The lioness is just as powerful in her potential state as she is in her active state.
She doesn’t need to be doing to be powerful.
We all know what is possible, despite the languidness of her laying in the grass or sauntering through her terrain.
Observing her I learned:
It is deeply grounding to remember that rest is what precedes powerful action.
It is deeply realistic to remember that rest is not a luxury.
It is deeply important to remember no one can give you rest but yourself.
I have, in my past, been gifted the space and a time for rest but could not give myself the permission to sink into it. I did not know that my mind needed first to see that rest had equal value to what I thought I should otherwise be accomplishing. I did not know how to discharge my body through gentle stretching and shaking out, so that it could rest.
I am fortunate enough to be recently back from 25 game drives in South Africa where almost daily, in three different reserves, I got to witness the dynamics of many different prides of lion.
I learned a lot about myself and the human experience by soaking in the behavior of the incredible creatures I witnessed.
The lioness was one of the best instructors.
The “King of the Jungle” males get most of the attention for their size and power. But in fact, the lioness does most of the hunting, most of the protecting and raising of the family and in fact keeps the males in check regarding the aggressive behavior they usually exhibit towards their young. She literally makes sure that if the male lion is around, the young still get to eat.
These are really burdensome responsibilities, one piled upon the next. What I saw however, was a very powerful, fully able bodied creature spending a good bit of time in deep rest. When she wasn’t actively doing, she was resting or enjoying the company of her full family (pride). Even when she was walking towards finding a kill, she did so slowly and with gentle observation…walking and seeing what was needed, not hunting in the way I assumed from all of the nature specials I had watched.
Her focus is incredible and for certain, right before a kill it is very consuming of her body’s energy. Nevertheless, I got to see her do what needed to be done using her innate nature and then going back into a place of doing whatever she most wanted to do once her responsibilities were complete.
It was evident to me that the power she has comes from this exact balance.
This is a balance that has not been disturbed by cultural descriptions of what she should be doing, running through her mind.
She does what she does well and then does what she wants to do.
How can you go into this weekend with this way of being that honors your nature? A thought to ponder is:
“I get to rest in the way that is directly linked to who I am and what I need – balancing my deeply capable doing self with my connection to what I most want to feel.”
Repower yourself through finding the parts of you that know that you deserve rest, we all do.
Tap into this inner knowing that understands when things are balanced, the powerful is possible.