embodiment

We are all connected. If we tune in we can feel one another's pain, joy, confidence, excitement, anxiety and even contentment. So it should not seem uncommon to channel someone else's presence within your own.

~~Cathy Lighton

Do you ever look at a photo and want to feel like that photo looks? Not I want to be her or him, I want to feel the way I imagine what that emotion feels like. I know for me personally I have seen photographs and I have felt them as much as I saw them. I related to them, and sometimes kept returning to view them because I felt like they were speaking to me personally. 

This emotional connection between the subject and viewer is the essence of photography. The artistry of Annie Leibovitz and the confidence of Demi Moore changed the body image of pregnant women forever. When Demi so boldly posed nude late in her third trimester of pregnancy suddenly pregnant women everywhere changed the perception of their expanding bodies. It was bold and other women wanted that confidence.

We can look at photos and depending on the individual take away a different emotion. But if your looking for confidence and you see an image that speaks towards the feeling you wish to embody it says to you, I see you and you can do it. 

Emotion speaks through the lens and communicates with us in the finished product, the photograph. This is why we take pictures when we want to remember the moment and to be able to look back and remember the joy, the accomplishment, the confidence, and sometimes the sadness.

It's ok to look at a photo and say I want to feel the emotion that this photo captures. It serve as a positive affirmation. You aren't trying to be someone else, you're trying to take the advice the photo is conveying to you.

We can channel powerful states of being from photography. Photos can serve as goals, motivation, and help you look deeper into self by being a mirror. 

Marilyn Monroe showed us how to be coy and sexy. Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Diana showed us class and poise. Demi Moore, Robin Wright, Madonna, and Beyonce showed us confidence. Frank Sinatra and Daniel Craig show us how to convey masculinity with sophistication. George Clooney and Brad Pitt show us many different sides of being a man but they always embody that all American boy next door. 

If you ever run across a photograph that speaks to you and find yourself looking back at it ask yourself, what is it that's calling you? Then embody it and see if you can capture it. You may end up capturing the exact embodiment you were looking for.

~~Cathy Lighton 

THE POWER OF WOMEN

The Power of Women 

Those of you that know me know my love for yoga and how it has enriched my life in every way. One thing it has instilled in me is the ability to see myself in others and to be more open about my life both the struggles and the victories. Yoga opened my eyes to the light not only myself but also the light within others. 

In my younger life I didn't realize the importance of sisterhood. I was in controlling marriages and consumed with raising children. It almost felt selfish to have more than casual friendships, as a younger woman I wasn't that trusting of others. I felt a sense of competition with other women; she's prettier than me, skinnier, smarter, has more means and opportunities, a better marriage, better sense of style, and the list goes on. 

As I matured as a woman and grew in my practice. I started meeting people through my teaching practice and realized we are so much more alike than we are different. I also have learned that it takes great strength to be vulnerable and share your story in order to help and strengthen others. I no longer own a yoga studio but I still teach and will forever be a student. My life now will always be rich with sisters because it is my part of my calling in this world.

Light On Photography's latest project 40 over 40 has rekindle my love for sisterhood, the power of women and our need to gather and share our stories. In years past women's circles were essential to the health of communities and for personal growth. The photography aspect documents the person or persons and gives women the ability to be seen as the powerful force that they are. Growing older does not mean you lose the ability to be powerful, sexual and desirable, it means you embody it. Ladies do not be afraid to be seen, demand it! I have ideas and projects in the works to further help woman be seen and heard.

Do not let your light go dim, pour some fuel on that flame and light the way for others. 

~~Cathy Lighton