There are so many ways to create spaciousness in our life and in our minds,
But the reason we want to create spaciousness in the first place is to notice what is ours,
What is true,
What our inner voice is trying to tell us.
Our inner voice whispers.
If we are not paying attention,
We will only hear other people's voice that are on a microphone,
On the internet,
On spaces of noise and chaos and clutter in our own homes.
There is sound to everything and so creating spaciousness reconnects us with our inner self.
The favorite way I have to begin that process is learning how to pause and put things down on paper and that is something that I do with my clients on the call all the times.
What's on our mind right now?
What is floating in our mind right now?
It is one of the first practice of self-awareness and any tool that I will ever share and transmit here is a tool.
It's a skill.
It's something to practice until it becomes truly embodied and anchored in,
Until it becomes yours,
Until it becomes self-mastery.
And so everything that exists in the world,
Tools,
Strategies,
Voices of others,
Even the voice you receive from us here,
It's possibilities,
It's tools,
It's skills.
And once you practice them repeatedly,
Eventually something clicks and it becomes your own mastery.
And so what I'm transmitting to you here today can be something that feels good to practice as it is,
But it might also be an inspiration.
It might also spark something in you that gives you an intuition to take a different kind of action.
And this practice is emptying the mind as it is here and now.
And what this looks like is taking a beautiful large piece of paper and it can be your phone note,
It definitely can be your computer,
But there is something magically empty about paper,
About sitting in silence with a white paper and seeing what's here,
What's present,
Away from technology,
Away from the noise of the world.
Even at home in silence and not in a cafe creates a different possibility.
So I invite you to pause when you're ready,
Have your white paper,
And take a moment to close your eyes and settle in.
And in that moment what you do is you notice,
You witness,
And ask yourself,
What is here?
And listen.
And that is the part of discomfort we often skip.
Instantly we want to find answers,
Instantly we want to reply,
Instantly we want to write something down.
But the true mastery here is to learn to truly pause,
Listen,
And sit with that discomfort of not immediately trying to have an answer.
That said,
Initially it will be those first thoughts that are trying to fill in the space,
That are trying to fill in the silence.
And so when you start on paper initially you'll notice it's the closest noise you've been hearing all day this week.
The problems that are current,
The thoughts and to-do lists and items,
The questions,
The doubts,
The wonders,
The clutter,
The chaos,
The ideas.
We write it all on paper in a bullet point form.
You can draw it,
You can make lengthy sentences.
This is your choice.
It's up to you how your mind flows.
I know that if I was not writing bullet point,
I wouldn't catch up with my own mind because it flows really fast.
And for some other people,
One word is enough.
Curiosity might hold so much for you,
But it might also be a paragraph,
A full sentence,
A full story,
Or just simple bullet points of items that are floating in your mind.
This is where the exploration begins.
You have to determine what that looks like for you.
And so white paper,
Empty space,
Close your eyes.
What's here?
Stop writing.
You can open your eyes.
Start writing in stream of consciousness,
Which really just is flow,
Writing without interruption,
Writing without the distraction of trying to make things in a certain way,
Take a certain shape,
Sound good,
As if somebody was to ever read those papers.
Remember,
This is your space.
It's yours for you to understand things with a different perspective,
A different lens.
You're already existing with those thoughts all day.
You're already existing with that noise all day.
And so that is your space for you and you to start understanding things differently.
You do not need to sugarcoat it,
Make it sound in a certain way,
Pretend as though it is differently than it truly is within.
Let it be expressed as it truly feels.
And that is the first step in life to meet ourselves with honesty.
What's here?
What's here truly when I'm not trying to please?
What's here truly when I'm not trying to make it sound a certain way as if the world was to read my mind and my thoughts on paper here?
What's here when I'm not trying to pretend I'm feeling a different way than I truly feel?
It's conflicting when we have everything to be grateful for,
Yet it doesn't feel this way.
It's conflicting when everything is looking good on paper,
Yet it doesn't feel this way.
It's conflicting when everyone thinks we're successful,
Yet it doesn't feel this way.
And so that white paper and you is the first mirror to honesty.
It's the first mirror to truth.
It's the first space you get to meet yourself and gain perspective at distance.
So often in meditation we hear,
Distance yourself from your thoughts.
But it is easier said than done.
And that process of emptying our mind on paper gives us a space to drop in and have an actual distance from our thoughts.
We take them as they are,
We write them down and we have distance.
From that distance we can begin tuning in,
Noticing patterns,
Taking a look and feeling insights,
Getting clarity,
Getting direction.
But that's another step for another day.
Today I want you to practice the process of noticing,
Writing with honesty and seeing the space that is created thereafter.
So as you write down your things you'll notice there is flow and the stream of water will change day by day.
So some day you might have three things down and some other days you might have a feeling you could be writing here for hours.
But the practice here is to empty our mind from this sudden stream of thoughts.
So that's the first step.
White paper.
Sit with yourself.
Close your eye.
What is here?
Write it down on paper.
Notice what comes through.
And as you write those first thoughts you will reach a point eventually,
It might be a minute,
It might be 30 seconds,
It might be an hour,
Where you'll feel as though you've reached the end.
It is,
It is the end.
That is it.
I have written everything that's on my mind.
Well perhaps just for a moment you found that space of silence.
But I have found to be true is even though our thoughts are repeating themselves throughout the day,
Throughout the weeks,
And sometimes we carry the same thoughts in a loop,
In pattern,
In our mind for years.
So you'll write down the first thoughts that are at the surface with you.
And when you reach that pause where it feels as though you've finished,
You've written all there is to ever be written on paper right now,
You'll close your eyes again and say what else is here?
Close your eyes.
What else is here?
Listen.
And this is where you practice patience.
When you listen again and you practice the patience to let silence exist,
To let yourself sit in that space of silence in the in-between,
And to wait and see what else is there.
What else is here?
Ask yourself what else is here?
Notice the emptiness and notice how quickly it might fill up with thoughts.
And here something interesting will happen.
You might notice the very same thoughts coming back to visit you and show how important they are.
And let them,
Let them be.
And notice on paper do I have to write something new or is it the same?
And notice as well what else is there?
And you'll do the same process.
Write down on paper what comes through in bullet point,
In a flow,
In a free form.
As soon as you have those first thoughts you can open your eyes and go back on paper to write out what else is there.
And then you'll reach a point where you feel as though you've come to the end.
And when that happens we close our eyes again.
And what do we do?
What else is there?
We notice,
We listen,
We pay attention.
And we do it a couple times.
And so that is where this practice becomes really powerful.
When we reach the point where we've reached the end and we continue going deeper,
What else is there?
And again,
What else is there?
And next round,
What else is there?
Suddenly you write things down that are surprising,
That are unexpected,
Thoughts that you didn't even know were still present and were still with you.
We kind of go below the iceberg.
We kind of go to the layer of our subconscious,
Our automatic thoughts,
Our automatic script,
Our patterns that are usually not in the surface,
That we're not even aware are running in the background of our mind.
And when we reach that point it's where we can really stop facing ourselves with honesty.
And so that first practice I'm transmitting with you today is the practice of emptying our mind on paper with patience and learning to simply do it for the sole purpose of doing it to gain perspective.
To experience that moment,
That glimpse,
That taste of silence and realize how quickly thoughts fill back in our inner space.
And also how many layers of thoughts we are carrying day by day.
No wonder we feel overwhelmed.
No wonder we feel anxiety when there are so much going on at all times in the back of our mind.
Things that we notice,
Things that influence our action,
Things that influence our decision.
But most often things that influence our automatic behaviors we are not even aware are automatic behaviors.
And so that practice,
If you can do it every day for a couple days,
For a couple weeks without me giving you any further instruction,
You'll already start noticing change.
You'll already start noticing better sleep of night,
Better sleep of night,
Better nights of sleep.
You'll start noticing more clarity when you wake up in the morning.
You'll start having more intention and direction when you make your decisions.
And that is why this practice is incredibly powerful for any leader with a high performing,
High pressure,
High stress environment.
When you are managing so much and you feel as though the weight of the world is on your shoulders,
This will help create space.
This will help bring more calmness to your life,
More space and clarity to your mind.
And as it is,
Just this practice will already start creating positive shift in how you make decisions,
In how you create your life and yourself intentionally.
So begin.
Buy yourself large white paper if you do not have them and start today.
Let us know how that feels in the comments below and I cannot wait to hear what shifts in your life with that subtle change of perspective,
That distance you've created.
Thank you for being here with me today.
