Here’s a small sign that you’ve disconnected from yourself: You’re in a group trying to decide where to eat and you’re like, “Wherever you want.” Maybe you’re thinking “I’m easy.” And that’s fine. But if you get to the restaurant and scan the menu and can’t figure out what you Read more…
This exercise involves answering a question from the heart in order to get to the truth of who you are. When I did this with my friend Jennifer Urezzio, I was in a roomful of strangers, raw and tearful because I had failed to get through the main exercise of the day. In this vulnerable state, Jennifer kept asking me “What do you do?” Finally, my ego was so exhausted from trying to defend myself that I just blurted out, “I bring people together. I hold space. I shake things up.” At that moment, it was like the clouds parted and my heart lightened. I knew I had finally waded through the fear and gotten to a kernel of truth about myself.
This activity is best done in a group setting where you don’t see the questions ahead of time, and everyone draws one at random right before her turn. I’m not gonna lie. This can get really intense. The measure of success here is not how polished your answers are (this is not a “public speaking” exercise in the toastmaster sense). The point is not to be eloquent, slick, or impressive, but to speak from the heart. And short of that, the point is to learn what is getting in the way of speaking our truth.
Each question the follows is a heart-centered question, but depending on the person, some might be more challenging than others. Pay attention to where your answer comes from. Try to catch yourself speaking from your head/ego. You will know when you are in that energy if you feel stuck trying to edit your words or if your answer sounds canned or neatly packaged for an interview.
As much as you can, breathe, stay in your heart and remember to rely on the public speaking tool kit we just learned. (more…)
Four years ago, when my work with Minds On Fire really picked up momentum, I realized that I needed a new way of speaking my truth in the world, and I turned to Naaz Hosseini to help me. I call her a voice coach, but she is so much more than that because she really approaches her work from a holistic perspective. Before we even open our mouths to speak, for example, she has clients really get into their bodies and create a supportive environment within and without. I present a loose overview of the material in her free e-book, Speak From Your Heart. These tips are great for pulling out whenever you need to speak your truth, in a meeting, over a meal, in conversation, or before an audience. (more…)
AGREEMENTS
Even though everyone who showed up this month were Dreamers & Schemers veterans, it was really important for me to go over the agreements given the sensitive nature of the work we were going to do around the throat chakra and speaking our truth from the heart. I reminded everyone that we were there to honor ourselves and our own truth. We would be working at voicing our truth but also recognizing our current limits. We also agreed to honor others, and their truth, and honor their process, however that looked today. And we agreed that to honor beginner’s mind by seeing our truth as coming in the moment, rather than relying on what had been true for us in the past, or voicing what we think our truth “should” be according to our ego or external forces.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
Everyone thought they’d dodged a bullet because we’d skipped over the questions last month in the interest of time. But this month saw the return of the repressed (mwahaha) and I put the questions I’d originally planned to them: When is it easy, medium, and hard for you to speak your truth? For easy, I also included scenarios where it might have been hard in the past, but with work it’s become easy. I played along, of course, so here are my answers: (more…)
Why Dreamers & Schemers? Because we are what’s born in the dark.
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.