Not long after my first dream, I had another. In it, I am on my way to a dance party in the basement of a warehouse in some unknown city. As I begin descending the stairs, panic overtakes me along with a feeling of being totally out of control.
In the next instant, a friendly Disney-like character appears beside me. He takes my hand and explains: “The reason you fear others is because you give up your space as soon as you are around them. You were trained this way as a child, and it is crippling you as an adult. The trick is to stay connected to your second chakra, the relational seat of your energetic system, no matter what, or who, is around you. Imagine a point two inches below the naval and focus on it every time you feel the “out-of-control” panic welling up. With practice, you will be able to stay grounded in your own energetic system no matter what is going on around you.”
I began my practice the following day, knowing that reprogramming my psyche would not happen overnight, but rather, slowly and organically over time. As I healed, I saw that many women in our culture are trained to give away their space, and therefore their power. It is one of the fundamental reasons we suffer from depression and anxiety at much higher rates than men.
Healing is intimately tied to self-empowerment. Reclaiming your space is a necessary step on the road to personal sovereignty, and one of the foundational gateways to freedom.
