I took a liking to viewing myself as a warrior several years ago. Part of this lingo was derived from my appreciation of Pema Chodron. Pema is a beautiful kickass Buddhist nun who is so real about the day to day battles we go through to overcome our fears.

Seeing myself and others as warriors gives me a context to place challenges in. If I am a warrior, then I have a mission when it comes to pain and suffering; instead of pain and suffering being this unsurmountable icky blob that takes over my life. This word gives me strength and courage to face challenges as they come. It allows me to pick myself up time and time again, healing more deeply the next time around, and inspires me to teach others that they are more than capable of doing the same.

And where are these challenges taking us warriors and warrior-esses?

They are actually not taking us anywhere. What is actually happening is a letting go, an unlearning if you will of all the false ideas we've had about ourselves, all of the fears we've stored up as a layers of tension in our body, and a deeper realization of our True Self, the wise, loving voice, teacher, parent, and artist of our lives from within.

The first time I started to get a notion of this was when I was learning and teaching Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) as an intern and then as a therapist. DBT called it Wise Mind. Yet it always still felt intangible to me. Which I recognize now, is a stage on the journey. 

Essentially, you have heard this term many times over before. Some call it intuition. Others call it a sixth sense. Spirit. Awareness. Inner Guide. We all have one. Yours ain’t better or worse than anyone else’s. It’s intelligent, loving, and hella awesome. Simple to access in theory? Yes. Instantaneous recognition for most folk? No. Why? The built in “forgetting” mechanisms that we each have that sideswipe us on a moment to moment basis from BEING.HERE.NOW. Why? Because we needed to forget and survive certain experiences in our lives that we were unable to process. 

My life is about this journey to wise mind and I know yours is too. I am a Wise Mind Warrior-ess because I will do ANYTHING in my power to uncover my wise mind, my inner guide. You will hear me call it many things but it all boils down to this..

What do we all have that is with us all of the time?

What is, always has been, and always will be free?

What is this universal thing, that it doesn’t matter what you look like, how much money you have, what mood you are in, or what you ate for breakfast?

YOUR TRUE SELF.

I am a Wise Mind Warrior-ess…..are you???