New Year! New You?
Not exactly.
As you try on new habits and resolve to make better choices in your life, remember that wherever you go, there you are.
You can change your job, your home, your workout regimen, but you cannot escape you. The baggage you’ve been holding onto since childhood and the stories you’ve created about yourself come with you.
True transformation happens within. To make an impact this year, create time for your meditation practice. Take ten breaths or ten minutes to sit someplace quiet. The chatter in your mind may not seem so quiet at first and that’s okay. Listen to your thoughts as they occur and inquire why they’re there. Allow any feelings of anger or sadness to arise; scrunch up your face, furrow your brow, let out a roar! This is not a practice of numbing the pain, but finding a safe place for your thoughts and emotions to be processed and felt. Every story has a beginning. A seed had been planted long ago; follow the roots back to the beginning of how you became who you are today. This may take a few years to unpack, but with awareness comes change.
We often mistake our thoughts as reality. But this is like mistaking the radiance of the moon as the source of it’s own luminosity. Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, your thoughts are a reflection of your consciousness. Take on the perspective of the sun, shining your light of awareness on your thoughts, emotions and sensations as they arrive; watch them pass like clouds in the sky.
Once acknowledged and expressed, enjoy the calm after the storm. Remember, the only true reality is this moment. From the viewpoint of the sun — this perspective of a witness — become intensely aware of all that is happening right now. Notice the cool air as it sips in through your nostrils and the slightly warmer air as it leaves. Listen for the sound of your breath, the sound of birds outside or the airplanes as they pass by. Notice where your body ends and the ground begins, even sense where your clothes touch your skin.
This practice of presence allows you to choose to release the past and live in the now. Feel empowered to mindfully make your move! The story that you told yourself may never be unwritten, but it does not have to dictate your future.