You Are the Wind: Remembering How to Flow
Like all posts in the Inner Journeys series, this one is inspired by an Inner Voice session—a practice of tapping into intuition to uncover deeper wisdom. In this post, I share the lessons and insights from my own Inner Voice during a recent session with my friend and fellow Inner Voice Facilitator Em Strong. For those curious about Inner Voice sessions, I’ve also included the full audio of the session at the bottom of this post so you can experience firsthand where these insights originated and what an Inner Voice session is like.
Close your eyes and imagine a balloon, fully inflated.
Notice how delicate, like skin, the latex outer layer is. And yet, also notice how flexible it is—how it stretches to contain the air that fills it, how that air pushes against the balloon’s malleable edges with an urgency to expand, escape, be set free. This balloon is simply a temporary container for the air that was once outside, now inside.
Inside the balloon, there’s nothing visible, but because it’s inflated, you can be sure it’s not empty. There must be air inside—air that is alive, naturally expansive, pinging off the balloon’s edges, and full of potential. Like all air, that air only knows itself as air, therefore with or without a container, it’s designed to move and flow, not be tied down. It’s designed to flow with itself, even when seemingly taken from itself and put in a temporary container like a balloon.
Now, imagine this balloon full of air is you: a spirit wrapped in a body that inherently wants to flow, move, expand, and be set free. For the purpose of this message, let’s call that spirit “the wind.”
The Layers We Build
As we go through life, many of us have a tendency to weigh down our high-flying spirit with layer upon layer of heaviness that has the power to keep us stuck and unmoving, out of touch with who we really are. My Inner Voice literally showed it to me like paper mache. What was just a balloon filled with air at first is, over time, layered with newspaper, sopping wet and heavy.
Eventually, those layers of newspaper dry, harden, stay put in the shape of the surface they were put upon—unmolding, unmoving. And after that, the presence of the balloon underneath is no longer relevant, no longer even reminiscent of it, even though it takes its shape. What’s left is a shell without its breath, a false image reflecting none of what actually still lays beneath. None of its qualities. None of its lightness. And certainly none of its flight. These layers, these masks, are heavy enough to keep us from soaring to our true heights.
Fortunately, beneath all of the layers, we’re still there, who we always were with or without them—just waiting to re-emerge, to be brushed off and to be set free so we can rejoin with who and what we’ve always been, always are, and always will be.
“It’s re-emergence. What’s there re-emerges with each layer removed. What doesn’t belong doesn’t. What does, does. That’s how you know you’ve hit surface. You’ve hit THE surface, the one that contains the wind.”
The good news? These layers are never too hard, too real, or too stuck to be released, to shed, to let go of. They can and will soften. They can always be peeled back with some tender love and care. And when they are, we find what was always there waiting underneath—fresh, like new skin, and ready to flow.
Flow Is Your Nature
Flow is our natural state. Inside that balloon, inside you, is what my Inner Voice called “the wind”—alive and restless. It’s meant to move. Yet, when we hold on too tightly to these layers we’ve created, these masks we’ve put over ourselves, we resist that natural flow.
Here’s another way to think about it: Imagine trying to trap the wind in a bag. The wind will push against the edges, almost with anger at its sudden impediment, desperately flapping its container, trying to escape and return to that from which it came, from which it belongs.
“The wind wants to flow with the wind, not be pulled out, pulled apart, or set aside.”
This is your nature too. You’re not meant to be buried under rigid layers or so stuck and heavy you can no longer move. Life is about movement—a constant cycle of in and out. Our very life-giving breath tells us that. Or, as my Inner Voice painted it for me, our ideal temporary “skin” is meant to be more like a swinging saloon door, one loose at the hinges that allows all to pass in and out—acting as a passageway, not an impermeable or selective, protective barrier.
“A swinging door isn’t there to keep out or to keep in. It’s just there. It’s just in the middle. In the middle of what’s in and what’s out. Allowing all to pass through. In or out. Out or in.”
When we let life and its experiences, come what may, move through us freely, we get to stay open, we get to literally let our guard down, because what goes in can always go back out, and what goes out can always come back in. There’s no stagnation with a swinging door, no heaviness, no rigidity, no collection, no restrictive rules—only flow, only freedom. It’s a lot like breath, like the exhale that inevitably follows the inhale, that then follows the exhale again. In and out. Out and in.
The Power of Letting Go
Holding on to what no longer serves us—these false layers—creates heaviness in our body, mind, and spirit. As my Inner Voice said, this heaviness is like a doorstop wedged in place, resisting the natural movement of the way the wind all around us and within us wants to move material.
This doorstop of heaviness might just be keeping doors open that the wind meant to close, or closed that it meant to open. But when we release that weight, we make space for expansion, freedom, and flow. We let doors open. We let doors close. And eventually, inevitably, we return to right where we belong, where we’ve always really been—unclouded, unhindered, free.
“Let that balloon go. Let go of the string and let it fly. Don’t hold it down. Let it re-merge with what it is.”
Letting go doesn’t mean losing control. It means trusting that the wind knows where it’s going. When we stop clinging to the string that keeps our balloon grounded, when we shed the weight of layers that don’t belong, we don’t lose ourselves. We simply rejoin the great flow of life, becoming one with the endless, intelligent current that it is.
Life is a Cycle
Even when it feels like something is leaving, it’s not truly gone. It’s simply part of the cycle of returning to what and where it’s always belonged. If you think about it, the very word 'away' is really just 'a way'—a path back to connection and flow. When set free, it finds its way to the way. This is how we return to and live from the spirit within us: by allowing life to ebb and flow at will, resisting none of it, staying open, and just going with it in full trust. Enjoying the ride :)
“What diverges re-emerges. Re-merges. Always. Inevitable. Don’t fight the flow. ”
There’s no finality in this, no true separation—even if we happen to be wrapped in a body right now. By trusting this rhythm, we can soften even the hardest of layers we’ve taken on and release the heaviest of burdens we’ve accepted, allowing them to leave as easily as they first came (like that wet newspaper laid on the balloon in paper mache). We can return to the flow that so wants to carry us. The one we belong to because it is us, and we are it.
You Are the Wind
At your core, you are the wind—unconfined, infinite, and free. While you may be wind caught within a body for the time being, you’re still wind, still part of the wind that’s always flowing. There’s no need to control it. There’s no need to force it in one direction or another. Let go of your heaviness, your masks that don’t belong, and smply trust this wind. See where your wind, when set free, takes you.
When you feel stuck, heavy, or disconnected, remember this: You’re alive. Therefore there is a wind within you that can and wants to move you. You can always, no matter what, no matter how long you’ve chosen weight over weightlessness, return to being right there within you right now. Re-embody it. Let it move you. This is how you flow.
Peel back those layers, however many you’ve caked on over the years. Release that heaviness. Let the wind flow through you, reminding you of who you really are and let it put you right back where you belong. It knows the way. It is the way.
You are not separate from this wind that moves you. You are the wind—always moving, always free, always returning to the flow of life and its infinite cycles. So set yourself free. Allow yourself to re-emerge from beneath all the layers and re-merge with your loftiest self and the wind that surely carries it.
The wind is waiting to carry you. Trust it. Let go.
You are the wind.
An Invitation to Flow
Take a moment to ask yourself or journal on these questions:
What parts of your life right now feel stuck or heavy?
What layers are you ready to peel back and release?
Where are you still controlling rather than flowing?
Listen to the Inner Voice session that inspired this post:
If you’re feeling called to reconnect with your own flow, uncover hidden wisdom, or release the layers that may be holding you back, an Inner Voice session might be exactly what you need. This practice is a powerful way to tap into your intuition and discover the answers that have been inside you all along. I’d be honored to guide you on this journey—let’s explore what’s ready to emerge. Or shall I say re-emerge…
