One more sleep till Christmas, then the festive spirit will be in fall flow. I’m sure many of us will get to watch the film ‘a Christmas Carol’ one of those traditional must watch family movies at Christmas time. You know the one, the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited by three spirits, the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and then the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
Today I want to think about the word ‘spirit’. Our spirit is our essence. Our authentic self is our internal beacon of truth and powerful internal compass. Authentic self refers to our genuine person. It is who we really are at the very core of our being. It is a composite of our skills, talents, acquired wisdom and core values and beliefs.
It tends to be the one thing we neglect the most. It is silenced by the noise of daily living. Too often we coast along in life willing to put our “self” on the back burner in order to be what we perceive others want us to be. Most of our lives we live without being our authentic self, we become the person we think others want us to be, or the person we believe we have to be.
We have to make time everyday to feed our spirit. When we take care of our spirit we find the path to our authentic self and ultimately to living the life we were intended to live. In the computer world they say, garbage in, garbage out, well it’s the same for the human spirit. We must feed ourselves positivity and joy.
Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered who you really are? We all have our individual personal image of who we are. We all want to be successful, handle our responsibilities well, and make something of our lives. And yet, inside, we are so unfulfilled. We constantly find ourselves under pressure, taking no enjoyment from our daily lives, or the picture we have of ourselves. What a crazy way to live.
Until your connect to your authentic self, the stress of daily life will prevent you from becoming the person you were born to be. Once you live life from the core of your authentic self you will discover true happiness and fulfilment. You will feel ‘right,’ relaxed, confident, and at peace. What a great way to live.
Which way would you prefer to live?
Slow down and start to live. Take a step back and re-invent yourself by discovering the real you.
From January we will be feeding your mind, body and soul with inspirational articles, ideas, techniques and tools for you to put to use to discover your true self.
I offer you this this relaxation technique to assist you in getting in touch with your true self, live up to your full potential, and live according to your true identity in day-to-day life.
- Choose a quiet place where you will have a minimum amount of disturbance.
- Sit in a chair, get comfortable, while keeping your back straight and upright to prevent your mind from becoming lethargic or drowsy.
- Now stay very still and quiet, with no distractions around. Your body should be comfortable and relaxed.
- Partially close your eyes, leaving them only slightly open to allow enough light in to keep your brain alert in order to avoid sleep mode setting in.
- Start to relax your body, beginning with your feet. Allow a feeling of relaxation to fill your feet…feeling heavy, loose, and relaxed. Relax your ankles…lower legs…and knees.
- Now, relax your upper legs. Let the muscles of your legs completely let go…feeling very heavy and relaxed.
- Relax your hips and pelvis, and all the surrounding muscles. Feel your stomach and lower back relaxing…the muscles giving up their hold.
- Feel the relaxation in your chest, back, and sides…feeling very relaxed…very heavy.
- Let your hands relax, all the way from your fingertips to your wrists. Feel your lower arms relaxing…letting go. Relax your elbows and upper arms…loose and heavy.
- Relax your shoulders, feeling them lowering slightly…finding a comfortable, relaxed position…free from tension…
- Allow the muscles of your neck to relax…letting go…and relax your face and head.
- Feel your entire body relaxing even more deeply…becoming completely relaxed…limp…heavy…comfortable.
- Now turn your attention inward…even more deeply inside…to find your authentic self.
- Imagine the person you believe yourself to be right now. It’s okay if you aren’t quite sure who you are. Just picture yourself going about the things you usually do in a typical day. Imagine that you are watching yourself, observing yourself going about your usual activities.
- See yourself getting up in the morning, going about your day, imagine the things that you do in a typical day. See yourself doing these activities.
- Now picture yourself standing in an empty room. Imagine watching ‘the person you believe yourself to be’, observe, now imagine you could strip away all the things that hold you back from your full potential. Imagine self-doubt dissolving being replaced with confidence and self-assurance. Picture this person before you, and imagine all the things that get in the way of success, such as circumstances, lack of resources, lack of forgiveness, illness, baggage from the past, anything that is holding this person back in any way at all and see these problems dissolving, disappearing, going away.
- Now imagine this person, standing in the empty room. What is left? Who is this person when all those barriers are stripped away?
- This person is you. Imagine who you are at the core, the pure character that is left when there is nothing to get in the way of complete self-expression.
- You may only have a vague picture in your mind right now, let’s allow that picture to come into focus, becoming more clear…
- Think of your motivations, what motivates you? What drives your behaviour? What catches your interest? What propels you to action?
- Think about your personality and character traits, the characteristics that are left when all barriers are removed and all fears have gone away. At your fullest potential, your simplest form, with no fears, what traits do you have? Think about your energy, are you laid back and calm, or are you energetic?
- Now create one final picture in your mind. Imagine, in as much detail as you can, the person you want to be. Imagine your ideal self.
- How would this person behave? What does this person, your authentic self, value? What motivates this ideal self? What personal characteristics are present in this ideal version of you? Imagine all the details of the person you most want to be.
- The image in your mind right now, of this ideal person, is you. This is your authentic self. This is who you are. At the core, beneath all of life’s getting in the way…this is you.
- Spend a few moments with this image of your authentic self.
- Now allow yourself to step inside this image, and fully become this person. Become who you are. For this moment, just be, simply be your authentic self.
- Feel a sense of calm and serenity, secure in who you are, knowing who you are. This is you. Your authentic self.
- You can take this authentic self with you allowing this true essence of you to shine through in everyday life. Allow your values, personality, and motivations to shine though, to guide your behaviour, to make up who you are.
- You have always been this person, you always will be your authentic self, a positive, confident person. A person you like and appreciate. Underneath the challenges, the baggage, the demands of living life, this is the real you that will always be with you.
- It’s time to reawaken now, to conclude this relaxation exercise.
- Move your fingers, waking up your hands and arms.
- Move your toes, allowing your feet and legs to wake up.
- Feel your muscles reawakening and your whole body filling with energy.
- Open your eyes and sit quietly for a moment while you reorient to your surroundings.
- When you are completely awake and alert, you can return to your usual activities, feeling confident and calm, in touch with your authentic self.
“Let the beauty you love, be what you do.” Rumi
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