My Warrior Way
Why accessing the warrior is part of self-care?
There is a book entitled, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, which often comes to mind when I think of embodying the warrior way for self-care. The book brings to life the story of a man following his heart through courage, to live a life of fullness, aligned with his own internal map. I was inspired by his story and realized that I do this way of life too.
It is one thing to do the pose depicted above and another to take the messages of warrior into every day life for the purpose of taking care of yourself.
Years ago when I was in the pose of Virabhadrasana 1, I was instructed to open my heart, not too much through force, rather to soften and open through the front and back of my heart. In that moment I aligned with my inner heart warrior and it stuck. I now consider myself a heart warrior, which means many things for me. It means that I live with my mind at service to my heart, it means that I take the warrior way into my days, as I navigate the energy of life. I am the warrior in my car, in the lines at the bank, the grocery store, even in my meditations. My warrior way is about loving, protecting, surrendering, balance, courage, and fierceness, to name a few traits. It is a key player in my support team for self-care, we all need a support team for self-care, in my opinion.
I would like to offer another person's story and perspective––Check out the image below, found on the site for Stephan Sifandos. I am impacted by the interwoven symbols and I am impressed with Sifandos raw description of shifting his life through facing his darkness and shadow. He writes about being a conscious warrior, which I believe directly aligns with being a heart warrior. It is not all about Light and Love in the heart. Well...Love is always under the dark and Light can be used to navigate the shadows and darkness. It is essentially a balance, an infinity pattern running through the heart to wake us up to the WARRIOR WAY!
Where does the warrior live in you?
It is important to look inward, explore and experiment to find your inner warrior and what it means to you personally. Often times it is a calling from the soul, which could be a significant event in your life that 'forces' you to stop and examine the trajectory of your life. Such as described in the about section of the Stephan Sifandos, or in my case, when I hit rock bottom and found myself curled up on a bathroom floor wondering who I was and how I was going to find the strength to change. It was the threat of pharmaceutical drugs that shook me awake, I was not going to depend on drugs to help, instead I listened to my heart's calling (the warrior inside) to go to an Ashram and dive deep in.
What techniques can be used to cultivate and develop a relationship with your inner warrior?
I recently posted a short simple practice on my Youtube channel that can help you connect to your inner warrior. It is in-the-moment access to whatever you associate with the warrior. Another reason why it is important to explore for yourself.
Another approach that works wonders is through a visualization. I invite you to read the next paragraph and then try this one out. You may want to write down your experience afterwards. Find a quiet place that you can sit with no interruptions, maybe light a candle or put some relaxing music on.
Connect with your breath and scan over your body. When you feel ready imagine yourself in a beautiful natural setting. You are comfortable, safe and at peace. You are looking around at the beauty and you notice in the distance a figure walking towards you. You are intrigued and welcoming to this visitor, because you know that it is your personal warrior coming to visit and share with you. Your warrior slowly approaches you. You take notice of their features and what feelings they conjure up for you. In their hands is a gift you for. They lift and extend their hands towards you. You receive it with an open heart. Thank your warrior and allow them to fade into your heart, so that you may call on them again.
Slowly come out of the visualization and make note of your experience.
I believe we all have warriors and other guides to support us, they live in our imaginations, and hearts—in the places of magic we always have access to.
Thank you for being part of my life and engaging in my blog. Love and Light!
If you would like a free consult with me, e-mail me at margoleeburton@gmail.com or fill out my online form at margoleeburton.com. We can talk and I will share what I offer and if it is not a good fit, I will offer other suggestions to get you on track.