The Yin Alchemist: Reclaiming the Unique Superpowers of Women

What does it mean to be a powerful woman??

Some 22 years ago, amidst a major crisis at age 40, this question was posed by my therapist, “Georgia, what does a powerful real-you even look like?”.? ?Not often have I been speechless, but this was one of those times. No image of a ‘powerful me’ came to my mind nor could I feel it, at least not enough to call myself empowered.? And as far as the REAL me?? ?The truth was, for most of my life, the true me was hidden out of fear of rejection. ?

For decades I focused on achievement and getting ahead, according to my definition. Yet even with success, I often felt afraid and unworthy and disassociated. ?Like many, I was ready to face truths and redefine what it meant to be powerful. ?Perhaps there truly was a magnificent Goddess within me?

Since the diminishment of matriarchal societies (3,000 BCE), power has been defined through a male paradigm.? In schools, work, community, and family – power is seen through the masculine lens, including the ability to assert, plan, compete, win, act, force, task, manage, drive, set outcomes, be rigid, seize, push, organize, form logic around, build, control, and dominate. ?No doubt, these “doing” male superpowers have advanced society.

The feminine paradigm - women’s superpowers - is different but no less relevant. ?Consider the range of qualities including wisdom, intuition, emotional intelligence, allowing, multiple intelligences, nurture, creativity, processing, birthing, empathy, open, compassion, presence, collaborative, relational, co-creative, helpful, sensual, fluid, mindful, receptive, forgiving, spiritual, and mysterious.? ?These “subtle” superpowers are the glue that holds life together.

Every woman grapples with power, as well as ideas of who they really are.? Shaped through early life experiences and media, our identity is formed void of the language of feminine power.? Change, however, is just a perspective away.?

Imagine, for a moment, if both girls and boys learned:

-Intuition strengthens critical thinking and sound decision making.

-Self-care fosters life balance, physical health and productivity.

-Sharing ideas fuels ingenuity and expands potential.

-Feelings let us know when we are in and out of balance.

-Creative experience expands intelligence.

-Sensuality is a life force, not sex.

-There are many ways of knowing and perceiving.

-Empathy is a bridge to solving problems.

-Helping others find their power is true community.

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How would YOU be different if these qualities were taught while growing up? ???

Would companies, government, and cities change if women’s superpowers were represented equally in leadership and influence-making????

Could the behaviors and beliefs of boys and men shift if they, too, tapped into their feminine power within?

As Buddha suggested, the balancing of Yin and Yang is a divine process always unfolding that cannot be stopped. Simply implied, we can try to forget one aspect of ourselves, but it always seeks equilibrium; to be seen, expressed and heard as an important part of the greater whole.?

There resides a deep vast well of power potential inside us all, if we broaden our understanding of power to include both the Yin and Yang within.

On a civic level, honoring the feminine is becoming more tangible; as laws and policies change, as toxic masculinity is addressed at work and home, and as longstanding injustices are prosecuted. The reality is, however, as individuals and as a society, half of our potential can only be realized if feminine power is diminished.?

Once reclaimed, women’s superpowers invite an alchemy that exponentially increases the magic of creating, coalescing, and transforming every aspect of life.? That, to me, sounds like prosperity for everyone.??

Now... what does a powerful real-you look like?