Ella Luckett Photo Credit: Phillip Van Nostrand http://phillipvn.com/ Slow steady confidence…. LEAN IN.
You’re facing downhill: gravity’s force begins to pull you, your boots tightly locked onto two thin rods that are meant to slide swiftly on cold snowy ground. The goal: to have fun, the challenge: controlled speed. The mission: to stay balanced while navigating the very forces you invited to your party. These forces provide the platform for your journey, and at the same time seem to try to throw you off your game at every turn. …The rule: Lean in...
It’s surprising really, the number of times I found myself pulling up out of my ski boots on this, only my third time skiing ever. It was like the fear of the speed and impending hard fall on icy ground caused me to think I could fly. Just float up out of the boots into the sky, away from danger. Fear causes us to resist and pull away, when often the answer is buried deep inside the thing we fear the most. Every time, I found myself pulling away, I had to consciously tell myself the rules: “Lean in, trust your skills, you got this.”
Successful motion fostered by deepened connection. The antithesis to resistance. Lean In.
And every time as I repeated these mantras at the exact moments that I got scared and felt out of control, the deepening worked. “Breath, be here, trust, have confidence.” Though it takes effort, it’s a smoother effort than resistance. Leaning in, is a connection of the whole body, every joint in conjunction, every breath full bodied, nothing can get in the way of your focus, especially not fear. Fear was always the culprit. It wasn’t the mountain, it wasn’t the ice, it wasn’t the angle of the hill, or divot in the ground, it was the fear that tightened, stiffened, and froze my body when things seemed out of control. Ultimately the ability to change that response to presence instead of resistance, and leaning in instead of pulling away, would save me, and let me glide, slide and enjoy the ride down the mountain.
…So you asked for this ride… You know the one, yeah, that one, the very ride that seems to be throwing you off your game right now. That relationship, or that decision, or that work project… Where and when are you not breathing, where and when do you tighten and try to fly away? Try deepening, where fear tells you to hold tight and resist. See what happens when you lean in.
You’re facing downhill: gravity’s force begins to pull you, your boots tightly locked onto two thin rods that are meant to slide swiftly on cold snowy ground. The goal: to have fun, the challenge: controlled speed. The mission: to stay balanced while navigating the very forces you invited to your party. These forces provide the platform for your journey, and at the same time seem to try to throw you off your game at every turn. …The rule: Lean in...
It’s surprising really, the number of times I found myself pulling up out of my ski boots on this, only my third time skiing ever. It was like the fear of the speed and impending hard fall on icy ground caused me to think I could fly. Just float up out of the boots into the sky, away from danger. Fear causes us to resist and pull away, when often the answer is buried deep inside the thing we fear the most. Every time, I found myself pulling away, I had to consciously tell myself the rules: “Lean in, trust your skills, you got this.”
Successful motion fostered by deepened connection. The antithesis to resistance. Lean In.
And every time as I repeated these mantras at the exact moments that I got scared and felt out of control, the deepening worked. “Breath, be here, trust, have confidence.” Though it takes effort, it’s a smoother effort than resistance. Leaning in, is a connection of the whole body, every joint in conjunction, every breath full bodied, nothing can get in the way of your focus, especially not fear. Fear was always the culprit. It wasn’t the mountain, it wasn’t the ice, it wasn’t the angle of the hill, or divot in the ground, it was the fear that tightened, stiffened, and froze my body when things seemed out of control. Ultimately the ability to change that response to presence instead of resistance, and leaning in instead of pulling away, would save me, and let me glide, slide and enjoy the ride down the mountain.
…So you asked for this ride… You know the one, yeah, that one, the very ride that seems to be throwing you off your game right now. That relationship, or that decision, or that work project… Where and when are you not breathing, where and when do you tighten and try to fly away? Try deepening, where fear tells you to hold tight and resist. See what happens when you lean in.
