Back in October, I attended Cyndie Silbert’s Feminine Mastery Retreat on Maui. I’m a big believer in Cyndie’s work, and this was the second consecutive retreat I joined. This time, I even brought Renata!
The retreat is organized around embodying Cyndie’s five feminine archetypes – chameleon (ego), honeybee (creator), butterfly (expression), hummingbird (love), and dragonfly (spirit). On our final evening together each of the fourteen women in attendance stood up in front of the room and expressed herself – through story, speech, and song. During those expressions, I finally saw the mask come down from my fellow women and their true selves shine through. It was a transformative experience.
Little did I know that my expression would be an internal launchpad for the work I feel called to do in the world and the recent decisions I’ve made to go all-in on my mission. I was flipping through one of my journals this morning and came across what I wrote down and expressed to the group. I’m sharing it here as a reminder to myself – and to you – of the power of alignment and embodiment. I may record this for myself, because saying the words and professing them to the room that final night of the retreat was such a powerful feeling – I felt my passion and I felt the energy in the room relayed back to me. Not a single person took their eyes off of me as I stood grounded in what felt so natural and right. So, here it is! My expression. What’s yours?
Kayleigh’s Expression – The Goddess Sea Turtle
I’ve always fancied myself to be a dolphin. I love the ocean, and I can swim, play, and laugh in it from sunrise to sunset.
When I was nine, my family moved us from Massachusetts to Florida, and I spent every day that summer in our backyard pool, pretending to be a dolphin named Seashell. My brother James – known as Pebble the dolphin – would throw weighted colorful clams, rings, and sticks into the deep end, and I would gleefully retrieve them. The only thing that could interrupt our daily life as dolphins were the daily afternoon thunderstorms.
Today, I feel more like a gorgeous green sea turtle. This morning I observed this queen in her Kingdom of Kapalua Bay. She emerged from the underwater shadows and called us over to her – inviting us to admire her beautiful shell and perfectly patterned flippers.
She twirled slowly – inviting us to take her all in. Her natural elegance and radiance vibrated through the sea – softening my heart and inspiring courage. This was no pageant girl twirl – light, airy, vain even. No, this was the movement of a divine queen – so in awe of her own beauty and power that she realized she had no choice but to reflect that beauty and that power back out to the world.
She elegantly rose to the surface and calmly breathed in her source of power. Filled with new life, she glided back down through the sparkling water. Schools of silvery fish darted past her and more human admirers began to gather at the surface – bobbing and pointing fingers. Amid the chaos and attention, the queen remained unfazed. She didn’t react or get frazzled – nor did she seek refuge from her admirers. She reveled in her glory, gliding up and down, emanating love and glorifying those of us lucky enough to be in her presence.
Clever as she was beautiful, the queen descended to the seabed and nestled half of her body under the coral to scratch her hind flipper. With one graceful movement, she was back in the center of her universe. Her hard shell glistened in the sunlight – a reminder that she isn’t afraid of a fight. Unlike her land-loving cousins, she could not retract her limbs if she felt afraid or vulnerable. No. Her heart – like her four flippers – was completely open to the world. In being embodied, she had nothing to fear.
This Queen of Kapalua Bay said nothing, expressed everything. And I felt her strength, her grace, her peace, and her love.