At my acupuncture session this week, I was rocking a new sweatshirt I got from a metal show (Aborted fuck yeah), with my hippie attire underneath – a brown dress and blue, flowy organic cotton pants.
At some point during our session, my acupuncturist said “I love the dichotomy of you”, referring to the juxtaposition between my death metal sweatshirt and my peace-and-love hippie clothing.
To me, this was a compliment; and a long time coming. You see, I’m used to living in two worlds. Metalhead and Hippie. Logical Engineer and Spiritual Healer. At times, I’ve been confused, and even concerned, about my apparent incongruencies. But this is who I am: a montage of seemingly contradictory influences that combine to make me the dynamic person that I am.
This compliment was appreciated because I have not always felt accepted for all of me. There was always some part of me that I felt the need to either hide or defend; I could never feel totally comfortable around anyone, because no matter what, there was always something about me that they would not like or understand.
I hear similar experiences from my clients. Again and again, people come to me seeking to remove the blocks that keep them from feeling free to be themselves.
This experience is common because, as humans, we equate fitting in with surviving. The need to survive by fitting in goes against another very important need: authentic self-expression. So we can find ourselves in a double bind, which results in an incredible amount of anxiety.
As we enter a new (some say Aquarian) age, more personal freedom is afoot. People are letting their freak flags fly, with less and less violence and resistance.
In this new world, trying to “survive”, while sacrificing our authenticity, actually causes a whole new kind of anxiety: one that is keeping people stuck in cycles of depression, fear, and dissatisfaction with their life.
Does this resonate with you? Do you find yourself in a state of “hiding”, scared of what your partner, friends, family or coworkers would think about you if you revealed who you really are? Or perhaps you are constantly anxious, worried about what people think, or overly judgmental of others around you; these are all signs of a terrified inner child, who just wants to be seen, but has no idea how to do so without facing negative consequences.
In my work, we create a safe, expansive space for you to gently let your true self be seen, heard, and understood, thereby healing childhood trauma that kept your true self squashed. More than that, I give you practical communication and emotional skills that will transform your ability to express yourself (safely) to people in your life. We get to also remove energetic blocks that keep you trapped in cycles of self-defeat; moving you toward the freedom you so desperately need (woohoo!).
I invite you to inquire: how much of me is in hiding? How would my life be better if I could be 100% myself? In what ways can I be myself without sacrificing my survival? How is the inability to be true to myself affecting my mental and emotional health on a daily basis?
(Pssst… you don’t need to answer those questions alone. Apply for a Free Session with me, where you’ll receive expert support to guide yourself to a new level of understanding about your mental health challenges, and how they can be fixed for good.) <3
https://go.etherealecology.com/intro-session-application
I’m here for you (the real you)!
Kelly Janae
Ethereal Ecology 