There Is No Lion. Only the Part of You That Forgot You’re Free

As I sip this perfectly blended latte crafted with care by a barista whose name I don’t even know

I feel something quietly beautiful. Each time I walk into this café, his eyes meet mine with a silent warmth. No words exchanged, yet I feel seen. Welcomed. Cared for.

I tend to switch up my coffee depending on my mood. Some days, it’s a bold black brew when I feel disciplined, seeking purity, my mind whispers that no milk is healthier. Most days though, I gravitate toward the soft embrace of a latte, fkat white, cappuccino, or cortado. There’s something about the milk foam it feels like the embrace of a mother. Each sip, a gentle reassurance.

Today it’s a hot latte. As I hold the cup, I feel the warmth radiating from within. I bring it to my lips. The heat slides down my throat, and something in me melts. I close my eyes. My chest swells. Tears threaten. Not out of sadness, but a subtle grief realizing how tightly I’ve been holding myself together.

My mind runs on autopilot: business, business, business. Revenue-generating actions. Bigger visions. More expansion. But as I inhale deeply, I ask myself quietly Is this what I really want? Is this the life I desire to create?

And surprisingly, a soft, peaceful yes rises from within.

My mind doesn’t like that. It panics. “How?” it demands. “What’s the next step?”

But this morning, during meditation, I had whispered:

“Let the achievement come from the whisper of the heart.”

And just like that, my body exhaled into an unknown certainty.

Yes, unknown and certainty can live together. I now believe that.

Still, the mind interrupts: “We need structure. Proof. Results. Now.” It demands to measure the future based on the limits of the present. 

And yet, I’m grateful, so deeply grateful that I’ve cultivated a higher level of awareness in this lifetime.

Once, I couldn’t even understand what that meant. I was taught that what I see is what I get. That only the visible is real. I didn’t know what consciousness was. I didn’t know what it meant to breathe fully. I only learned to truly breathe at age 29. That’s why I’m so passionate about teaching others how to breathe.

Because I know what shallow breathing feels like. I know what it’s like to clench the steering wheel so hard you think you’re holding the whole car together with your hands.

At this chapter of my life, I’m calling in softness. A strong spine and a tender heart. I may cry like a 12-year-old loud, messy but my spirit stays intact. Rooted. Embodied. And if I dared to truly live in alignment with my heart’s longing…what if that’s what serves the world the most?

What if the longing in our hearts is a sacred invitation not to chase something out there but to become the person who is the living embodiment of that heartbeat?

Because when we become our best selves, we offer our highest contribution.

And so do you.

I know this truth because I’ve lived through the unraveling. I’ve peeled off masks, stripped away the identities I wore to make my family proud or society approve. I was told how to be. How to sit. How not to be too sexy. How to stay quiet. How not to overshare.

I still remember walking with my father one day. I must’ve been around eleven. That was the first time I felt him become protective. I saw the fear in his body as if it transferred into mine. When we got home, he looked at me with anxious eyes and said,

“Joanne, you’re not a little girl anymore. Men stare at you because you’re beautiful. Don’t talk to them. Don’t trust them.”

“Why?” I asked, genuinely confused.

He paused. And then, almost accidentally, his thoughts slipped from his lips.

“…Just be careful.”

That moment etched itself into the deepest part of me. With the limited awareness I had then, I internalized the message: Being a woman is dangerous. Men will always want something.

Now, as a grown woman, I finally understand what he meant and I feel compassion for him. He didn’t know how to put his fear into words. He didn’t know how to explain what he felt.

Looking back, I can see how that longing for safety shaped me.

So I became tough. I trained in boxing and Muay Thai. I was good, strong, fierce. 

But beneath that strength was a tender part of me, still seeking a safe space to fully express.

Imagine standing in front of a hungry lion. That primal fear. That urge to freeze, or flight or fight. 

If you didn’t grow up with a nurturing, present mother, your default might be to go-go-go.

But when you finally begin the journey of inner evolution,

you learn to mother yourself.

To create a felt sense of safety in your own body.

A signal that whispers

it’s okay to rest.

To receive.

To just be.

And no, there’s nothing wrong with how you’ve lived until now.

This isn’t about guilt or shame or being “right” or “wrong.”

This is about wholeness.

Life isn’t about perfection. 

As we already know by now, we’ve tried and trapped ourselves within the limitations of what we thought was perfect in our minds.

The point I desire to bring into our consciousness is this:

When we live from restriction and fear oh yes, we humans are so good at pinpointing every possible worst-case scenario we tend to shrink, freeze, retreat, run away from ourselves, or even give up on life altogether.

But cultivating a higher level of consciousness brings light to the knowing that most of the time there’s no lion ready to eat us alive. And even if it feels like there is, the fear is coming from within.

And if it’s inside us, then it means we can take ownership of it.

It starts with self-awareness and our ability to self-regulate.

Using the simplest tool.

Yes, the most underestimated one.

Breath.

(It’s boring, I know haha but it will change your life.)

When you deepen your breathing, you start to notice:

When you’re stressed, your chest tightens. Your breath shortens. Your focus narrows. And that narrowness? It limits your choices.

But the ability to stay present especially in high-stakes moments and regulate your nervous system allows you to take control of the situation, rather than letting the situation control you.

It begins with noticing:

your posture,

your breath,

the depth,

the rhythm,

the quality.

Restriction equals limited options.

But when we cultivate inner safety regardless of external circumstances that’s true power.

That’s the beginning of inner mastery.

Within that grounded safety, we widen our capacity.

We expand from tight chest to spacious presence.

From anxious reaction to embodied clarity.

So steady and calm that even the lion begins to doubt itself when it looks into your eyes.

That is the cultivation of personal inner power.

Your strength isn’t in pretending everything is “love and light.”

That’s just who you naturally are.

True strength is how you hold yourself…

how you move in alignment…

even when the ground beneath you starts to shake.

This is the revolution:

To remember that each moment is a doorway.

To know that your breath is your anchor.

That your body is your compass.

That your choice is your power.

And that you, as you are

present, imperfect, sovereign.

More than enough. 

You don’t even know it yet. 

But you will.

If this spoke to a part of you that’s ready to stop shrinking and start living from your truth… I invite you into a private 1:1 call with me.

This is not just a conversation.

It’s a highest ceremony for your becoming where your truth meets power, and your vision becomes embodied.

Inside this call, we don’t just talk, we alchemize.

We’ll tune into what’s truly alive in you, where your nervous system may be holding back your expansion, and what your next bold, heart-aligned move is.

This space is reserved for those ready to step into their next level with devotion, clarity, and courage.

You already know if this is for you.

Click below to book your session and I’ll meet you in the space where your breath leads and your future begins.