5 Ways To Respond to Healer Imposter Syndrome
1. Get to know your shadows and inner voice
Make no mistake: You are a healer. The more you can lean into owning that, the better. Learn to acknowledge the voices telling you the opposite (They might sound like: You can't heal, you're too messed up! EVERYONES a healer, I'm not special, etc.). The more familiar you become with these voices, noting when they come and go, the more prepared you will be to respond in your Power. I'd like to offer the practice of Naming your shadows or negative spirits (e.g.Imposter Syndrome Iris, Jealous Jacob etc.). This makes them more familiar, and therefore less potent, so you can more easily and confidently tell them to return from where they came and let you grow. Meditating can help identify thought patterns that need attention. You. ain't. got. time. to doubt yourself:)
2. Make Expression Your Job
Make it a practice to create and maintain an altar, home, wardrobe and community surrounding you that closely represents who you are. Expressing yourself in your outerworld means you're engaging with the voices within, trusting and building your intuition (a healer's biggest power!). Have fun vibing out the best colors to surround yourself with, textures to feel and general flow/ vibe of the world around you. What are you ATTRACTED to? The answers, more often than not, may surprise and delight you as you get to know and entertain your true Self.
3. Cultivate and Normalize Joy
You're allowed to have fun on this healing healers journey and oh by the way? If you don't balance all the trauma and shadows you're going to process and hold space for, you WILL be dragged down. Release the narrow minded meme of the pious, holy martyr healer. Release the shame in feeling good in a world that can often feel bad. Keep a practice of joy seeking, using your high vibration intuition to follow what lights you up. Feeling the freedom to call in laughter, relationships, all nighters, refreshments and adventures is part of being an effective, balanced community healer and human.
4. Get comfortable taking Baby Steps again
It's ok to think Big Picture but for real movement forward into your healing work, break things down into steps. Sometimes it's easier to lose the day imagining and THINKING about how to move forward (Air/Water Signs). Other days we drown ourselves with task related minutiae hoping that a sent email or website tweak will create some huge opportunity and give us validation that we're doing something, ANYTHING (Fire/Earth Signs). To avoid the kind of overwhelm that can stop you in your tracks, create small achievable goals and go through the process of completing them, one at a time, celebrating every time you say YES! and challenge yourself to commit to the process of growth. The sum of the steps becomes the journey, the manifestation. The more you move forward the more you'll get clues and inspiration about what to do next. Be ok with both the highlights and awkard-lights of growth. You can not see the full picture clearly because it's being created as you go along! As one of my mentors so wisely stated, "Action Creates Clarity". (@vanessacouto)
5. Acknowledge and follow the guidance you’ve already been given
Most of us have been given an assignment or next step in our journeys but feel a huge block/resistance in saying “YES!” to it. This assignment most likely presents a challenge or requires that we make a tough choice, maybe even a sacrifice. If you’re like me, you’ve made a string of bizarre choices to avoid taking said step.... Make note: there is nothing outside of you that will give you the WILL. Any sort of medicine, ceremony counself etc will merely illuminate and remind you of the way. The PROCESS of moving outside of your comfort zone is like, the whole thing! It’s in that process that you learn and encounter everything you need for the next level you’re moving into. You cannot skip the growth process and grow my Beloved Healing Family! There’s no shortcut, there’s no way to avoid the uncomfortability on the way to newness and expansion. You best make awkwardness your teacher and constant friend lol (Uncomfortable Uma). It is our collective human mission, to show up as fully ourselves as possible. As you begin to express yourself more clearly, confidently and truthfully, yes, it might feel like you're gonna die. And in a way, a part of you is! Take heart: The process of stepping into healing work may not get easier but it does get more familiar the more you do it. It flows easier as you begin to release self limiting beliefs and rigid expectations. Be brave, earn your calluses, be a friend to yourself and give yourself credit as it comes due.
