Tap with me and Morgan–watch video
This month we’ve been focusing on your identity as a woman
and how this may imprison you, how being a woman feels
restricting in general, how your looks box you in, and today
Morgan and I discuss how religion (not spirituality) can feel suffocating.
We have decided to break out of the people-pleasing box and just be us.
So our content will question the norms, the paradigms, the
beliefs we’ve taken on without questioning them. This can feel
scary because we give up and structure and live in limbo while
we do this, but ultimately it’s FREEING!
You’ll either resonate with us or you won’t, and that’s OK. We don’t
want to force our beliefs on you any more than we want you to
force your beliefs upon yourself. That’s the whole point.
Let’s loosen the grip of beliefs upon ourselves, and I’m guilty
of the same thing. I like things to look a certain way too, especially
my living space. I will put keeping the house clean before
connecting with others.
How Tithing Helped Me Re-define God
About 12 years ago, I began going to a local church in my area
around St. Louis, MO. A woman spoke and she encouraged us to
tithe (give 10% or more) for 6 months to the church and see what
happened. She was saying that we’d receive so much more in return.
I did this religiously (no pun intended) and on the first day
after the 6 months when I decided to only donate 5%, I got in a car
accident that caused a lot of damage to my car and my mom’s
garage. I remember making this mean that God was punishing me.
I had defined God as a figure much like my earthly father,
who would give me conditional love and judge me for my flaws.
I was able to re-define God as a Source of Unconditional Love
as I worked through this painful experience.
Morgan’s Mormon Journey
Morgan grew up Mormon, and over time, she came to question
its tenets and rules. She could no longer squeeze them into her
heart and mind in a way that felt right.
At first she was upset and angry when leaving the religion
because it felt like a betrayal on some level. But now she recognizes
the gifts of the experience, how it helped her grow as a person.
And it provided her a stable upbringing with a solid community
and taught her a great work ethic and communication skills.
Morgan provides a tapping video above on relieving the pain
and suffering from feeling repressed by your religion.
How to Tap if you’re not sure how (see this video)
Pro of Religion: They Bring People Together
With Common Purpose
There are many GOOD and amazing things about religions,
probably the greatest being their ability to bring us together
with a common purpose, which I propose should be to love,
give and serve, to UNITE.
The world could certainly use a bit more unity right now. And
to that extent, more power to them. However, there are some
things about religion, like the belief that one religion is better
than another and has figured out the sovereign Truth, that brings
about a lot of suffering.
This belief creates more division. When we are divided as a people,
we are conquered. When we believe that others are wrong, and
we are right, everyone hurts.
It makes us feel separate. We judge others as selfish, ignorant,
cruel, and we bestow our pity (or maybe even hatred) upon them.
What if God (however you define that) is bigger than all of
these religious beliefs combined? What if the Universe is simply
Love…or Energy that’s shaping itself into everything we see
and experience?
What if you could still feel part of your religion, just be you, and
ditch the shame and guilt for not being perfect and not following
all the rules? What if you didn’t have to believe everything taught,
but embrace the love in the community? Let that be enough…
To Be Free of People Pleasing We Need to Be Comfortable
in Our Own Skin
We are renegades and question beliefs, including our own. We
value freedom to be ourselves without harsh self-judgment. When
we do this, we have much more love to connect and be close.
In order to be free of people pleasing, we need to get comfortable
in our own skin—body, mind, heart and soul. In other words, we need
to embrace our thoughts, feelings and sensations as a unique human.
Accept our beliefs (first step to change) and yet be willing to
surrender them. This is a dance of sorts.
In the mean time, join Morgan and I. We are on a mission to
free ourselves from the restraints of limiting beliefs and truly
be free to express ourselves and allows others to do the same.
Join The Shifters: Women’s Holistic Empowerment.
Much Love,
Angie
