Choosing Authenticity

I'm sitting here sipping on some iced Easy Day tea from Mountain Rose Herbs.  Whenever I drink this tea, I always feel calmer and that I am indeed having an easy day. It’s definitely the case today, as I spend another afternoon soul searching and dreaming up the most perfect existence. These days, I feel like I am becoming more myself. Giving myself this time to not work, but to sit outside with my coffee, to meditate, to journal, to talk to and be with people, to pray, to just be. This has been exactly what I've needed.  It hasn’t always been so easy and I doubt it will always be. The past three years have been full of major transformations, but isn’t it funny as we uncover those layers, we see other areas of our lives that need work?

I like Brene Brown’s work on shame and vulnerability and in reading through one of her books, I stumbled across her definition of authenticity: the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are. She says that authenticity is a practice, a conscious choice of how we want to live. It’s how to show up and be real. It’s the choice to let our true selves be seen.

Sounds pretty straightforward, right?  It’s the actual putting it into practice that gets me. You see, it has come to my attention that I have not been allowing myself to be fully who I am. I have not been completely authentic.

In not being fully authentic, I have allowed my soulful, joyful inner light to be dimmed out of fear of not being accepted. I have not allowed my light to fully shine. I have not accepted this beautiful God given gift out of fear. I have been in fear that if I allow myself to fully show up, that I will be rejected or worse, when in fact, this is the farthest thing from the truth. 


When I think back about all of the times in my life that I have allowed myself to fully be me, these are the times when I’ve felt the most loved, supported, respected, and cherished.

This block has been showing up in my work. I have been marketing my nutrition programs from a very clinical weight loss perspective when in fact, the benefits of my programs are actually geared toward guiding people to experience a very deep and profound transformation of the body, mind, emotions, heart and spirit.  Instead of calling my program the “6 week weight loss and metabolic tune up program,” I have collaborated with my good friend and life coach, Michelle D’Abundo and changed the name to, “Weight Loss from Within; A transformational 6 week program,” which far better describes my program. And instead of listing out the benefits of the program like this:

· Restores energy while allowing for safe and steady weight loss
· Inspirational program that includes participation in group exercises that are geared toward creative visualization, walking meditations, stress management techniques and more.
· Participants receive support: food, water, exercise, stress solutions, supplements, meditation and pranayama

I’ve decided to move to this:

· Be Inspired:  Live an empowered existence and create the life of your dreams
· Discover how to release old patterns of behavior, beliefs and toxic relationships to make space for that which truly serves your highest purpose
· Learn how to eat foods that are energizing while receiving loving support with water, exercise, stress solutions, supplements, meditation and pranayama

 
I want everything that I do to exemplify who I truly am…and it is now time to be fully me. Soulful. Peaceful. Joyful. Loving. Fully Authentic.  I am changing it up... and not allowing fear to stand in my way…fully embracing the gifts of who I am and sharing that with the world.

For years, I’ve had this nagging feeling that there is another kind of existence that is calling out to me. It’s almost like there is a part of me that knows there is another way, a better way of existing. Until recently, it has been obscure and inaccessible, no matter how much I try to access it. All I know is that it feels amazing…it feels really earthy, grounded, and nature filled. It is so full of God and depth and soulfulness and love and connection. 

Well, as I step into the magic of my life, my highest purpose, my true calling, I realize that I am manifesting this life now. I feel that this is exactly what I am creating. In fact, it is ME. I merely need to step aside and allow this higher truth to come forth.

This is the truth. I feel it in my heart. I feel God with me as I feel this to be true, to be right...I finally feel that with all that I am. Every cell is humming with this certainty. THIS is what I have been waiting for. Nutrition alone seemed too limiting. Yoga alone seemed too limiting. Ayurveda alone seemed too limiting. What was lacking was SOUL. All of these things have their place, but the SOULFUL component is what is needed here...and I feel so completely complete right now. All of a sudden, there is no sense of urgency to accomplish my programs...there is no fear around money or success...there is just an excitement to CREATE. I am filled with gratitude as I realize that I already AM what I am seeking.

With Infinite Blessings,
Jenna