A Consciousness Practice for WEIGHT-LOSS

 I originally wrote this pieces for brand new mamas juggling work, baby, relationship, and immense hormonal shifts.  These women embarked on a 60-day journey of self-devotion and transformation with me and experienced profound life changes, well beyond weight-loss.  I realized, this isn't just for the busy moms out there.   This is for everyone, men and women alike.  If you have big goals –– to change your body, eating habits, stress levels, or even open up a creative block, let this speak to you.  

This is the 3rd installment of a series, guiding our focus out of a doing-state and into a being-state.  Here, we open a pathway of clearer communication with the body's intelligence and inherent health codes.  While some of the guidance may seem indirect in relation to weight-loss, I promise you, it is not.   Conscious body connection cannot be discounted in self-transformation.  Within any change – physical, mental or emotional – there is a currently running system in the BODY that also must change.  Listening to the thinking mind day-in and day-out is what has not worked up to this point.  

So read on, if you are curious...and if you're serious, put the challenge to the test!

MINDFUL DETOX PART 3: CONSCIOUS BREAK-FAST

In the previous sections, I introduced the “5 Minutes of YOU” meditation to step away from the grind and chill your nervous system.  Now for the fun part...you can strategically position this much-deserved break for IMMEDIATELY recognized benefits of clarity and relaxation. Yes, the 5-minute breath session is delicious all on its own; but we can also pour it into a space that promotes your physique–transformation goals. 

If your ears just perked up, they should have.   This is no joke.  A simple daily tune-in can help you minimize cravings, calm the constant internal chatter, and actually lose weight!  Before we discuss any further, decide when your next meal might land today and set an alarm to go off about 5 minutes before it.  You are going to gift yourself 5-minutes of empty space to sit quietly and breathe *Before the Meal*.  

After that: I highly encourage this practice at your very first meal of the day, for the next 7 days.  This will set the tone for your nervous system for the entire day.  It also lends potential for practicing in subsequent meals, creating more balanced body rhythms.  

Why? 

We are too often checked into our busy lives to sense where our bodies are and what our bodies need most of the time.  The brain is thinking about the next thing or worrying about the last one…but where is your body? Your thoughts could have you reeling on a situation from last Tuesday, leaving your body neglected and YOU detached from reality.

Our bodies are always present and ONLY present. They have no thought. They are just sensing what is currently occurring.  They are also masterfully relaying cues and messages from current reality… not the fabricated timelines we can live from in our heads. The further our thoughts move from the body, the more likely our nervous systems are running in a Sympathetic state. This means your body thinks it’s “doing” something even when it’s not. The more intense the thought process, the more intensely your body tries to prepare. When action circumstances don’t line up with our action thoughts, the body can become trapped in a soup of stress hormones that never get put to use… aka released.

The Sympathetic Nervous System is for acting and reacting… The Parasympathetic Nervous System is for resting and digesting. We need both. But we need to begin understanding how to travel between them. The state of our health depends on it… including your ability to maintain the best weight for your body.

If your body thinks it needs to be prepared to fight a lion (or argue with your boss), it’s not properly gearing toward digesting and metabolizing your food. This is precisely why I am using meal times as a gateway for nervous system regulation. I’ve worked with incredibly high-functioning humans, simultaneously running households and companies, who don’t feel their stress. Our bodies have such incredible adaptation mechanisms, I don’t expect you to feel when you’re in a hyper-sympathetic state until its way too late. So we create practice, regardless of felt-stress. We down-regulate when it’s meaningful. We reap the benefits of properly telling our bodies “I’m here”. I am creating an environment in my body that actually facilitates what I am asking it to do. Rest, Digest, and Assimilate Nutrients to where they need to be.

Commit to trying this 5 minute pre-meal break 2X this week.  If you skipped the first step already, here is your reminder! Set an alarm to go off before dinner tonight or lunch tomorrow.  AND/OR, when you start feeling any hunger pangs that are outside of your usual eating windows, take an impromptu 5. I am always SHOCKED at how much my appetite cues change when I simply stop "doing" whatever I'm doing, stop "thinking" about the task, stop "thinking" about my desire to snack, and start FEELING. Set a timer for 5 minutes, find some alone space, and slip away for these precious moments.

The Steps.

Sit quietly, feet flat on the ground. 

Let your shoulders fall. 

Soften your face. 

Take a deep breaths and drop your attention to your belly. 

Release all the tension from your belly.

Welcome its fullness – forget about any appearances.

You may want to place a hand on your belly and the other on your heart. 

Allowing yourself to feel held, and by your own hands, has an incredibly soothing effect on your nervous system. 

Let your inhale expand the space between every rib and fill your lungs with air like a deep under-water breath.

Then relax and soften on the exhale. 

Feel the physical sensation of your breath pooling into unseen crevices.

Feel the internal conversation of your body’s knots and openings.

Feel the emotional essence of tension melting away.

Be open to what you sense—fullness, bloat, tightness, pain, emptiness, cramping. 

Don’t try to change or resist these physical feelings.

Instead, go into them; observe them; stay with them without attaching a story, no matter how uncomfortable.

The discomfort will often dissipate if you keep your awareness there.  Feel through it with soft eyes and a soft heart, reminding yourself not to clench.  

The belly is continuously giving physical feedback.  Try to separate labels from sensations of feelings.  It might feel gurgly, but not necessarily “hunger”.  That may just be the label your brain has a habit of selecting when this sensation arises. Checking into the feeling vs. the thought can interrupt habits we have developed around these signals.

Once the 5 minute timer goes off, smile and thank yourself. Do not skip this GRATITUDE step. It is out of deep love for yourself that you’ve invested this time and you deserve both a Thanks and a Your Welcome. This, THIS, is the path to long-sustained transformation.

I’ve mentioned the Gut-Brain link in several pieces. The gut is a connection point for digestion, mood, and intuition.  If you’ve ever felt “butterflies in your stomach”, you know the feeling. This is your intuitive gut providing some very real, very profound answers as to what your body needs.  The tuning-in process, described above, links all those juicy messages to your MIND so you can start wiring actions and new habits in accordance with your truest nature.

If we leave ourselves detached from the body’s messages, it can be damn near impossible to create a new, lasting habit.  I don’t care how many calories you cut or how many hours you workout each week, a dysregulated nervous system can overhaul it all.  When a storm hits, old habits win.  Unless we learn to regulate.

Old habits are what led you to your current position.  The brain patterns are deeply grooved into a preset pathway of how you will react to feelings, motivations, deterrences, self-judgement, stress, time-restriction, social events, etc.  When it comes to food choices, the pattern will tell you how much you are going to eat of what foods; how rushed the meal will be; how much you pay attention to eating vs. thinking…until you purposely hit PAUSE.  And if you desire to change your current position, you MUST demote your brain from being the primary decision-maker.  Profound changes in your eating habits can occur when you intentionally FEEL into this vast network of gut intelligence— it can help you make the most responsible-to-your body choices and overcome cravings in a way no self-talk, self-control, self-deprivation will.

It is up to YOU to invoke action steps to slow down and listen from a more consciously tuned-in state.  You are responsible to yourself in a way no one else ever will be.  That reality can feel daunting OR empowering... but it is a FACT either way.  And the sooner you accept what that means, the more frequently you will experience the latter.

If you read all of this, and it sounded sweet, but your initial thought is "5 minutes is NOT going to happen today”...

I understand.  But that doesn't mean you give up to the old way of thinking.  You've read this far for a reason.  Laying down new habits is HARD WORK.  It can take some serious self-parenting.  I do genuinely empathize that time is limited.  To that end, when life is flying fast, start with 5 Breaths. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE that each and every one of you cannot devote 5 intentional breaths before putting food in our mouths. A little tough love goes a long way. Once this becomes attainable, start setting a 1-2 minute timer. Trust me, the benefit of that minute may look small, but the impact is more widespread than you can imagine. You will start to bridge the conscious connection your body has been craving.

We don’t ever have the time until we make the time.  And just remember, any amount of time is successful as long as you are trying!  There is a cumulative effect to practicing awareness-expansion, and you begin by, well, beginning.  Ignoring the task all together is the only surefire way to fail this mini-retreat into YOU.  I challenge you all.  Next meal, check your mind OUT, body IN.  Observe how it affects your food choices, speed of eating, body awareness, digestion, etc.  You may be pleasantly surprised with the results.  

Email Petersenkatie1@gmail.com for information on my next Body Transformation Program.

Sacred Pedicures and Personal Growth

It is a Saturday afternoon, I have nothing to do and also everything, says my mind.  When is the last time I let it be nothing?  Even better question... when is the last time I let it be all about me.  I glance down at the tiny red paint chips stamped in the middle of each toe nail and realized it had been that long.
I remember a time when I wouldn't let my toes see sunlight without a reasonable ratio of polish to toe nail... so part of me smiled at the woman I have become - who knows who she is, with or without the perfect outfit.  While I'm happy not to be a slave to no-chip, being overly-concerned with a flawless manicure held me accountable to something other than reading USWeekly cover-to-cover in the cozy embrace of a massage chair.  It created a sense of ritual - sacred time - to wind down and luxuriate.  So the other part of me feels a teensy bit ashamed for not devoting more time to myself, the sweet solitude I so deserved.
The sporadic pedicures of Today aren't quite the same experience.  They are obscured with an endless influx of emails and half-written blogs gleaning out from my laptop.  Underneath it all, "I am not doing enough" rides the crest of every thought.  Somewhere along the way, taking a break became another way of saying it's time for forced creative-flow.

What happened to just...
Taking a break?
I felt like my little girl toe nails asking me this very adult question.
So that Saturday, I went to get a pedicure.

Last year, I wrote a blog about that day because it felt important.  I remember sensing incredible vulnerability in offering advice on "how to give yourself a break".  I was a rookie - who was I to offer tips?  When I began rereading the first paragraph, I immediately wanted to rewrite the whole thing and post an even better version.  I even deleted the title, "Treat Yo' Self".
I was a tiny bit humiliated -  judging how I perceived something; critiquing how I expressed it; unconsciously labeling my growth process as UNWORTHY - I've been working on that.
That first notes of self talk arrived...
Oh what I've learned since then!
Why would I keep this posted?
This is no longer me - I swear, I've grown more!
I heard the diminishing tone, devaluing what I saw as milestones in my journey.
I decided to revel in my own transformation instead - taking a break still included my laptop only ONE year ago - but I followed the inner guidance to PAUSE and set work aside, no matter how difficult; and then write about it, no matter how mundane.  Sharing it with the world held me accountable to the inquiry "where has my love not yet reached?"

As I reflect on that Saturday, I understand now, I had been craving ritual.  That aha moment was a stepping stone, guiding toward deeper honoring of my internal rhythms.  I could see a new deservingness on the horizon and wanted to align with a higher frequency of luxuriating.

All self-judgement faded back into the woman I am, who feels beautiful without makeup, who feels powerful just because. 

After further review, I am no longer embarrassed by any younger versions of my experience - how saavy I had been to listen to myself.  I am now humbled by the present moment, in recognition that even now is not an endpoint.   I have become much gentler with myself in all the right spaces - how incredible to know, it will keep getting better.  If this sounds super far away, Treat Yo' Self, is a great place to start.
I retyped the title.
And didn't edit a thing.

This IS me.  This is all of me.  This is part of my wave, my current, my song.

TREAT YO' SELF

I treated myself to a pedicure on Saturday and realized it was the first time in months that I had made time.  And my second, not-so-startling realization—every time I had carved out time, I would work on the computer the entire appointment.   I couldn’t possibly check out to myself for an hour when productivity beckoned, right?!  So I promised that I would not think about work, what I was going to do next, or any of the conflicts/excitements stimulating the surrounding week.  I was going to tune into nothing but the pleasure of relaxation.
So I promised that I would not think about work, what I was going to do next, or any of the conflicts/excitements stimulating the surrounding week.  I was going to tune into nothing but the pleasure of relaxation.

How did this go?  It was freaking HARD.  I had my computer with me and thought (oh silly mind!) that I wanted to work.  I had to remember my commitment; I had to challenge my own thoughts… Do you want to do this?  Or do you feel you should do this?

Who is going to tell you to take a break EXCEPT YOU?

I, like many chronic multi-tasking sufferers, can go NUTS if I am not being productive in some way.  We have to step outside of routine.  We have to step outside of the day’s tasks.  Everything we want to work toward or do, even just laying around, will be there waiting for us; so take a true NOURISHMENT break!  I don’t care what it is… I DARE you to TREAT YO’ SELF in the next 3 DAYS.  Not week, not month…you have 3 days to give yourself some quality attention!

Schedule a massage.  Go for a long walk UNPLUGGED.  Sit in a park with a book you've been meaning to read.  Concoct your own green juice.  Prepare an exquisite dish for yourself.  Go to a restaurant ALONE and let someone ELSE make you a gorgeous meal…it doesn’t matter what it is—but do it by yourself.  This is just for you.  While surrounding ourselves with loving souls can be pure medicine, it's important to feel that sanctuary within yourself, too.  Don’t let nurturing get tangled up with the notion of a "guilty pleasure"…like not indulging in dessert unless friends are “doing it with me”. Drop that nonsense!

Nurturing doesn’t need to be justified.  Nurturing needs to be embodied.

I think women, especially, are innate nurturers; and in this, we can always find someone who we need to help and something we need to “take care of”  before circling this love back to ourselves.  But this people-pleasing paradigm has blanketed us all, well beyond gender lines--it is full-blown epidemic, in my opinion.  It is up to us, to strategize a more consistent attuning into our own desires.  

I used to say this busy-bee nature is just how I am and there’s nothing I can do about it.  This is not false or bad.  BUT, it’s up to me how I meet myself.  Because any part of our nature can get over-amplified…and what IS a beautiful characteristic can sadly veer into an over-stressed, over-obligated, under-nourished spirit. 

Caring for other people and devoting your gifts to helping them could never be a bad thing, though, right?  Good or bad…I am not as valuable to ANYONE if I am not taking care of myself first.  And that means in every ounce of fullness I require in that moment.

When I am burning the candle at both ends, I start to bud tiny resentment seeds that can unfortunately sprout in the most unnecessary places.  And if I hold it in, I can feel even “sicker”.  When I am doing all the time, I am no longer feeling.  We can only “hear” the body through feeling, sensation, subtle observation.  So when I'm not listening, I will not genuinely understand how I am needing to be supported.

A nurtured body will nurture the mind...NOT the reverse.

Catering solely to the mind IS the disconnect.  I don’t know about you, but my mind can be a real salty bitch! The mind is a beautiful thing but entirely too controlling.  It talks louder than the body, overruling our intuition gateway.  Can you hear your intuition?  Are you listening to someone else’s? 

What do you REALLY want in this moment, and the next…and the next?  

One little pedicure set the stage for a full day of ME--letting go of rules or obligations and floating freely with my authentic desires.  Saturday came and went…clarity getting hazier as interactions, situations, and days went on.  But I had a clear understanding I didn’t want to lose.  I, me, Katie Petersen, NEED to focus on nurturing myself MORE.  

Because I feel this grand importance for myself, I know it must be important for others, as I am not so unique.  And while many aspects of my day might "qualify" as "self-care", it is already too routined.  It is expected, obligated to a point of feeling guilty, if I don't do X.  The challenge I am presenting is to do something NEW, out of the ordinary--corrupt your own monotony and find freedom on the other side.  

How have I nurtured myself today? 

I started asking myself this by Tuesday.  As the week went on, I realized how different I felt from Saturday.  The sweet, lovely plans I made for this upcoming weekend was all that I could come up with...and that has NOTHING to do with today, this moment, the only space I actually exist.  Try asking yourself those 6 words each and every day "how have I nurtured myself today?"  And write this one down.... because in forming a new habit, we MUST have consistency to our strategy.  My inability to answer my own question tells me so.  My Saturday epiphany had dispersed from view in only a matter of days!  Invoke this important question into your daily self-care checklist--right up there with brushing your teeth. Set an alarm in your phone; put a post-it on your bathroom mirror; make it your new password--whatever it is, don't just rely on reading this step here, hoping you'll repeat it.  Commit to yourself right here, right now, to be accountable and honest with yourself.  

By Thursday, I had taken noticeable measures to be gentler with myself but hadn't “treated myself” in the way I propose we do.  So I shifted the question, "How CAN I nurture myself" in a new way?  Step 2, if you don't have an answer to "how have I?", ask "how can I?".  I barely knew what I was doing when I began driving out to the Boathouse Cafe in Humboldt Park.  I had seen a stunning photo on Instagram and for whatever reason, that image popped into my mind when I asked this question.  If I waited even 2 minutes, I might have talked myself out of it because the mind LOVES a predictable routine.  Don't question yourself...GO! 

As you can see in this photo, I found myself lounging on a beautiful patio surrounded by trees, water, and and even a live calypso band…speaking to my own heart as much as yours.  In this haven, an escape from the city bustle, I am immensely inspired to pour my gratitude onto paper.  Gratitude for the abundance I experience when I allow myself to just BE.  I needed a break to check-in...to practice capturing this love within myself.  And only in doing so for me, can I even hope to share it with anyone else.  Metaphorical reality across all patterns.  I unapologetically honored my desire for solitude, nature, writing, and non-outcome-based expression.  I feel unconditionally held in this moment.

Where is your haven?

I am blessed to have had that drop of clarity on Saturday…and so grateful it didn't disappear for weeks but merely muted for a few days.  When commitment faded from view, those two simple questions became the litmus test on my follow-through.  Use them.  They are valuable.  And don't get down on yourself if you slip.  The ebb and flow is inevitable.  We each have these profound moments at different times.  It is our DUTY to share them.  I can sometimes feel, if I don’t hold this space all the time, I have no business talking about it.  But the more we share, the more we can believe and harvest this nourishment for ourselves and everyone around us at a greater frequency.  

The goal is refining our doing-ness with our being-ness. Check into yourself.  Be entirely selfish at least once a day in a way that is not already routine.  Set your reminders to do so!  Check into Love.  Self-love.  Easy? No…probably the toughest task we will ever take on.  To quell the mind is a hero’s journey.  And anything heroic that ever happened always took a collective…at least in my interpretation.  So here we are, human beings connecting with other human beings, to learn more about ourselves.  Thank you for listening.  Thank you for caring.  And thank you even more, for caring about yourself.

Now go out there and TREAT YO’ SELF.  If you have read this far, you are already committed!  If you don’t don't know how to do it for you, do it for all the people who love you.  I promise you will show up better for them, too, when you do.

GODDESS INITIATIVE

I have been up to a few things lately that delve outside of my "normal" work.  I welcomed a small group of women into this creative outlet -- an unraveling roadmap to living the lives we desire.  I invite you to hear my mission; connect to yours.  And if you are curious about our collective adventure, you are already part of it.  Please leave a message, if you would like to learn more💚

This year, 2017, is the Year of the Goddess.  Why do I know this? Because I have been entering it as my password on every online account for the past 2 years.  “I am a goddess”. (Don’t worry, there are symbols and numbers in there, too!)  Because every time I sit down to a computer screen, I am commanded to remind myself of inner greatness that just IS…regardless of the dramas, the stories, the self-judgement.  Because life’s circumstances have compelled us, as women, to open into one another and see beauty in ourselves.  Because the light we hope to shine for others must fire within us first.  Because a torch is brighter than a single flame.  “I am a goddess”.  I have written it thousands of times.  It is who I am; it is who you are; it is the power within us that brings us to our wholeness.  We are goddesses.  We harness our greatest potential in connectivity to one another.  Nature is demanding we become more responsible to our feminine power.  Look not only at the negative experiences in your own life—look at the state of our planet, screaming for a nurturing hand.  We MUST acknowledge it, honor it, and for the world’s sake, SURFACE IT!  Every time I type it, “I am a goddess”, regardless of how small I feel in that moment, I am called back, to humbly accept this truth.  It is time to claim our light, goddesses, and rise together.

I have been borderline obsessed in understanding how I fit in with this movement—the deep feminine awakening occurring on our planet.  I had 100% knowing that this is part of my dharma, my purpose (and very likely many of yours) but 0% knowing on how, when, or what it will look like.  I have prolonged true commitment to this assignment because somewhere I believed I was not worthy to share something big, something meaningful.  But if not me, then who?  If not you, who?  I realized, there is no end to the awakening path, no educational degree, no professional certificate that absolutely qualifies me to share this passion.  There is simply commitment, belief in my calling, and the toughest one--acceptance of my light.   

I am not free of shaking legs and my voice may crack, but I can no longer deny the pressure cooker inside.  The feminine energy long-repressed on this earth is bubbling up like a volcano in all of us.  This is the greatest imbalance of our time.  While we witness a male-dominated world in many ways, this Awakening is not a feminist movement.   And while we may feel a need to stand up to it from time to time, the journey is inward. The disempowered feminine/over-asserted masculine is damaging all sentient beings, nature included.  This movement is not about “equal rights”; it is about genuine transformation—navigating anger/resentment/shame/guilt, bringing light to the shadows, and invoking whole power.  Your inner-goddess  is an ever-expanding dance of masculine/feminine energies; a sacred revering of Self; a discovery of strength in surrender, softness in tenacity, and fearlessness in faith; as everything, in every moment, is innocently perfect. 

It would be careless to withhold the indigenous teachings, ancient practices, and conscious observations that are so profoundly shifting my paradigm.  The more I delve into my own darkness, seeing dramas that can rule over me, the more I want to expose every little “cover up”.  Our wounded-ness is our human-ness—and yet we hide, avoid, protect, feel ashamed for these very qualities that tell us we are alive.  These aren’t flaws but openings.  We are not victims of a long-running, ignorant society, relationship, or fate!  We bear our wounds with acceptance and gratitude, as they are only here to teach greater compassion toward ourselves.  The goddess movement brings light and awareness to vulnerabilities—this does not make us weak; THIS is what makes us strong.  By stepping into our light, we give others permission to do the same.  You are being called to shine your torch.  To embrace your highest destiny.  To join a rising force.  This year, 2017, we unite in cosmic sisterhood to illuminate the world.

WHAT THE KETTLE PRT MEANS TO ME

In building a community, there is a common ground upon which we gather.  The KETTLE PRT draws out our inner athlete but also pulls people together who share something deeper than fitness.  The nature of the competition may appear extraordinarily challenging for some—and this is no accident.  I can’t tell you how many people I have approached to participate who legitimately laugh out loud at the hilarious notion they could ever do such a thing.  For one, I would only ask someone who I see is ready to light that spark inside, who may not realize how strong they are, who deserves to stand in their power and become their OWN source of inspiration.  That shows up more often and in more people than one might think...at least for me.  

Some continue to laugh, some are simply not interested, and some choose to “Rise to the Occasion”.  I wrote these words on the home page of our website, because this is the truth of what the KETTLE PRT asks of you.  There will always only be person who “wins” first place; and there will always be someone who comes in “last”.  But these are mere details of what is really occurring at our event.  Every person who sets foot into that room has chosen to rise.  Chosen to be better at something than they were before.  Chosen to be motivated and challenged and not give up on themselves because they once felt they weren’t going to be “good enough”. (That feeling, ugh, the bane of our human existence!)  The PRT tells each and every athlete that their best is always enough and deserves to be evoked, praised, illuminated.

The ebb and flow of growing a community can sometimes leave me questioning whether I am doing the right thing…whether my energy is worth the immense effort it takes to coordinate so many people, manage constant growing pains of a website, maintain interaction of the community, and simply pull off the competition itself.  With anything there are ups and downs, and when the business of the PRT faces issues, I can get lost in the fear.  But each event, when the room begins to fill with palpable excitement, laughter, and nerves, all doubts fade away.  I am exhilarated.  I am humbled.  I am reminded why I am here, why we are all here.  We are rising to the occasion to be inspired and in that, to inspire one another. 

There is an undeniable lift in a room when everyone shares an energy that is motivated, excited, playful.  My faith is continually restored by this powerful community as I see the heart of the PRT reflected back to me.  Forming the PRT has invited me to lead in ways that have not been entirely comfortable; and in parallel, the competition invites others to do the same.  We are being tested, not just to be strong, but to be resilient, supportive, inspiring, motivating.  We are stepping up to witness something greater of ourselves.   Each person certainly shines brightly on their own—but you ask anyone in that room, and they will tell you, they shine brighter together.  The support of a community helps us achieve even more than we could or would do separately.  The nature of the PRT draws us into this collective, providing a greater source of energy to tap into and rise higher than we ever expected.  I haven’t done the math, but when I have witnessed every single person in a room PR (achieve a new personal record) in every single PRT event, I pay homage to its truth.  The bigger the dream, the bigger a community I need to support it.

I tear up multiple times each event, without fail, awestruck by the purity of perseverance.  When everything else falls away, the core of each person and what they are willing to give is absolutely breathtaking.  I am humbled to witness the transformation that takes place at the PRT.  To see a room full humans celebrate themselves simply for who they are and how proud they are to be that person, I am restored.  Everyone in that room is a leader by design and if I can help them see even the smallest fragment of their power, the PRT has succeeded its mission.