Navigating The Stories Guiding Our Experience

Hello,

My name is Al Jeffery and thank you very much for first of all taking the time just to carve out some of your day to work on yourself,

To connect with yourself and just to ask maybe some deeper questions.

So you're probably taking the time for this meditation if you're someone who,

Like me,

Seeking more clarity,

More groundedness,

More ability to guide your own moment to moment experience or maybe you're someone who feels that deep down there is a more authentic,

More natural and more fulfilling existence that is available to us if only we undertake the deeper questioning and uncover our own natural voice.

So this meditation is one that I have led for many people,

For many clients,

For many strangers passing through India and I get asked to lead it a lot and so I thought that I would share it and record it just so that it can be open to more people.

It's a visualization that's less about simple relaxation and more about self-awareness and self-awareness building of the full self,

The whole self,

Becoming aware of the many stories and the many voices that play out in our monkey minds and have influence on our moment to moment experience and the decisions we make in the present and about our future.

To bring awareness to them,

Therefore diffusing any dominant stories and bringing more conscious choice to the way that we navigate the different stories that play out in our lives.

So firstly,

Just make sure you find yourself a comfortable posture,

Whether you're sitting or lying that's totally fine.

If you are lying,

Maybe,

If you have a tendency to fall asleep,

Just bend your knees up and knock them in towards each other just so that if they start to fall apart you'll wake yourself up since I'm not there to poke you.

Firstly,

Let's just give ourselves and yourself acknowledgement for taking the time.

It's said that in this modern world it takes courage to sit in silence,

It takes courage to take time out.

It's a competition to almost be the busiest person alive.

So you've demonstrated great courage just to take time to listen to this.

So just give yourself a little bit of acknowledgement for that.

And before we go into any meditation or visualization,

It's always good to set a motivation or to be very clear on the reason why we're doing this so that we have a sense of importance as to what we're doing.

So this visualization about becoming more aware of the voices and the different stories that have influence on our day to day and our future,

What does that really mean to you?

What does it mean to you to have more awareness about that?

Why is becoming more aware of these voices important to you?

Just take a moment to really get clear on that because to go forward with a not so strong motivation might impact the influence this has on you.

And then secondly,

Beyond yourself,

What will having this new sense of clarity and empowerment and being able to make more conscious choices,

What would that mean to the way that you can relate to and have impact on those around you?

How we're being more aware of your whole self and all of the inner voices,

How will that help you connect with and move more people so that we can become more impactful,

More loving,

More kind to those around us?

So once you've got clear on firstly,

What it really means to you,

Then usually the first answer is not really what it means to you.

So maybe if the answer didn't move you or maybe scare you a little bit,

Maybe ask yourself again what does this actually mean for you?

If you chose to make this a moment or this a meditation that could shift the path or be a catalyst for a new way for you,

What would that mean?

And then again,

What would that actually mean to those around you,

Your family,

Your friends,

Your colleagues,

Your community and of course the general world?

So this visualization will guide you through two experiences in your mind's eye.

To firstly help you get clear on your current path,

The past,

The present,

The future and where excited to be heading,

But then also to become aware of the different voices that are with you during this path on this journey and that are very important and very involved in the conversation about you and your future.

But sometimes one story or one voice has more of a say than the others.

And so this visualization will hopefully help you become more aware of that and be able to make a more conscious choice as to which ones you listen to at which times.

So during it,

Firstly I invite you to do a couple of things.

Firstly to give yourself permission to be present with the process because with presence and dedication to this you allow the process to bring the lessons it needs to bring to you.

Not the lessons you think you need or the lessons you think you already know.

This isn't just a self-confirmation exercise.

This is to broaden your awareness and so with presence you allow what really needs to take place to come to the surface and just to observe it.

So if you need to reconnect with your why at any point and why this is actually important to you then please just take a moment to do that.

Secondly as it is a visualization just dive as deep as you can into each visual as I explain it to you.

The more the visuals come to life for you the richer the experience will be and the more profound some of the realizations might be for you.

And lastly just be okay with not knowing the answers when a question is asked of you.

So Osho always says that there is the known,

There is the unknown and there is the unknowable.

A lot of the time the unknowable is the root of our intuition where there's actually no way our mental intellectual minds could know it but we can still be it and still act from it.

And so to make room for change we need to let go of what we think we know and invite in something new without engineering the answers.

So I invite you to see if you can let them come to you when questions are asked just let the answers arise.

So now that we have created some intention,

Motivation and maybe a bit of comfortability with what the process might look like just invite you to if you haven't already just gently close your eyes.

Maybe doing so on an exhale.

And just start to take your breath deeper into your tummy,

Down towards your belly button.

On every exhale just noticing your body seeking deeper into the floor or the chair that you're resting on.

Selling to let go of trying to hold your body in a certain posture.

And while you continue to make or take some deeper conscious breaths just notice within your mind if there's already an inner dialogue about how this should be or what is going to happen.

Just if there's any inner dialogue and again just notice it.

Not acting on it.

Just familiarise yourself with the idea of simply observing and not getting caught up in the activity of the mind.

So just three more deep breaths into the lower lobes of your lungs.

And now to enter the space that we're in just becoming aware of the sounds that you can hear.

Firstly starting as far away from you as possible.

As if you're collecting your awareness with a net from as far away from you as possible.

Just noticing the sounds.

And if you like maybe try to notice the characteristics of the sounds rather than trying to label them.

So how loud is it?

How soft is it?

How fast?

How slow?

What's the texture of the sound?

And then bringing that net for your awareness in a little bit closer towards your body where it is now.

So maybe within the room that you're in.

What are the sounds of all types that you can hear in this room?

Gently let the awareness of sound just drift away into the clouds and just become aware of your breath again.

And just ask yourself how do I feel?

And just start to get used to the answers rising without trying to engineer the answers.

So maybe ask yourself one more time how do I feel now?

And just let the body tell you the answer.

And then on your next exhale just see if you can sink a little deeper into the floor or the chair that you're resting on.

And so we've entered this space.

And now just to become very aware of the body as we might ask it to give us some answers later on.

Firstly starting with both of your ankles or your heels.

Just becoming aware of what it's like to be there.

A lot of the time we are in our head.

We basically are our heads.

But what's it like to be in your ankles or your heels?

What's it like to experience this moment from their vantage point?

And then on your next inhale as if the awareness is floating up your legs just draw the awareness up into both knees.

And just let it rest there.

And again just let yourself be in your knees for a moment.

One of the joints in your body that takes a lot of impact with every step.

Just being with that for a moment.

Letting them know that you see them,

You hear them.

And then on your next inhale drawing the awareness up to your pelvis.

And just let it rest there as if it's a feather floating down to rest on the ground.

Just let it be in your pelvis.

And then as if it's a light rising up from the bottom of your spine to the top.

On your next inhale bring your awareness all the way up the spine and resting on your shoulders.

And starting with the right hand on your exhale just let your awareness drop all the way down to your right wrist.

As if it just fell all the way down your arm.

And then finger by finger tracking your awareness from where the finger meets your hand to the tip of the finger.

See if you can be in each individual finger one at a time.

And on your next inhale drawing your awareness all the way up back to both shoulders.

And then on your exhale let it fall all the way down your left arm and rest in your left wrist.

Just taking as much of your awareness to that part of your body.

Letting it encompass your whole experience for this moment.

And then again tracking your awareness from where the finger meets the hand to the tip of the finger along each of your five fingers.

And when you're ready inhale your awareness all the way up to your shoulders and just exhale it down to the left of your chest where you can feel your heart beating.

And just see how much can you feel the heartbeat in your chest cavity.

And maybe you can even hear the heart beating by withdrawing your senses inward as much as possible.

So now from this place if your eyes are closed gently turn your eyes up so that your focal point or your drishti,

Your awareness is on the space between your eyebrows.

So both your eyes are turned inwards and up to the space between your eyebrows.

If you're familiar with the chakras this is your Ajna chakra or your third eye chakra.

The chakra for creativity,

For visualization.

And I just invite you for as much of the next little while to keep your attention there to let that place be the place where the experience emerges.

And so firstly in your mind's eye emerging from that space between your eyebrows just bringing to mind the image of the house or living space that you've felt most comfortable in so far to this date in your journey.

The house or the apartment or the shed,

Whichever space you've lived in that felt the most comfortable,

The most warm,

The most safe for you.

Just bringing that to the front of your mind.

And just noticing was it day,

Was it night in this particular moment?

And just as much as possible bring this image to life.

What were the colours?

What were the smells?

What was it about this place that really had you feel safe?

And just see if you can turn up the brightness and the realness,

The vividness of this image again.

Maybe if you still feel like it's out there take a step closer towards the image until you're almost inside the image.

And you're back there with that place experiencing what it's like.

And now feeling what it felt like to be there.

If there was a hallway or a corridor in this space bring that to mind.

Or if there wasn't what would it look like if there was a hallway or corridor in this house or place?

And just letting that image again be as real as possible.

What was it like to look down that corridor hallway?

Or what would it be like to look down that corridor hallway if there was one?

Would it be dark and gloomy,

Bright and light,

Inspiring,

Scary?

What would it be like?

And again just inviting you to not create the answers,

Just let them come up.

And so you're at the entrance to that hallway or corridor and you're about to take a step into it.

And you notice on the left hand wall there are three big photo frames,

Very large photo frames.

And so you take a slow step into the hallway and as you start to wander down you hear chatter and voices ahead at the end of the hallway.

That's where the dining room is.

So you take your time,

You don't want to rush to the chaos and the chatter.

You just want to take your time and arrive with a sense of peace and stillness and clarity.

So one step at a time you slowly walk down the hallway.

And as you approach the first frame you're curious and you gently turn to the left to face the first frame.

There it is on the wall.

And just notice what colour the frame is in your mind's eye.

This photo frame on the wall in the hallway.

And then in the frame you notice it's not a static image,

It's a living video.

And it's of you in your past.

And just let the images come up when you look at you in your past.

Maybe you see some struggle,

Some challenge.

Maybe it's to do with your relationships,

Your career,

Your health,

The way that you relate to yourself.

And so I just invite you to let yourself be as honest and open as possible.

And just let this video be a video of you in your past,

The way things used to be.

And any challenges or struggles that may have come up.

And again you're just noticing it in the picture frame,

You're not in it anymore.

So there might be a sense of empowerment or gratitude that you're simply able to observe that experience now and not actually have to live it.

So I'll just let you be as honest as you like in just letting the image come up and let the video play in front of you.

How did you used to relate to other people?

How did you used to relate to yourself?

Maybe how did you treat your own body and the health of your body?

And then just let the image or that video slowly fade to black and white.

And then slowly fade just back to a white backdrop.

And do step away from that frame,

Turn to the right so you can see down the hallway again.

And you just start to take a couple of more slow mindful steps down the hallway until you're in front of the next frame.

This is the frame in the middle.

You turn to the left again and face the frame.

Again just noticing the colour of the frame.

This is the frame of the present moment,

The frame of life right now.

So just let the colour come up that represents the present moment for you.

And now observing yourself in the movie of your life as it is now.

It's up to you what now means,

Whether it's this very moment,

This last week,

This month,

This year.

Remember that the moment in that time frame,

Now how do you relate to yourself,

To others,

To your body?

And just noticing what plays out in front of you in the frame.

Then you just notice a little dial at the bottom left hand corner of the frame,

Like a little volume knob,

But you turn it to the right and it turns up the brightness and the vividness of the image so it becomes more to life again,

More real.

And just notice what feelings may emerge when you observe the present moment and the way that you're being in the world.

And maybe inviting a smile with your eyes,

With your mouth,

With your shoulders.

And then as we did before,

Just letting the image fade to black and white and then fading on an XL to white as you turn to your right and face back down the middle of the hallway.

And then taking a couple of mindful steps further down until you get to the last frame.

So you turn to your left,

Curious with what it might be,

And you notice this frame is the frame of the future.

And so with that in mind,

Just let a colour emerge that represents the future for you and just let the frame be that colour.

And then with maybe a little bit more energy or excitement,

Just notice what's happening in the frame now,

In your future,

In the future that you know is maybe more authentic,

More natural and is possible.

How are you now within yourself with others?

How do you express yourself around others?

How much of yourself do you share?

And just noticing when you visualise maybe the best version of yourself,

What does that look like?

How does it feel?

And then maintaining that excited state,

Knowing that what you just saw is definitely possible because it's within you.

Just taking a step back from this photo frame,

Again turning your head to the right and just looking down the middle of the hallway.

And now the only next thing in front of you is the door to the dining room.

So you take a couple of steps forward and as you get closer you hear the voices getting louder and louder,

That chatter,

Getting louder and louder.

And so you step into the dining room and you notice that there's a round table in front of you with seven seats around it.

One of them directly in front of the door is empty.

And you notice that the conversation around the table has been your future.

And they're just sharing their opinions on what they would like for you.

So as you step in the voices quieten and the voice of your parents asks you to just take a seat and join them at the dinner table.

So you notice that you're sitting down and there are six seats around the table that you're sharing this conversation with.

And so you just look around the table side with the seat to your left which is the voice of your head.

And then the seat next to that,

The voice of your heart.

The seat next to that,

The voice of your parents.

And just letting imagery come up as you hear who is in each seat.

Then the seat next to your parents is the voice of your culture.

And then the seat next to your culture is the voice of your friends.

And then the seat just to your right,

Back around the full circle,

Is the voice of your intuition or your nature or your instinct.

The voice that is always there that sometimes surprises you but very often feels right.

So starting with the seat on your left,

The voice of your head,

You just turn in your mind's eye to the left and just make eye contact and face your head.

Whatever image comes up to you when you visualize the voice of your head,

Just let that be.

And you're just actually observing the voice of your head as a separate entity.

And then in your mind's eye you ask it,

What do you want for me?

And just let the answer emerge.

Maybe it's fame,

Success,

Something else.

And just asking again,

Just noticing the first answer that arises,

Trying not to engineer it again.

Understanding the voice of your head and just asking it,

What do you want for me?

And none of these answers that are given by the different voices are bad or good.

It's just each voice's way of loving you and trying to protect you.

But just getting to know them,

The different aspects of ourselves,

Is very important.

So once you've heard what you feel the voice of your head really is trying to tell you,

What it really wants for you,

You just gently nod your head to acknowledge that you've heard it and you thank it.

And then you move to the seat next to your head,

Which is the seat of the voice of your heart.

And so again,

Just let any imagery or visuals that represent the voice of your heart come up.

And just be with that,

Just be present with the voice of your heart.

And so you can listen to it fully without getting involved,

But just listening.

And then when you're present enough to listen,

Just asking your heart,

What is it that you want for me?

From the heart's perspective,

What is it that would make you content and fulfilled?

And again,

I just invite you to ask yourself one more time,

Just seeing if you can dig a little deeper,

Let go a little bit more to an answer that may scare you,

But will also excite you.

What intention does your heart have for you?

What would it like for you?

And then again,

Once you've listened to your heart fully,

Just gently nod your head just to acknowledge that you've heard,

You've been present,

And that you thank your heart.

And then you move to the seat next to your heart,

Which is the seat of your parents.

So let the image of the voice of your parents come up.

And just take a moment to connect,

Making eye contact.

And then honestly,

When you ask your parents,

What do you really want for me?

Just let the answer come to the surface.

And just as detached as possible,

Noticing the answer,

Just knowing that each voice is doing the best they can with what they know for you.

And you're just getting to know what it is that they truly want.

So asking your parents just one more time,

What is it that you really,

Really want for me?

Beneath behavior,

Beneath how we react to each other,

Very deep down,

What is it that you actually want for me?

And then to acknowledge your parents and thank them,

Just nod your head again.

And you gently turn your head to the next seat,

Which is the seat of your culture,

The seat of the culture that you feel most has influence on yourself,

Whether it's the culture you're currently in,

Another culture that you grew up in.

Which culture do you identify most with?

And just let the image of that culture come up in front of you,

In this seat.

You might find it hard to maybe visualize a culture,

But maybe visualize what the culture stands for,

What the very essence of the culture is.

And then when you feel like you're present and clear on the culture in front of you,

With the culture in front of you,

Just take a deep breath and then ask it,

What is it that you really want for me?

And maybe you ask a couple more times if you like,

What is it that you really want for me?

And again,

Just noticing what it says back through you now.

Then when you're ready,

Gently nod your head,

Acknowledging it,

Thanking it for playing a role in the best way that it knows how.

And then gently turning to the seat to the right of your friends and those close to you,

Maybe their colleagues.

And just let this image come to the front of your mind.

When that's clear and you feel present with that image,

Just asking your friends or the colleagues or those close to you,

What is it that you really want for me?

And just letting it actually be those people speaking to you.

Them voicing their deepest intentions for you.

Maybe these things aren't obvious in the way that you are together or that behaviour shows,

But that their deeper intentions be known.

And then on an exhale,

Just gently nod your head to your friends or these people close to you,

Just to thank them.

And now we turn to the last seat,

Just to the right of you,

The seat of your intuition or your instinct or your nature.

The part of you that now has been able to observe all of these voices and not actually be caught up in them.

The part of you that has been able to choose which voice to listen to and observe from a higher place of awareness,

Like a hawk that soars over the mountain,

Just watching,

Just observing.

This part of you is able to soar over the activity of your mind and observe which bits to play with,

To interact with,

At which moments.

So this part of yourself,

Being able to observe all these different voices,

Having so much wisdom from listening to so many different people,

And then being able to step back and make a conscious choice.

When you let the image of your intuition or your nature or your instinct come to mind,

Just let it emerge,

Something that for you represents this.

And then when you ask,

What is it that you really want for me?

Just let it speak.

And then maybe asking one more time,

Just to create the space for something maybe more truthful or meaningful to arise.

And when you've got something that just feels right,

Just take three deep breaths into the lower lobes of your lungs,

Into your navel.

And then just gently nod your head to this voice.

And just turn your head back to the center and just notice that you've been able to listen to all these different voices,

These different influences that play a role in how we guide ourselves through moment to moment and through big decisions about our future and our life.

And that each of them have their own perspectives and are playing a different role in keeping us safe,

Keeping us happy,

Keeping us on track,

Keeping us in love.

And so none of them are right or wrong,

They're just all playing a different role.

But maybe if we only listen to a couple of them or one of them more than the others,

Maybe that creates imbalance.

And so just notice as you reflect on the different voices around the table,

Just notice which one maybe plays out more in your life.

Which one maybe do you listen to or let speak up more often?

And then maybe which one do you feel for right now in your journey,

Which one might you like to listen to more?

Which one might you like to be present with more so that it can play out day to day?

And so in your mind's eye you stand up out of your seat.

You gently nod your head to everyone that played a role in this conversation at the dinner table,

Thanking them for being part of you and honestly truly giving them your love and gratitude,

Whatever that feels like and looks like for you.

And you stand up and you turn around and you face back down the corridor,

This time seeing it in the opposite direction with the photo frames on the right hand wall.

And very gently maintaining the energy that you feel now with more awareness,

More empowerment,

Just slowly walking down the corridor or the hallway,

All the way to the end.

And then slowly on an exhale just let the image of the corridor fade away and just return your awareness back down from your third eye,

Back down into the lower lobes of your lungs,

Back down into your tummy.

And just bring your awareness back to your breath.

So this visualization was simply an exercise in firstly acknowledging and paying attention to the past,

The present and our future,

But then also just becoming more aware of all the voices that play out in our minds from different people,

Different parties,

Different entities that do have influence and that with awareness we might be able to diffuse any of them being too dominant and empower some of the others to come in and guide us.

And so as you sit or lie here after the visualization,

Just maybe ask yourself which one voice are you going to let in more often?

Which one voice do you feel you should be listening to more right now for this stage in your path?

And just really make maybe a commitment to yourself,

For yourself and like we mentioned at the beginning so that we can serve others more,

Just really making a commitment to yourself to listen to that voice a little more,

Just to let it come through.

And then when you're ready and you think you've made a commitment,

Just start to bring your awareness back to your body,

Maybe twinkling your fingers,

Your toes,

Just bringing life back into your body.

Just waking it up slowly,

All in good time.

And I just invite you again just to put a little smile on your mouth,

Smiling with your eyes and just feel a new sense of expansiveness,

A new sense of awareness of the whole self,

All of the voices,

Not just your mind.

Maybe you notice your chest is more open,

There's a new sense of clarity.

But like the Buddha said,

My teachings are simply a finger pointing to the moon.

Do not mistake my finger for the moon.

So this new awareness you have is simply a finger pointing to a new future or a new possibility,

A new potential.

But don't mistake this awareness for the future because now it's up to us to take the awareness and live it,

Bring it into our lives,

Bring it into the way we behave and be with ourselves,

With others and with the world around us.

And so when you're ready,

Just rub your hands in front of your chest,

Generating heat between your palms.

Just rubbing your palms together nice and fast,

Generating heat and friction and energy.

And then just placing your palms over your eyes and inhale,

Just to bring the heat in towards your eyes.

And then rubbing your palms one more time,

Maybe a little bit faster,

More heat.

And then again placing them over your eyes.

And then on your next inhale,

Just gently take your hands over your eyes and gently blink open your eyes.

And saying hello to the world out there again.

So as I said,

It takes great courage to take a moment to take time out of our very busy schedules,

I imagine,

To take part in something like this.

And so I trust that you dove as deep as you felt to and that you had something come out the other side,

Maybe a realization,

Maybe a remembering,

Maybe something exciting or scary,

Who knows.

But I just trust that you had something come out and that maybe,

Like many do,

You'll have things continue to come out as you reflect or as you try to go to sleep tonight.

So I just invite you to maybe share with me what did come out.

So you can email me at lal at realizeflow.

Com,

R-e-a-l-i-s-e-f-l-o-w dot com.

Because like I said,

The next stage is embodiment,

To take the new awareness into your life,

To live it and bring it to others,

To invite them to do the same.

So when you're ready,

You can stand up or you can roll over onto your side.

And then when you're comfortable,

Come up and move into your day.

I hope that brought some new sense of clarity and awareness,

And for most people,

A sense of empowerment to know that we can choose which voice plays out.

So welcome to a new broadened awareness.

I invite you to share your experience with me and with others.

Much love.