Meet Your Inner Tigress

Priscilla A. Wainwright, Ph.D., CPC

            If you’re down on yourself, lack courage, frequently second-guess yourself, are plagued with self-doubt and self-criticism, have a history of abuse, or are overly deferent or submissive, or don’t recognize your true outer and inner beauty, chances are you Have Yet To Meet Your Inner Tigress!

            Perhaps you have had fleeting glances of her padding through the jungle of your life.    She would appear for brief moments, and then disappear again into the underbrush.    You would stare in wonder, but never be sure when she would appear again.

            She would show up for brief moments, and then be gone again in a flash, and you never knew who or what she truly was.    Perhaps you stood in awe of her beauty and power, but she was gone again before you could fully appreciate her or take it all in.

            Well, Sister, you are about to embark on a magnificent adventure.  In the midst of your jungle, there is a clearing, - a peaceful, quiet space.

            Your Inner Tigress awaits you there.     She is beckoning to you at this very moment.    She is longing to embrace you, enter you, fill your spirit, and live through you.

            She is both your Champion and Inner Goddess.    She loves you, believes in you, and desperately desires to empower you to live fully as the totally magnificent, glorious woman you were born and meant by your creator to be.

            You and she were together at your birth and in your early years.   Yet over the years, she was denied, pushed away and driven off through the grueling, often subtle oppression of typical female acculturation in our patriarchal society.    Belittling, bullying, and abuse have pushed her even deeper into the jungle.

            Subconsciously, the Patriarchy fears the Inner Tigress.    Therefore, over the ages, it has developed mores, standards, and images for women that limit and banish her.    The result?    Many – if not most – women lose the sense of their Inner Tigress.    They become separated from her.    They grow up with a truncated, limited, incomplete sense of self.    Incomplete because the Inner Tigress lies dormant, under-developed or caged.   Most women today lack the sense of their magnificence which their Inner Tigress embodies.  Thus the Tigress wanders in the woman’s inner jungle, revealing herself all too rarely.    Then, guess what.     YOU leave before SHE can fully embrace you and bless you with all the gifts she can and wants to bestow!

            Well, Tigress Sister, it’s about time you and she become reacquainted.    After all, she’s been loving you from afar, dreaming of the moment that you will reunite.

            NOW is that moment.

INTRODUCING YOUR INNER TIGRESS

She’s an amazing creature of Glorious Beauty.

Her lair lies deep within your Subconscious,

She lies at the heart of your Soul.

She is your Sacred Feminine Spirit.

She is the Eternal Mother and Woman within you.

She nurtures the cubs

She rises full length and strength

To defend and protect her own.

No love is too deep,

No challenge is too great.

She is the source of your Beauty,

   Your Character,  

                      Your Strength.

She is the key to your Liberty.

          LOVE her…….

        HONOR her………

                                 NURTURE her………

And she will reward you with Riches beyond measure!

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             More on the Tigress in the next few Blogs.    Meantime, Check out  the current edition of www.simplywoman.com.  

             Watch for our big Halloween Sale on www.ScarvesStyleAndGlory.com!!!!

Here's Where Female Empowerment TRULY Begins

By:    Priscilla Wainwright, Ph.D., CPC

PREMISE – We can never be fully empowered by growing stronger in the male values and methods prevalent in the current society – They are touted by both men and women alike as “the way things are”.    Therefore, we don’t question them.

Female empowerment does NOT begin with self esteem.    Rather it starts with recognizing and embracing the True Divine Feminine – the qualities about us that are truly female – your inner feminine nature and spirit, which I dub “The Inner Tigress”.

Most women today have only a cursory, culturally based understanding of what, beyond physical anatomy, makes us truly “FEMALE”.    “Female” has been denigrated, perceived as “weak”, abused, not taken seriously.    Many women have lost touch with, and need now to re-meet their Tigress.

The male model, which has served us well only up to a point, cannot possibly take us across the river into the Promised Land of Full Female Power.    The male game was made up by males and serves them well.   It is in many ways testosterone based and fits the functions of the left-brained male structure.   It was constructed to give them the advantage, and most of us cannot compete to maximum effect when men have the “home court advantage”.    Which, of course, raises an interesting question which usually only women would ask,   “Should we be competing at all?”

Back to self-esteem – we women will never fully attain full appreciation of our true glory as long as we attempt to grow “self-esteem” by working within the male model, or using patriarchal based definitions and ways of understanding “femininity”, or feeling that, in some way, being female is “lesser”.

Ultimate female empowerment – and glory – only comes thru truly reconnecting with the Inner Tigress.    Only the Tigress can lead you to the Promised Land.    You can only reach full empowerment as a woman when you can identify, know, appreciate, and operate within the unique feminine power bases.    You can’t change what you can’t see.     You can’t capitalize on it or grow it either.

So our first task is to discover the Tigress, and see her in the full context of female power. 

MEET YOUR INNER TIGRESS HERE!  I've just covered the 5 Unique Female Power Sources (See my last 5 Blogs.) Now it's time to meet your Tigress.  She will be the topic of my next several Blogs.  Please join me here for our journey to bring the Tigress front and center.

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Don't miss this week's issue of Simply Woman.  www.simplywoman.com.  There's a really good article on success on your terms.

The 5 Unique Sources of Female Power (which men cannot duplicate!) - Part 5

By:   Priscilla A. Wainwright, Ph.D., CPC

The Fifth and final Power Source in our series is of a different nature than the previous four.    This springs mainly from the heart and spirit.   I’m speaking of women’s –

5.   HIGHER CALLING

            Two factors are involved in Higher Calling.    The first is Female Spirituality.    We women are typically more spiritual than men.   (I am making a distinction between “Spiritual”, being in touch with the Divine and elemental forces of Nature and the Universe, vs “Religious”, having to do with dogmas, doctrines, and rules, which is an inherently “masculine-based” way of understanding and connecting with the Divine.)

            The second aspect is that women are natural “servers”.     As a rule, we’re great at and desire doing for others.   Often we take that “Mother Energy” too far.   We can serve others so much that we lose ourselves in the process, fail to set healthy boundaries, “define” ourselves through our serving, and burn out.

            Higher Calling has nothing to do with over-serving, which is a common pathological feminine flaw.   Over-serving has its own dynamics which are beyond the scope of this blog.

            Rather, Higher Calling refers to our natural tendency to want to do good.    It ties to the deep inner yearnings that many women experience but which for many women lie dormant and unfulfilled.    It is the desire to nurture, embrace, support, and make a significant impact in the world in ways specific to the desires and proclivities of the particular women involved.

            Clearly, not every woman has these inner stirrings, but, down deep, most women yearn to make a significant impact in making their world a better place.    This may show itself through such manifestations as starting a business or non-profit, volunteering, being active in associations or causes, or going out of your way to provide for loved ones and improve their lives.

            Higher Calling manifests through those inner stirrings, those daydreams about sharing our talents and skills, those “wouldn’t it be wonderful if…” thoughts, and our passions and interests.

            The biggest enemies of Higher Calling are fear and those patriarchal and other messages that say “you can’t do that”, or “girls can’t….” or “what if they don’t like me?”     All these messages promote Invisibility and Self-Doubt and Loathing that I hear so many women complain about.    How to break free of those shackles is the stuff of future blogs.   [Here’s a preview:  The critical skills for self love are “CAN”:    self-Compassion, self-Appreciation, and self-Nurturance.]

            When Passion combines with Direction and Intention, we are unstoppable!    The Dalai Lama said, “The world will be saved by the Western woman”.     We have entered the Millennium of the Woman.    It is our turn, and a groundswell of Female Empowerment is rumbling across the globe.   Our opportunities, both socially and technologically, have never been greater, not only for expression of our Higher Calling, but also for support in birthing our dreams into reality.

            What Calling are you pregnant with?    What burdens or joys for making a difference lie within your heart?   What dreams do you wish to birth into reality?

            The place is where you are, the time is now.

            Dig deep,    Listen to those inner stirrings.    Your Inner Tigress is arousing from slumber, stretching and flexing her muscle to arise in full power!

            Rise up and ROAR!

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            The Inner Tigress is my model for the Inner Feminine Spirit.      Many of us have lost touch with her through growing up in a patriarchal culture, awash with messages that diminish feminine attributes and being female, abuse, etc.

            It is time to reconnect with your Tigress and experience the full power and radiance of the Female.

            The Tigress will be introduced in future blogs.    Watch for her.

            Detailed information on reconnecting with and manifesting your Inner Tigress can be found in the Core Training of “Women of Style and Glory”, our online community at www.ScarvesStyleAndGlory.com

            Also, see www.simplywoman.com for my article on "7 ways to command the respect you deserve".

The 5 Unique Sources of Female Power (which men cannot duplicate!) - Part 4

By:   Priscilla A. Wainwright, Ph.D., CPC

As we move on to the fourth Power Source, we shift gears somewhat.   The Big Three – Emotion, Intuition, and Empathy aid in your success effecting Source 4.

4.  CONNECTION

            “You alone can do it, but you can’t do it alone.”    I don’t know who uttered these words of wisdom, but they are so true.    All success is social.

            Male “power” is typically Vertical:  Top-down.   Female “power” on the other hand is Horizontal:   hand in hand, mutual, granted by your involvement in the Collective Field.

            In short, your power is enhanced through the support of other women (and men, too).

            We women are built for connection.    Ever notice that we can’t go to the Ladies’ Room without a support group?   While guys are more competitive and individualistic, we, as a whole, are more connected and cooperative.   When we girls are stressed, nothing calms our nerves more than “venting” to our girlfriends.   Oxytocin, Dopamine and other “feel good” hormones are actually secreted in the female brain when we start talking.    Talking reduces female stress; sex and shutting down reduce male stress.    Go figure.

            There are 3 important levels of connection.    The first, of course, is colleagues or associates.    These are your business or social network connections.    These may be co-workers, business, professional, or association-member contacts.    Often these are what I call “instrumental relationships”, or connections that exist for personal or mutual gain.

            The second level is Girlfriends.    These friendships may be life-long or recently formed.   The nature, meaning, and depth of the relationship varies with who the other person is. (Some Guy-Girl friendships may fit in this category as well.)

            On the whole, though, your Girlfriends are your cheerleaders.    These are “feel good” friendships.   Mostly, your Girlfriends will do things with you, hang out with you, be shopping buddies.    They exult with your highs, listen to your lows and encourage you.    Mostly, they will tell you what you want to hear.

            The greatest benefit and blessing comes from Level 3, Synergistic Partnerships.    Synergistic Partners are very likely to be very few in number.    They’re the curmudgeons in your life.    They’ll hold up the mirror.    They always tell you the truth even if it hurts.   They’re honest, forthright, and authentic with you.    That’s because they love you.   Hopefully, you do likewise with them.   That’s where the “synergistic” comes from.

            Girlfriends help you feel good.   Synergistic partners help you grow!

            Sometimes Synergistic Partnerships grow naturally out of long-term girl friendships.   More often, they come via invitation.    You have a special friend who is very forthright, speaks her truth, and isn’t afraid to confront you.    Such a person is your best choice.

            How do you go about creating synergistic partnerships?    That is all covered in my Blog post  Girlfriends….And More, Part 2, which is saved in my blog cue.    See below.

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Simply Woman ezine just published my article "7 ways to command the respect you deserve."  Here's the link.   BTW, you'll love Simply Woman. Great articles on a wide range of topics.

http://www.simplywoman.com/7-ways-to-command-the-respect-you-deserve/

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