared passion of ours through this person's lens? What are they adding to the feast? Remember we always want there to be plenty at a Feast.
How are they allowing and utilizing their life experience as a vehicle to move their message?
As a person living with CPTSD (Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), I am no stranger to wrestling with the voice of my inner critic and having it take me down a winding path of self-doubt and personal esteem sabotage.
One of greatest joys and moments of recovery from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been being able to name the critic and find self-regulation sources to bring me back to a place of remembering my worth and the truth about myself: I AM POWERFUL.
When we take the time to source (as best we can) who (person, institution or entity) should own the weight of those words or insults that were hurled at us in different points of our lives we free our bodies from carrying the burden of constant self-rejection. We place that pain outside of our nervous system.
One thing that is powerful for me to remember daily, CPTSD and other experiences of trauma don't just disappear with postive thinking and hopefulness. The inner critic will however lose it's power and effectiveness in stripping away our voices when we consistently challenge it's rage with grace.
My Messy Movement virtual private coaching sessions are designed to give you the tools to come back home to safety, joy and liberation in the body you have right now. Tap in and unlock your creative genius.
Book your first month of coaching with me at the link in bio.
Limited private coaching spots available for December clients.
See you on the dance floor,
Rashida KhanBey Miller, (she/temptress)
CEO of The Messy Movement Lab
Minimum 50% deposit required to book.
Options for tuition payment plan at checkout.
www.themessymovementlab.com