Vulnerability Will Change Your Life For Good

Explore the transformative power of vulnerability by defining what it truly means and why it matters. Learn how embracing vulnerability fosters personal growth, deep connections, and authentic self-expression while breaking through common barriers like fear and uncertainty. Drawing from insights by Brené Brown and Ernest Holmes, this talk invites you to align with your inner truth and step into your full potential. Together, let’s harness the courage to live wholeheartedly and create a thriving, connected world.

Transcript

We are diving into the power of vulnerability.

So as we kick off this theme,

We're going to start by first kind of defining and gaining clarity around what we mean in the context of this word vulnerability,

Which can have various definitions to it.

And we're going to explore how we can then begin to see how the power of vulnerability can actually impact us as a spiritual practice and how to navigate this path of vulnerability together.

So vulnerability is vital to our own personal transformation as it invites us to go deep and to look below the surface of our kind of exterior lives and selves to explore our inner world of emotions and beliefs and that which kind of motivates our behaviors and actions.

And so when we begin to look through the lens of vulnerability,

We can see how it is a key component or like a building block for our own personal evolution,

A state of emotional exposure that comes with a certain degree of uncertainty.

It involves a person's willingness to accept the emotional risk that comes from being open and willing to love and be loved.

So to be vulnerable is to explore the depths of ourselves even when we are unsure of what we might uncover.

So some practical examples of this may be,

You know,

Being vulnerable in a relationship even though there's a chance that it may lead to rejection,

Right?

Or being willing to admit you made a mistake,

Right?

Or vulnerability may look like simply being willing to feel the difficult emotions and to be honest with ourselves,

With each other,

And clear on our boundaries and expectations.

So we've talked about what vulnerability is,

But I want to get clear also on what it is not.

So vulnerability is not oversharing or simply a dumping of our emotions in an inappropriate way,

Right?

It's not just this spewing whatever's on our heart and all of our personal history and our stories kind of at random upon the world with whoever will listen.

So what I'm talking about is,

You know,

Being vulnerable in this way.

We're not talking about just putting everything out in social media.

Because what that does is it gives you a false sense of connection.

You may get one or two responses,

But it's not as intentional as choosing to invite someone into your world personally,

Reaching out to a friend or reaching out to someone in your community and consciously,

Intentionally asking for an opportunity to connect,

To be vulnerable.

And then in that context,

Share what is coming up for you.

So it's not vulnerability in kind of a weakness,

But it's the conscious intention to express our thoughts,

Our feelings,

Our desires in a way that serves and nurtures a more authentic life and deeper connections and relationships with ourselves and others.

Now,

I'm not saying that this is easy,

Y'all.

It's actually one of the hardest things that we can do in our personal work is to truly be honest and vulnerable,

First with ourselves,

Right?

To really look at our inner landscape from a place of curiosity.

And then to take the next step and actually share with another.

And I don't want to also just kind of,

You know,

Skate by or discount the many barriers that we experience in our society that can keep us from feeling comfortable or safe or free to be vulnerable.

To express our authentic selves in a world where there are so many different ideas and opinions about what bodies should or shouldn't look like,

For example.

Who we should or shouldn't love.

It takes courage to know who we are,

To be vulnerable enough,

And then also discernment with who we consciously choose to be vulnerable with and to grow in our own understanding of ourselves and allow that power within to shine forth.

So let's take a look at what Dr.

Ernest Holmes writes as the founder of the Science of Mind teaching.

He says,

And he goes on to say,

That word,

Those words really resonate with me.

A divine urge to express.

For me,

I feel it kind of as like a bubbling sensation almost from my core and then it moves up and it's kind of like a fluttering in my heart and then it begins to kind of become articulated in my mind as what it is I am to say or do or express in a particular moment.

So we always have the divine potential of the universe seeking to express through us.

And just as we can observe this movement of energy and growth and vitality in the natural world around us,

It is also true in our lives.

When we are limited or unable to express ourselves fully,

The effects are far-reaching.

In a world that often seeks to contain or suppress our expression,

Vulnerability becomes an integral piece,

An actualizing spirit within.

Each of us is like those plants in the garden.

We are all unique with our own strengths and talents and gifts and quirks.

And just like each plant and flower in this garden,

We bring something special to the world.

And just like that garden needs a variety of different plants to thrive,

The world needs each of us to bring our uniqueness fully alive.

We don't need to go searching for some kind of divine purpose in the world.

We can simply trust that there is that divine urge of spirit within us that is pushing us always to the greater and greater expansion and expression of who we are.

To simply allow love to unfold and be expressed through us in each and every moment.

So let us embrace and recognize the value that we bring.

We are so beautiful in our own way.

And just like the garden,

We can thrive when we are nourished and supported.

When we are given the opportunity to express and allowed to express our true selves.

Of saying what is on our heart and stop holding back because we are afraid of what someone else may say or think about us.

When we realize that we are here to express spirit through us in the way that only we can know it,

Then we can let go of trying to do and be anything for anyone else.

Besides,

Of course,

Our core values of kind,

Loving,

Joyful,

Peace,

Right?

We are all a part of this beautiful garden.

A unique piece to the whole.

And it is only when we begin to see the value in all life,

Including beautiful Gaia,

Mother Earth herself,

That we can create a world that honors and uplifts everyone.

A world where love leads the way,

Where love is always the answer.

So this week I invite you to consider,

Is there something in your life that you are not saying or expressing?

Something that you are holding back?

A way that you are stopping yourself from living your full potential?

And how would embracing vulnerability support you in your own personal growth?

In order to allow for global transformation through personal evolution?

Putting to practice this idea of vulnerability through self-awareness.

By first noticing and acknowledging what is occurring right here,

Right now.

Checking in first with the body.

Noticing any physical sensations.

Scanning the body.

Hot spots.

Cold spots.

Tingling,

Pulsing,

Aching.

Just noticing.

And not making anything good or bad.

Just simply notice how you feel now.

And now noticing,

Checking in with how you are feeling right now.

Not how you felt when you woke up or even when you walked in the room or turned on the live stream.

But right here,

Right now.

What is stirring in your emotional field?

And perhaps noticing how it is connected with a physical sensation.

A swirling,

A pulsing,

A tingling,

An aching,

A bubbling.

Noticing and naming without judgment.

How you feel right now.

And then moving our awareness to our minds and noticing what thoughts are occurring right here,

Right now.

Becoming that observer and just listening and noticing to what we are thinking right now.

This practice is something that you can take with you throughout your week.

Just a couple of minutes to check in.

To practice self-awareness through being vulnerable.

And allowing yourself the space and the grace to simply notice what is going on in your physical body,

Your mental body,

Your emotional body.

And then opening your heart to that expansive place of love.

Releasing any judgment or shame that may come up by simply noticing what is occurring.

As I now speak this word,

This affirmative prayer,

Knowing and recognizing that there is one life moving in as and through all things as love,

As peace,

As freedom.

And this life is who I am.

And this is true for each and every one of us.

That love,

Wholeness,

Freedom,

Peace is who we are.

And there is this divine urge expressing through each of us to know,

To embody,

To integrate,

To express,

To allow spirit,

Life,

God,

Universe,

Whatever word works for you,

To allow this universal presence to be known more fully as this unique expression of life that you are.

Allowing the fullness and the beauty of the flower that you are to bloom,

To be seen,

To be known,

To be loved as you notice and love and appreciate all the beauty around you.

So I'm so grateful to speak this word and to know that right here,

Right now,

All is truly well.

That together we are creating this brave and safe space to be who we are and to love and nurture and honor each other.

So grateful for the fulfillment of this prayer as I release it into the action of the law that always says yes,

Yes,

Yes.

It is done.

It is so.

And so it is.