Yesterday one of my yoga teachers reminded me of a book I was listening to by Anodea Judith called “Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self.” I had gotten halfway through and abandoned it. Sometimes this happens when something doesn’t capture my interest. But other times, it’s because it brings up something deep inside me that I’m not quite ready to see. This book is like that with lots of gems of insight, so I had been taking it slowly. It incorporates so many things that have captivated my interest lately – Jungian psychology, somatic therapy, yoga, and the chakra system. And I was really getting a lot out of it, but just put it aside for a while and forgot about it.

Today, I picked it back up again and was struck by how Anodea Judith’s thoughts about power reminded me of Andy Crouch’s work in Strong and Weak. She discussed how in society today we see power as dichotomous with a victim and oppressor. But really, we all have individual power within ourselves that we often have given away – first to our parents, then to peers, and then to society. This power is not meant to be used to dominate others, but to exert our own freedom and independence. However, so many of us struggle in accessing this power. Instead, we live our lives on autopilot, doing what we “should” do based on outside influences.

I was trying to write tonight, struggling to get any words on paper. I can’t seem to do that lately and wonder if the concepts above are related. Am I too out of touch with my own power, my own autonomy, my own self to write? Does fear about what society and people might think keep me from allowing the words to flow? Do I even know how to access that power within myself?

I don’t know the answers to these questions. But I’m hoping that in sharing this, which is a bit outside my comfort zone, I will be taking a step in the “right” direction.