Our subconscious mind naturally weaves together stories about who we are and how we fit into the world to form an identity or sense of self.
It's a response to our environment and an essential part of our development.
It gives us means to connect with others,
A sense of belonging,
And a framework to understand our place in the world.
But our self-perception is inherently binding.
It's always limiting.
It holds us back from exploring and expressing deeper aspects of ourselves.
This practice will help us get free from these limitations and help us tune in to our innate sense of wholeness.
You can start with a few deep breaths,
Feeling the gentle expansion of your body on the inhale.
The chest expands and opens.
The spine stretches out and becomes long.
Then feeling into the relaxed quality of the exhale.
Tension softens.
Understanding this natural sense of ease.
We can start by just noticing how we carry the weight of the past with us.
How our problems seem ever-present.
How we see ourselves in relation to other people or certain ideals we measure ourselves against.
This is the comparative or judgmental aspect of our mind.
But let's let that go and look at the truth of this moment.
That those are all just thoughts,
Ideas.
That when we come into the present and really look at what's here right now,
Are there any problems?
Our problems are usually connected to the past or future.
So let's forget the past,
Forget the future.
So just see if you could tune in to the freedom of this moment.
The freedom that comes from letting everything be just as it is.
From not needing to change anything.
And from that freedom we can simply relax and let go into the freedom of simply being.
Being in this free and open space can be a bit scary.
We may think that without fears or ambitions we won't have any motivation to change or accomplish things in life.
But all of this thinking and comparing and measuring,
It's all exhausting.
See if you can give yourself a break.
Let go of any ambitions,
Hopes or dreams.
Recognize any fears that arise and reassure yourself that it's okay.
That you can be with this experience right now without having to create ideas to escape it.
And just softening with each breath,
Letting go of having to achieve or do or be anything in particular.
And simply embrace existence.
Just relax into this simple experience of being.
It can be difficult to really let go into this freedom and in these cases it can be helpful to connect to a deep authentic part of ourselves.
Our natural goodness.
We simply recognize that we as humans are essentially good.
That this goodness may become obscured at times.
That we aren't always kind or compassionate.
That we all have shadows full of selfishness and greed.
But that our essential nature,
Who we are in the deepest part of ourselves,
Is good.
We can usually see this most clearly when we look at children.
But we are all good in the core of our being.
We are all naturally empathetic and compassionate.
We may not always be able to connect with the felt sense of compassion.
This part of us often retreats due to the chaos of the world.
But we can still recognize that there are people we care about.
That we don't want others to suffer.
And these things signify our innate goodness,
Our compassionate nature.
Can you get a sense of this goodness right now?
This wanting others to be well?
We can further evoke this part through visualization.
You can imagine a baby smiling at you.
Or a kitten or a puppy.
Or any person or pet that you love.
And just notice the feeling this brings up.
This touches our essential goodness.
Allow yourself to smile,
Even if you have to fake it at first.
And imagine yourself breathing in this goodness.
Just recognizing that this is our true nature.
This touches the core of who we are.
See if you can tap into the sense of wholeness that's connected to this innate goodness.
We don't need to be anyone or achieve anything to be whole.
We are all essentially good.
We are,
On the deepest level,
Already whole.
This wholeness just gets obscured through ideas,
Through experiences,
Through comparison,
Through fears.
And we may lose touch with this feeling of wholeness.
But even on a cloudy day,
The sun is still shining.
It's just covered.
So even if today is cloudy,
Even if you can't feel your innate goodness,
Know that it's there.
Know that you are already everything that you need to be,
That you are already whole.
Breathe in that goodness,
That recognition that you are enough.
Let this recognition spread through your being.
Relieving any tension.
Letting it all go.
Release into this feeling of expansive goodness.
I'm just breathing here,
Continuing to relax.
I'm just letting go now of this practice.
Knowing that whatever you experienced,
Whatever challenges came up,
That's okay.
That's normal.
It's not easy to let go and surrender into this space.
We have so many defenses that are trying to hold us together,
Trying to keep us safe from an unsafe world.
So just honor where you're at,
Honor whatever experience was true for you,
Knowing though that deep down at your core,
You are good.
You are whole.
Thank you for your practice.
