I - And Still I Rise - the Power of I

How Maya Angelou's poem Injected my Identity and Imagination

Storytime

Storytime

I’ll never forget the exact moment I really understood EMBODIED the power of the letter SOUND of I.

It was a gentle yoga class led by my friend Lucy Pirner. She had spent the whole class teaching about the power of Sanskrit vowels (I’ll focus on this in another post someday).

• OO for grounding

• AH for opening

• EE for lengthening

It was a yoga class designed just for my inner word-nerd. I loved how she blended the sounds in with the actions. The irony is that she didn’t even mention the sound AYE (or the letter I), and yet that was the sound that landed IN me and completely MOVED me.

It was the very end of the class, after the final resting pose, Lucy invited us to RISE. It was the way she said the word RISE that hit me. I felt myself almost float up off the floor, like dust shimmering in the sunlight, and I heard Maya Angelou’s voice echo in my head.

And still, I rise. I Rise. I Rise.

Lesson

The cool thing about vowels is that they are multi-dimensional. They have many different sounds they can evoke, and they are always lingering. When we sing, it is the vowel sounds that elongate the word or phrase.

The letter I is especially profound because its sound, especially as Angelou uses it in this poem, literally causes the feeling of RISING.

Still - a short stubby I, blocked and stuck between taller letters.

I - the I emerges on its own, poking through the dense soil of its turmoil

Rise - the I lengthens and becomes the main character in the word…a word that resonates and lasts.

Take-Away

I ask you, are you hiding your I in short stubbiness between taller sounds and letters? If you are, perhaps it is there germinating, getting ready to grow.

I ask you, are you just starting to emerge as an I, pulling out from the crowd, standing on your own? Does it feel a bit lonely, and at the same time, rather empowering?

I ask you, are you elongating your strengths, collaborating with others? Perhaps you are becoming the star of your own show.

Homework

I have come to believe that one of the most powerful affirmations out there is this simple two-words evoking the sound of the letter I.

I RISE

I invite you to try rising.

I RISE

Read that again.
And again.
And again.

Now, go curl yourself into a little ball on the floor, and repeat the affirmation “I RISE” out loud as you gradually rise up from the floor to standing. Raise your hands up in the air as you RISE.

There!

That moment right there. That’s the magick of the Power of I.

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