Live Your Extraordinary Life With Michelle Rios

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• Michelle Rios

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Unlock the transformative power of the divine feminine and learn how it can revolutionize your personal and professional life. Join me, Michelle Rios, as we explore the blend of empathy, creativity, intuition, and nurturing that characterizes this energy. Hear personal stories from my journey as a businesswoman and entrepreneur, where embracing both masculine and feminine traits has led to profound growth and fulfillment. We'll unearth the historical reverence of goddesses like Isis, Lakshmi, and Athena, shedding light on how patriarchal structures have long overshadowed these empowering qualities. Let’s discuss how recognizing and balancing these energies can cultivate inner strength, resilience, and harmonious living.

Together, we'll tackle the critical balance between masculine and feminine energies to achieve a more holistic existence. Drawing from my own experiences of heavily relying on masculine traits, I’ll share insights on rediscovering intuition and inner wisdom. Through practical exercises like mindful decision-making and creative brainstorming, learn how to integrate these energies into your daily life. Embrace the quiet strength of the divine feminine; nurture relationships, honor emotions, and celebrate vulnerability. By creating space for reflection, you'll enhance self-awareness and productivity, paving the way for a more joyful and fulfilling life.

WAYS TO CONNECT WITH ME:

Speaker 1:

We want to be able to allow ourselves to feel what we feel without judging it, and then spend time understanding and self-awareness. Why is this happening? Why is this coming up? For me, the more you honor your emotions as being valid, you are going to have a deeper self-awareness and a more authentic, not just outlook, but experience of life. Hi, I'm Michelle Rios, host of the Live your Extraordinary Life podcast. This podcast is built on the premise that life is meant to be joyful, but far too often we settle for less. So if you've ever thought that something is missing from your life, that you were meant for more, or you simply want to experience more joy in the everyday, then this podcast is for you. Each week, I'll bring you captivating personal stories, transformative life lessons and juicy conversations on living life to the fullest, with the hope to inspire you to create a life you love on your terms, with authenticity, purpose and connection. Together, we'll explore what it means to live an extraordinary life, the things that hold us back and the steps we all can take to start living our best lives. So come along for the journey. It's never too late to get started and the world needs your light.

Speaker 1:

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Live your Extraordinary Life podcast. I'm your host, michelle Rios, and today we're delving into a topic that's largely misunderstood but incredibly empowering, and that is the divine feminine. So, as a businesswoman and entrepreneur, I've seen firsthand how embracing the divine feminine can transform not only our professional lives but our personal lives as well, and this isn't gender specific. This is about tapping into qualities like intuition, creativity, compassion and wisdom all of those things that can drive success in all areas of life. So, whether you're a coach, a seasoned entrepreneur, a busy professional or simply curious about how to bring more balance into your life, you're going to want to stick around. We're going to explore what the divine feminine is, what it's not, how it compares to masculine energy, how to connect with it and, most importantly, how to cultivate more of it in our daily lives. So let's start with the basics.

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What exactly is the divine feminine? The divine feminine is an energy that embodies qualities like empathy, creativity, intuition, nurturing. These are the traits that help us build strong relationships. Think outside the box, lead with heart. The divine feminine is often associated with the right brain, the part of our mind that governs creativity and intuition, and holistic thinking, and it's about being receptive, open and connected to our inner wisdom. It's the part of us that seeks harmony, unity and really collaboration.

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So let's now talk about what the divine feminine is not, despite the rap that it often gets. It is not about sitting back and waiting for things to happen. It's not weakness. It is not about sitting back and waiting for things to happen. It's not weakness. It's not passive. On the contrary, the divine feminine is very powerful. It's a source of inner strength and it allows us to actually face challenges with grace and resilience. And it's not about excluding masculine energy, but rather balancing it. So to truly appreciate the divine feminine, we need to actually look back at the historic roots. Where did it even come from?

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So the concept of divine feminine has been revered across various cultures and civilizations throughout history. Ancient societies often worshipped goddesses and female deities we know this and recognizing the power of feminine energy in creation, fertility and nurturing. For instance, in ancient Egypt, the goddess Isis was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife, as well as the patroness of nature and magic. In Hinduism, goddesses like Lakshmi and Parvati represent wisdom, prosperity and power. The Greeks had goddesses like Athena and Demeter, who were symbols of wisdom and agriculture. However, with the rise of more patriarchal structures, the reverence of the divine feminine began to wane. These qualities were often devalued or suppressed, which has led, over time, to an imbalance. So today you're starting to see a reawakening of the divine feminine energy, a calling us back to balance and harmony.

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I'll tell you from firsthand experience as the oldest child, the first to go to college, first to go to grad school, first to leave home and start over in new cities, there was a strong masculine energy needed to take all these bold actions and be decisive about these kind of moves, and I would say most of my career was led through masculine energy. You need it. It's incredibly important for decision-making and taking action. What I found, though, is the lack of feminine energy that I utilized, like. I often ignored my intuition and I rationalized my way through problems or challenges that came up both in my personal life and professional life. I often disregarded my own gut feelings about things and went along with whatever the consensus was, even though I had a strong feeling that was not the direction we should go, and that's because there's the lack of feminine energy and imbalance, more masculine energy dominating, and that tends to be the case in business Most women that are really successful have a propensity to have more masculine energy, and our need is to really find ways to balance that out.

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Now let me just say men need feminine energy too. This is not, again, gender specific. So, as much as men naturally embody masculine energy, it's important for them to also be able to tap into intuition and wisdom and nurturing and compassion and empathy and vulnerability all of those traits and characteristics that we associate with the divine feminine. So why do we need it? Why is it really that important? Again, it's this idea that in our modern world there's been such an overemphasis on the need for masculine energy. Right, you hear it every day. I hear it in the entrepreneurial world, kind of ad nauseum. Right, just do it, get it done, take action, grit, grind, hustle, the 5am club, let's make it happen. There's nothing wrong with that. We need it. Right, we wouldn't get things done if we didn't have this kind of masculine energy that focuses on productivity, action, logic.

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But while these qualities are essential, the overemphasis can actually lead to a complete disconnection with self, because you're not actually using any of that divine wisdom that you're embodied with. It also can result in a lack of fulfillment, because when you are not spending time in communion with self and really tapping into inner wisdom and intuition, there tends to be a void. I personally went through this. It led to my own quarter-life crisis. You know we joke about that, but it's a serious situation. It's not just a midlife crisis. You can very well at any point in time start to feel the imbalances in life throw you into the abyss, and that certainly happened to me because I really shut down the divine feminine within me and was operating in this very male-dominated environment that I was in, particularly in business school. But this need to just get it done and grind it out, it led to health issues. Not surprisingly right.

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The divine feminine brings balance. It requires that we slow down to tune into our inner wisdom and we create from a place of authenticity and purpose. We don't just move fast to get things done. We do so with intuition over mere intellect. We do so with fostering collaboration over competition and nurturing over dominating. By embracing the divine feminine, we actually open ourselves up to a more holistic and fulfilling way of living and working.

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So again, it isn't about one energy or the other. We all have both and we all need both. So let's talk about how the divine feminine actually differs from masculine energy. As I mentioned earlier, masculine energy is characterized by action, logic and control. Logic and control it's about doing and achieving. In contrast, the divine feminine is about being and receiving. It's more about the process than the end result, and the journey rather than the destination.

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Where masculine energy seeks to conquer or compete, the divine feminine seeks to collaborate and connect. Both energies are vital. One is not better than the other. However, for balanced life, we need to honor and integrate both, and there really is not a good balance out in the universe right now. So what are practical exercises for busy professionals, entrepreneurs, coaches, anyone just seeking more balance in their life? Here are a few Mindful decision-making Before making any big decisions, take the time to meditate or reflect. This can help you connect. Creative brainstorming I grew up in the PR and advertising world, so this is my jam, but scheduling regular brainstorming sessions where you allow your creativity to flow without judgment can lead to better ideas, more innovative solutions and building a supportive network. Fostering a community around your personal life and your business where collaboration and mutual support are prioritized can really enhance both your business and your professional world, as well as your personal growth and fulfillment, and these are all ways to integrate the divine feminine into your life.

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Now let's tackle why the divine feminine sometimes gets a bad reputation. In many societies, feminine qualities have been undervalued or seen as weak. This stems from patriarchal structures that have dominated for centuries now, promoting the idea that strength lies in control and power. However, the divine feminine also embodies strength. It's just a different kind. It's a quiet, resilient and compassionate power. It's a strength that you find in vulnerability, in nurturing others and in the creative force that brings new ideas and life into the world. Recognizing and honoring the divine feminine is essential to creating more balance and harmony, not only in your life, but in society.

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So let's talk about how we can better utilize and tap into the divine feminine in our work, in our business, in our life. So one of the key ways to do so is embracing intuition. If you've listened to this podcast for any length of time, you know that I spend a lot of time focused on intuition and the importance of tapping intuition. This idea of trusting your gut feeling and your inner wisdom is something that I think is incredibly undervalued in this society that we all find ourselves in in modern living. And yet some of the best ideas and the most sacred direction that you're going to get in your life comes from within, and so embracing your intuition and allowing yourself to trust your gut feelings and your inner wisdom can guide you in making decisions that are more aligned with your true self, that are more authentic.

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Okay, second way that you can better tap into the divine feminine creating space for reflection. I'm a huge believer in this. I'm a busy mom, I have a lot going on in my life, but every day there is space for reflection, not just for what's happening in the course of that day, but what's happening in my life in general. You have to set aside time for introspection and stillness. Masculine energy emphasizes go, go, go, do, do, do. Divine feminine is about introspection, reflection, stillness and the wisdom that can be found there. So practicing things like meditation, journaling or simply spending time in nature can help you feel more connected with your inner self, which allows you to actually better tap into intuition.

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The third way you can better tap into the divine feminine is by nurturing relationships. Focusing on building connections and fostering collaboration can lead to a more supportive and empowering environment. There's incredible power in community. There are health benefits, both physical and mental. There are emotional benefits and, quite frankly, in community you tend to get better ideas. The fourth way you can better tap into the divine feminine is honoring your emotions, allowing yourself to feel and express your emotions as they come up without judging them. We often shut that side of ourselves down. Right, you're being too emotional. Get a grip. Don't be so emotional. We want to be able to allow ourselves to feel what we feel without judging it, and then spend time understanding and self-awareness. Why is this happening? Why is this coming up? For me, the more you honor your emotions as being valid, you are going to have a deeper self-awareness and a more authentic, not just outlook but experience of life.

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And the fifth way you can better utilize and tap into the divine feminine in your life. This is a tough one for a lot of you, me included Balance action with rest. While taking action is important, we know hustling is important we do need to get things done but so is rest and rejuvenation. You know I had an episode not too long ago about hustle and grind and the myth that hustle and grind is the only way to operate. We know that neuroplasticity, the rewiring of the brain, happens when we allow for rest and rejuvenation.

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I get into these traps myself, even now, knowing what I know and having to remind myself that grinding it out hour after hour after hour is actually leading to diminishing returns in my output. That walking away, creating time for rest and rejuvenation, is going to actually get the neurons in my brain firing better and I'm going to produce better. You see this all the time. Right. The person who works 12 hours around the clock, nonstop, seven days a week I've been guilty of that versus the person that's working maybe six years, 70% of that and going out for walks and getting out in nature, getting sunlight, spending time with family, eating healthy, working out, investing in themselves.

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They're both different ways of getting things done, and oftentimes the person who's actually investing more in their self-care as part of an integrated approach is getting more done than the person grinding it out 12 hours a day. But our logical brain said how is that possible? If I work more, I'll get more done sooner and I'll get there faster. Look, you're going to get things done. The question is how well are you going to get there? And again, it's about balance. You can't always be in a mode of receipt and relaxation and expect to get work done. You need to take action, you need to have some hustle. It's just about the idea of balance, of balancing both these needs.

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So how do we cultivate more of the divine feminine and create more balance in our lives? Here's a few ways to do this. Again, we just talked about the importance of mindfulness and meditation, spending time in quiet reflection. This is really important because it allows us to connect with our inner wisdom. It allows us to maintain a sense of calm and balance, and we are better problem solvers in that state of being.

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The second way to cultivate more of the divine feminine is embracing vulnerability. This is a tough one for a lot of people, but once you start to practice vulnerability, you realize the connection that comes from. It is invaluable and you're going to get addicted to it. But allowing yourself to be vulnerable, sharing your true self with others, not being afraid to express your emotions or your perceived weaknesses or your perceived shortcomings, you're giving permission to others to let their guard down and to connect deeper with you. It fosters trust.

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Okay, the third way to cultivate more of the divine feminine celebrate creativity. Engage in creative activities regularly. You don't need to be an artist, you don't need to be able to draw, thank God, because I am not one of those folks but whether it's cooking or gardening or some form of art, for me it is writing. Creativity opens the door to the divine feminine. I have a client that didn't even know how much she enjoyed using colored pencils and drawing and she's created some magnificent artwork as a result of the inner work she's doing. As part of our coaching relationship, she needs to spend more time in introspection and focusing on some of the topics that we're working through and she's using art as a medium for processing that and it's led to a newfound joy for her and incredible breakthroughs. We've talked about this already because so many of these are interconnected.

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But nurture relationships. Investing time in relationships by being present, listening actively, showing your appreciation for the people in your life, is incredibly important part of the divine feminine. Honoring your body this is a tough one for me because I tend to be somebody who naturally goes and works too much and I got to kind of pull myself back from the edge. Honoring your body by treating it with respect and care. So not skipping meals, not over caffeinating, eating nourishing foods, getting enough rest, engaging in enough physical activity to make you feel good in your body and emotionally, your body is the vessel right? We need to take care of the vessel. The more we do this, the more we actually are stepping into the divine feminine, and it will allow us to tap into our creativity, our intuition, our natural ability to demonstrate empathy to others. And the last area I want to talk about is setting boundaries. Learning to say no and set healthy boundaries is incredibly important for protecting your energy and ensuring you when we are recovering. People pleasers, but it's essential. You can't give the best of others if you're giving yourself away to everyone all the time happening out in the world.

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I really want to focus in on a couple of things. Holistic health practices, whether we're talking about energy healing, the mind-body-spirit connection many of you may be aware of Ayurveda, acupuncture these all are associated with divine feminine practices. So is yoga and spiritual practices. Heart-centered approaches really help to awaken the feminine energy. I would say one of the spaces that I most can gravitate toward are retreats and circles that allow for more intimate connection with other people. There are men's retreats, there are women's retreats, there are couples retreats. But think about what's happening in those spaces. It's an opportunity for a safe space to connect, share, heal and grow. That's the nurturing of the divine feminine right there. It's collective support, collective storytelling, ritual, art and music therapy. You may not even be aware that you're participating in it. You don't have to be in a formal art or music therapy environment to get the benefits of art and music.

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As I was mentioning earlier, I have a client that's really tapped into this more creative earlier of a client that's really tapped into this more creative, artistic side of herself. I have music going all the time. Depending on my mood, that music changes Depending on what I want to create. I will go into different genres of music to help bring out certain emotions, tap into different parts of me, like creative sides, reflective sides. All of these are aspects of divine feminine that the art and music help draw out of us. So I wanna just thank you again for joining me.

Speaker 1:

This journey that we're on of personal development and leadership and growth is really looking at all the different aspects of our lives that we wanna make sure are in balance, that we're tapping into, that we are taking advantage of, and the exploration of the divine feminine has been something I've wanted to do for some time because I do think it's undervalued for the most part, or you hear about it only in certain circles like women's groups. It's sort of left to that realm. But the reality is this is not a gender specific experience of life. The divine feminine lives and resides in all of us, as does masculine energy. So incorporating the divine feminine is about balancing and embracing all the parts of ourselves. So again, thank you for joining me.

Speaker 1:

I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please subscribe, share the episode, share the podcast with others and, if you haven't done so, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It's incredibly important for the show to reach other people that we continually have new folks that are coming into the show leaving a review. So leave me a four-star review, please, and help others find us. I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences as you go through your day.

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Reach out to me and tell me about your experience with the Divine Feminine. You can find me on social media or through my website. On Instagram, I'm at MichelleRiosOfficial. You can find me on Facebook at Michelle Corrigan Rios. You can find me on LinkedIn as Michelle Rios, and if you want to find me through my website, go to michelleriosofficialcom. You can email me there. Spend some time on the site. There's some free resources to help you with your personal development journey.

Speaker 1:

And again, I hope that you will continue on your journey, embracing your inner strength, nurturing your own creativity and living your life with as much purpose and passion and freedom as possible. That's the whole goal. When we talk about living an extraordinary life, we're really talking about creating a life that sets our soul on fire. Right? We want to be in the most inspired place possible. So until next time, keep embracing your inner strength, tap into your divine feminine and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you enjoyed this podcast episode, please take a moment to rate and review. If you have recommendations for future topics, please reach out to me at michelleriosofficialcom. Lastly, please consider supporting this podcast by sharing it. Together, we can reach, inspire and positively impact more people. Thank you,

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Michelle Rios

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