Your permission slip to freedom 🧾

June 30, 2024

Often at this time of year, I say I am going to go more slowly and enjoy the summer months, take long walks, play games with the family and chill out and relax.

And I can hear the inner gremlins lurking in the background:

You can’t do that!  There is so much to do!!

People are counting on you.

You are soo lazy and self indulgent! Get to work!

Must be nice to just “relax”.  What a privilege!

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

I know these are not the voices of truth and empowerment. They are the conditioned voices we all have inherited from our ancestors, culture and our conditioning.

We are, after all, seduced by a culture of doing, keeping up, not missing out, and staying ‘ahead’ of the game. Social media has intensified the pace and so has our need to compare ourselves with others.

The feeling of falling behind is rooted in a scarcity mindset, “if we don’t hurry, do more, or stay on top of the situation, we will fall behind, miss out, or lose something!

Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh MY!

At the core of this scarcity mindset is fear. And managing fear is exhausting.

When you speak or act from fear, you are caught up in the matrix of lies and feel lost. You lose connection with your truest self. You follow the flow of others, rather than honor your own pace, you create unnecessary stress–which inevitably takes you off course and creates drama in your relationships and in your life.

The truth is, you are not free if you are believing the lies your culture is feeding you.

I say, it’s time to honor your own rhythm.

Because, these voices are not, in fact, the path to freedom or self – empowerment. Yours or anyone else’s.

These voices disempower and enslave you, when you are not aware that they are driving your choices and behaviors.

Being aware and choosing consciously is how you create yourself as an empowered mother, woman, and human being. 

And that is the key to everyone’s freedom.

I once had a boss who would say, “Less is more!” And all these years later, I can finally see how right he was.

So, yes, I am committed to moving slowly and doing less this summer and it feels good and free and right and aligned and yes, it also feels scary.

Regardless, I commit to trusting that there is enough time, that I am not behind, and that whatever pace feels good to me and my body in the moment is the right pace for my journey.

And I trust that everything else will fall into place as it should.

As nature teaches us.

The sloth does not try to go at the pace of the jaguar, and the lion does not try to go at the pace of the snake.

Every animal in nature honors its own pace.

Let nature lead you.

What about you? Do you feel called to slow down?

Let’s create more freedom within by coming home to your truest self.  

Here is a fun prompt to play with. 

“If I had nothing I needed to do today, what would I do?” 

Choose one day this week to play with this prompt. Ask yourself the question when you wake up in the morning and sit in stillness for 5 minutes and notice what arises. Take a few minutes to journal what you become aware of and just get curious! 

Come to think of it, I am curious too. I’d love to hear what you become aware of, no judgment, it’s just a game.

Reply here and let me know what you think.

Here’s to more freedom for one and all.

in trust and gratitude,

Annmarie Chereso
Author, Speaker, Coach, & Meditation Teacher