Releasing Your Inner Splendor
When do you feel most fully alive?
How do you experience a sense of freedom and joy in your life?
Feeling joy is one of the clearest signs that we are “dancing with the Divine” in our lives. You may have felt joy in movement—practicing yoga or tai chi, running through a field of newly mown grass, or walking along the beach as the sun was rising. You may have experienced joy when doing something you loved, like painting a breathtaking landscape, singing a favorite song, creating a scrumptious meal, or simply being in nature, feeling a sense of oneness with what is.
My inner spirit led me to reconnect with the joy in my life through ballroom dancing. Early on, when I was beginning to learn ballroom dancing and discovering that many of the lessons mirrored lessons I’d learned on my spiritual journey, I began receiving messages from my inner spirit about dancing:
I want you to dance.
Dance out the fears, the pain, the hurt, the disappointments, the anger, all that keeps you from experiencing the joy within you.
Don’t hold back.
For as you dance, you will find your own rhythm; you will find the dance of your life.
You will release the imprisoned splendor within yourself, the part of you that has been lost.
Dance as though nothing matters but the dance.
“Release the imprisoned splendor”? What did that mean? I intuitively knew that, for me, the words (which I recognized from the poem “Paracelsus” by Robert Browning) meant that there was more to dancing than simply learning the steps and the choreography; it was also about going deep within and finding and expressing my inner spirt—my imprisoned splendor.
Within each one of us is that splendor—that divine essence—which may be covered up by doubts, fears, disappointments, and hurts of the past. Our lives are the opportunity to uncover and express our imprisoned splendor. But how do we do that?
Our feelings are guideposts to times when we have released our imprisoned splendor. When we feel fully alive, when we experience a sense of freedom and joy in our lives, when we feel connected to our inner spirit, we are releasing our imprisoned splendor.
You can begin to release your imprisoned splendor and feel greater joy in your life by:
Discovering what brings you joy and making time for it in your life.
So often we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our lives and wonder why we feel out of balance and harmony with ourselves. Feeling joy is an indication that we’re in touch with our inner spirit and releasing our inner splendor.
Make a list of the things that bring you joy and then make time each day, even if only five or ten minutes, to engage in an activity that brings you joy. You may have so much fun doing this activity that you’ll want to expand it to a half hour, a few hours each day, or one day a week.
Sharing your talents, skills, and gifts with others.
Our special talents, skills, and gifts may or may not be those with which we earn a living but often are hidden in the things we love to do, the things that give our lives purpose and meaning. You may love to share your gifts through teaching, writing, gardening, wood carving, dancing, or being a peaceful presence in someone’s live.
What brings a sense of purpose and meaning to your life? How have you shared your talents and gifts with others in a way that made you—and the receiver—feel empowered, supported, loved? What step can you take in the next forty-eight hours to share your talents and gifts in a way that brings you this sense of purpose and meaning? (Ask your inner spirit for guidance, and trust that you’ll be guided to just the right gift at the right time.)
Living Authentically.
Nothing helps us release our imprisoned splendor more than being true to ourselves—speaking our truth, honoring our own unique path in this world, being willing to trust our inner spirit to guide us. When we feel at peace, when we feel in harmony with ourselves, when we know we’ve acted in accordance with our highest truth, then we know we’re living authentically.
Think about any situation in your life in which you’re not being true to yourself. Maybe you’re trying to please others or are about to make a decision based on what you think you should do but that doesn’t feel right to you. Ask yourself one or more of these questions:
What is right for me?
What is most important to me right now?
How can I express myself in the highest and best possible way in this situation?
Once again, think of the situation where you’re not being true to yourself, but this time imagine yourself responding in the most authentic way possible for you. Notice how you feel as you respond from this authentic place inside you, from your splendor. Continue visualizing yourself in this situation until you feel empowered to speak and act from your authentic self.
You are on your way to releasing your inner splendor and experiencing greater freedom and joy in your life!
You are learning to more fully “dance with the Divine”.
Enjoy the dance!
Adapted from “Releasing the Imprisoned Splendor” in Dancing with the Divine