Know Yourself - A Guided Meditation To Find Your Purpose & Meaning

I get it.

You feel lost,

Disconnected from any sense of who you are.

Overwhelmed by a world that doesn't make sense.

Struggling to find meaning amongst the chaos.

You're not alone.

We've never been taught effectively how to relate to ourselves in such a way that we truly deeply are able to connect with who we are.

We live our lives with these superficial values,

Chasing more of stuff,

More things,

Which ultimately can keep us even further from the truth of who we are.

So I want to invite you now to put down all of that.

To take a moment,

About 20 moments,

And drop in with me now.

Journey with me as we reconnect to that part of ourselves that already knows,

That already knows who we are,

That already knows why we're here.

That part of ourselves that's already full,

Doesn't really need all this stuff to feel whole,

To feel complete.

So I want to invite you to find yourself a comfortable position,

Either seated or laying down,

And in your own time,

Close your eyes.

Let's start by bringing a subtle tension in the body.

The whole body all at the same time.

So a slight tensing of the body.

You may even curl your toes a little.

Curl your fingers a little.

Pull on your pelvic floor muscle.

And just tense the skin on your body.

Not so that you're uncomfortable,

But just so that you can feel the gentle.

Turning on of the body.

And let's hold that for about 15 seconds or so.

We do this so that we can feel tension consciously in the body.

And then in about 10 seconds or so,

We're going to feel what it's like to consciously release that tension.

So as we over exaggerate it,

We bring our conscious awareness to the fact that we have tension in the body.

So the whole body,

All at the same time from the top of our head to the tips of our toes.

Let's slowly release that tension.

But we're going to do it over the next 15 seconds or so.

So just little bit by little bit.

It's just a slow conscious releasing.

The whole body,

All at the same time.

It almost feels like a flower slowly opening.

Little bit by little bit.

See if you can let go even more completely now.

Really letting go.

Just becoming aware of the space that we're creating in the body.

As now I invite you to shift your attention to the muscles around your eyes.

Let's release,

Relax,

Let go of any tension that we may have in the muscles around our eyes.

And allow that sense of relaxation to flow down through into the face.

And then up through the face,

Through the forehead,

Down through the scalp,

Down through the back of the neck.

Like a wave of relaxation pushing any tightness,

Any tension,

Any stress or anxiety.

Out,

Down through the neck,

Down through the shoulders,

Down through into the arms and hands.

Really letting go now.

Allow that sense of relaxation to flow back up through the arms,

Down through the backs of the shoulders,

Down through the chest,

The lower back and stomach,

Down through the glutes,

The quadriceps and hamstrings,

Shins and calves,

Like a wave of relaxation,

Pushing any tightness,

Any tension,

Out through your feet and into whatever is connecting you to the earth.

Really letting go now.

Bringing your attention now back to the muscles around your eyes.

Become aware of any tight spots or tension that you may still have in your body.

And take your attention into that.

Maybe it's the lower back or between your shoulder blades or in your hips.

Wherever it is for you,

Take your attention into that and just see,

Feel,

Imagine that tension disappearing,

Dissolving,

Moving a little if you need to,

Consciously letting it go.

Do that in as many spots as you have.

If you find that your body is now relatively tension free,

Just bring your attention back to the muscles around your eyes and hold your attention there.

Really letting go now.

Let's shift our attention now to what we call melting chocolate.

So if you're seated,

Just keeping some subtle energy in your spine.

Otherwise,

Really letting go,

As if like a piece of chocolate in the hot,

Hot sun melting.

The whole body just hanging.

If you're laying down,

Just really spilling out across that surface that you're on.

It's almost as if the line between you and the surface that you're on becomes blurred.

Really letting go.

Becoming aware of the space that we've created in the body.

Just allowing it to be tension free.

Knowing that you can get back to this point at any time,

Simply by following through this process.

I want to invite you now just to check in with yourself.

Just ask yourself what you are feeling.

An emotion.

Energy in motion.

And without going into the story around why this emotion is there,

Let's just observe that raw emotion.

And I want you to invite it in.

Whether it's positive or negative,

Just invite it.

What often happens to us throughout the day,

We have many things,

Maybe they're micro things,

Triggering our emotions.

There may be macro things triggering some larger,

More robust emotions.

And we're not trained to bring our attention to that and process it effectively.

And so often it sits below the surface,

Pulling on our attention,

Trying to get our attention.

And often we find ourselves resisting,

Pushing against,

I don't want to feel that.

And so it sits below the surface,

Dragging our attention,

Influencing our behaviour,

Influencing our thoughts.

When if we just checked in with ourselves,

And asked what am I feeling?

Positive or negative without going into the story and just feel it.

I'm actually pissed off.

That's what you're feeling right now,

Whatever it is for you,

Maybe annoyed,

Maybe anxious.

Just honour that raw emotion,

Energy emotion,

And welcome it in.

Just giving your full attention to that emotion.

Totally allowing it to be there.

And what we often find is that emotion,

Energy emotion passes through.

It loses its charge.

And so then we ask ourselves once again,

What am I feeling now?

And then feel it again without the story.

It's just one of the raw emotion.

There'll be plenty of time to process the story at another time.

Our stories are what perpetuates the emotion that keeps it stuck.

Also by not giving it our attention,

It sits below the surface.

So here we're separating the emotion out from the story,

Whilst also giving our consciousness,

Our attention to this energy that's moving through.

So feel it,

Whatever it was,

Just welcome it in.

And bask in it,

It's just an energy emotion,

It's just an emotion.

And one last time,

What are you feeling now?

Welcome it in,

Without the story,

And just feel it.

Just be willing to feel that raw emotion.

And it will flow on through,

It will lose its charge.

And you can do this as many times as you need to,

To get back to a state of homeostasis,

Well-being.

Our system,

Billions of years of evolution.

This system is trying to get us to a state of homeostasis,

Well-being.

But as we become more conscious,

We've been given this gift of taking over some of this capacity.

But we just haven't been taught how to do that.

So here,

We learn how to process these emotions.

So that we can bask in the stillness.

So that we can bask in well-being.

So now shifting our attention to our breath.

Breath is connected to the central nervous system.

And by consciously taking control of our breath,

We can influence our state.

We can shift from a fight or flight response,

Into a parasympathetic response.

More like a flow-like state,

Simply by taking control of our breath.

So breathing in ideally through the nose,

But in the mouth,

If you need to,

It's fine.

Breathing all the way in.

Deep down into the bottom section of the lung,

Middle section,

And then upper section.

And then pausing for a moment.

And then contracting from that lower section,

Middle section,

And then upper section,

And then pausing for a moment.

And then once again on the inhalation,

Breathing all the way in,

Deep down to the lower section of the lungs.

Ideally the tummy will expand,

The ribs will push out,

And the chest will push out.

And then hold just for a second.

And then contract from the lower section.

The tummy will pull in,

The ribs will drop,

And the chest will drop.

And then hold for a second.

And catch the next inhalation all the way in once again.

Tummy will expand,

Ribs will expand,

And the chest will push out.

And then hold for a second.

And then contract from that lower section.

Stomach will drop,

Middle section,

Ribs will drop,

Upper section,

Chest will drop,

And then pause for a second.

This slow rhythmic breath.

Something that you can practice as a means,

An intervention to change your state when the mind,

When your thoughts and emotions start overwhelming you.

It's a beautiful practice to be able to regulate your state and take back control of your attention.

So keeping that slow rhythmic breath happening.

And I'll leave you for a moment just to focus on that.

So keeping that slow rhythmic breath happening in the background.

I want to invite you now to shift your attention to your heart space.

Center of your chest.

I just want you to hold your attention there for a moment.

You see as we hold our attention here,

We start to become aware of the mind,

The thoughts,

The memories,

Our fears and our desires.

We'll start to try to take our attention away into a story.

So the practice here is to hold your attention on your heart space.

If we were to imagine a beautiful white light emanating from this heart space,

Just holding your attention,

Holding your gaze on this beautiful white light.

See how long you can hold your attention on that before a thought arises and drags you into a story.

I want to invite you to really commit your attention,

Focusing on this heart space.

This white light that's emanating from this space.

I'm going to leave you now and with a quiet determination,

I want you to hold your attention here.

Holding your attention on that white light,

Visualize it,

Imagine it if you need to.

It takes quiet,

The determination and willpower and the refocusing.

The mind is incredibly powerful in that it will try to take your attention.

It's incredibly crafty.

It'll make you think about something that you need to think about,

But let's just put that aside for now.

There's plenty of time to think about that after this practice.

So holding your attention on this white space,

This white light that's emanating from your heart space.

Becoming aware of the energy that's building in your body.

Holding your attention.

It's in the stillness outside the mind that we connect to who we really are.

In this practice of holding our attention still,

That we begin to hear the insights.

Tune into our intuition.

Reconnect to our instincts.

So it's in the stillness that we find what we're looking for.

But we can't think our way to our purpose.

It needs to come to us through inspired thought.

So holding your attention for as long as it takes.

If your attention wanders,

Just gently bring it back.

Refocus.

Recommit.

Revisualize if you can,

If you need to.

This white line.

Focusing your attention in on that.

See how long you can hold your attention.

I promise you there will come a point where you feel the mind trying to take your attention.

But you also feel your power.

Your resolve rising to meet that challenge.

There will come a point where the mind will give up.

And you'll dwell in the stillness.

And it's in this stillness.

You'll find the guidance that you're looking for.

You move from thinking and doing.

To being and knowing.

Holding your attention.

That heart space.

Becoming aware of the expanding stillness around.

Power rising up from down deep inside.

The energy drawing up out of the earth.

Through your feet.

Into your heart space.

The energy pouring down from above.

Down through your crown chakra.

Down through into your heart space.

Feeling your chest and that exploding out through into the world.

You are that.

It.

Light.

Spending time each day in communion with the stillness.

Is the gift you've been looking for.

It will guide you.

You will know.

You don't need to think.

Strop in.

And you will know.

The power is real.

You are real.

You are it.

Let go.

Surrender completely.

And you will know.

Holding your attention on the stillness.

The intelligence that put you here is doing the work.

There's nothing that you need to intend.

There's nothing that you need to do.

By communing each day with the stillness.

Your life will be guided.

You'll come to know what to do.

And some tough decisions may need to be made.

To move from one path to another.

May require some change.

To be supported by the community.

As you make those changes.

And return back to stillness.

And you will be guided.

Stillness is here whenever you need it.

You can get back here anytime you need to.

Simply by following this practice.

Some days it will be easy.

Other days you'll be challenged.

But the mind will always give up.

You need to persist.

Taking control of your attention.

With that in mind,

We tell ourselves that we're about to complete this session.

And to do so we start stretching out into the fingers and toes.

Arms and legs.

And then slowly as if like a cat in the sun.

Stretching out.

Moving slowly so as not to spill the calm that you've created.

You are it.

You are enough.

You are more than the noise in your head.

And whenever you need to connect into the stillness.

And it will guide you.

So much love.

Namaste.

Namaste.

Namaste.

Namaste.