Feminine strength in a time of chaos | by Danielle Visarius

In the past centuries, in a world that has been predominantly masculine, ‘strength’ has mainly appeared in this way too: the strength to ‘push through’ difficult situations. The ability to stay focused and not let us be overtaken by emotions. To function from the mind and ‘get shit done’. To make to do lists and discipline ourselves to achieve these. To keep going for our goals and let nothing stop us on the way. The strength to hyper focus on specific themes and tackle the challenges, like a predator sets his eyes on the prey. To find solutions to problems, no matter what that problem is. To reward professions and people that possess and display these qualities.

There’s no doubt that these masculine qualities are of immense value. That we needed these and we will need those again. However….

Nothing can exist without the other pole. When masculine strength goes without the feminine, strength becomes force. Direction becomes control. Expansion becomes exhaustion. Growth becomes depletion.

Right now, we experience chaos and destruction. Forest fires, ocean floods, hurricane storms and a world-wide virus…. Old systems are collapsing, truth is brought to light and suddenly targets and chasing after goals are worth nothing compared to the soft, nurturing, caring, self-sacrificing and heart-led qualities needed to feed us all and take care of our sick and injured.

It is the feminine power in action and she uses her immense strengths, to clear the way back to balance.

On an individual level we are being stopped in our tracks, sat down in front of our worst demons, forced to rest in the not knowing … and the only ‘way out’ that is shown to us, is to go IN.

And it is IN-here that we will find those strengths that we need the most right now. It is clear that right now, the more masculine qualities are not the ones helping us the most. We can’t plan the unknown. We can’t come up with a strategy for chaos. We can no longer think our way out of the waves of emotions that we are moving through collectively.

We can’t control nature and the necessary destruction that she brings.

But what we can do is tap into the immense inner (feminine) strengths that exist in ALL of us. Because it is this wisdom that knows how to flow with chaos and surrender to the unpredictable ocean of life. And the amazing thing is, that this wisdom can simply be accessed through the body.

I find strength in listening to my body and I discover time after time that she holds all that I need to know right now.

When I feel afraid or worried because my mind is trying to control the situation outside myself, reconnecting to my body gives me an anchor. My body has become my compass to navigate whatever situation I find myself in (when my mind is not in the way that is!).

When you take a moment to pause, breath and listen to your body, you will start to notice how it speaks to you, all the time.

The strength of the feminine is to open to the truth we are presented with. To open to the signposts of a world that seems to be outside ourselves, but is actually just reflecting our inner world.

Ask these helpful questions:

What do I see in the world around me, that is a reflection of me?

How do I feel and what do these feelings tell me?

The body helps us to rest in the ‘not knowing’. When we feel, we can’t think at the same time and our head becomes quiet. It is in this stillness, in this resting, that we can access the infinite possibilities that our mind can’t possibly access (as it can only recycle what it already knows). It is here that our creativity lives. Our life force. Our biggest strength of all.

Strength for me is this willingness to draw our attention back inside and become present with whatever we find in there. To literally move with the feelings of discomfort and explore the wisdom they hold. To lean into our pain, knowing that the treasure is on the other side. To soften into the rainbow of emotions, knowing that they are all valid and there to point our way home.

Every time I soften to my pain, to my fears, to my fight and to my flight; I discover they were there to serve me. Every time I let go of the control of the mind and open to what is happening inside, I always come away with more clarity, love and compassion. Every time I surrender to the death of what no longer serves me, new life energy is released.

The strength we need the most right now, is to connect to (our) nature and let that be our guide.

Nature shows us how everything is part of life and equally fulfils a purpose. In the forest, new life is constantly nourished by death of the old. New sprouts grow from dead branches and dead leaves nourish the soil.

Balance can only be kept or restored by letting the old die-off and when we find the strength to surrender to this natural phenomenon, we discover that the seemingly dead, rotten forest floor is actually full of life and new beginnings.