Thanks for sharing the article Amber - very insightful *OK*

This stood out for me...

The mother wound includes the pain of:

- Comparison: not feeling good enough
- Shame: consistent background sense that there is something wrong with you
- Attenuation: Feeling you must remain small in order to be loved
- Persistent sense of guilt for wanting more than you currently have

The mother wound can manifest as:

- Not being your full self because you don’t want to threaten others
- Having a high tolerance for poor treatment from others
- Emotional care-taking
- Feeling competitive with other women
- Self-sabotage
- Being overly rigid and dominating
- Conditions such as eating disorders, depression and addictions

In our patriarchal, male-dominated culture women are conditioned to think of themselves as “less-than” and not deserving or worthy. This feeling of “less-than” has been internalized and passed down through countless generations of women.(full article Womb of Light)

I witness this dynamic so frequently in the Openhand work. There's lots of healing to be done yes. But what I also find so marvelous, is the empowerment by women that I do see. And it especially happens (a touch ironically) within healing.

Take a look at the Openhand Facilitator Network, the majority are women, and they're all empowering themselves to find their greatness and serve the collective in some way (just as I know you are too Amber).

I witness that you can be the matriarch of a family, or in a relationship, but stand in your own empowered ground too, with your own direction and purpose. I'm not saying it's easy, because I witness that energy being pulled in many different directions - but it is most definitely possible to centre one's energies within oneself too, even with the responsibility.

I say this as a patriarchal kind of energy - but one that's learned that neither does it serve the patriarch for the matriarch to be disempowered. Although as a (distorted) patriarch, it feels good to have others support what you do, and your mission, energetically that also over burdens you if you're also carrying other people's energies to some degree.

Let each find strength on their own feet, within their own endeavours, and then dance in mutual support.

Open *OK*