Hi,
This is Danielle.
And the sound to bite today is a very good friend of mine called imposter syndrome.
Do you ever struggle with feeling like an imposter?
You know,
When you feel like an imposter or you're not quite enough or you don't belong,
The world around you can start to feel really heavy.
And so what you naturally try to do is you try to push harder to prove that you're capable and you wanna convince yourself and others that you deserve to be where you are.
But what if the answers you seek aren't in the doing?
What if they lie in the stopping or just pausing for a brief moment?
Let's see if we can practice this together.
Now,
If you haven't already,
Find a place where you can be seated or lie down and feel supported and just be here right now in this space and take a slow,
Deep breath in and then just gently release it.
And let's visualize that your mind is like a lake.
When you're caught in the rush of trying to prove something,
Trying to be someone that you're not,
It's like the lake is being stirred up.
The water becomes murky,
Cloudy.
It's full of ripples and sediment,
Pebbles,
Maybe some seaweed,
And it's really hard to see clearly.
So for right now,
Let's give the water a chance to settle.
We don't need to fix anything,
Force anything,
Or figure everything out right away.
Right now,
We're just going to let the lake settle and we're going to breathe.
We're going to breathe in and out.
And as you softly breathe,
Let go of any thoughts that might come up that tell you that you're not doing it right,
You're not enough,
Or you don't belong,
You're not as good as everyone else,
You're not as far along.
Those voices are like the ripples on the surface of the lake.
They're temporary,
But they're not truly who you are.
Instead,
Let's invite some stillness.
With each breath,
The water can begin to calm down.
The ripples can fade,
The water settles,
And all the sediment falls back down to the bottom of the lake.
You can start to see the bottom,
And it's clear and beautiful.
And you can see that the truth beneath all these layers of doubt and fear is that you really are enough.
You don't need to stir the lake up by proving your worth.
You're not the sum of your achievements or your failures.
You are simply you,
And that is enough.
So if the thoughts of I'm not good enough return,
Don't fight them.
Just give them some space and notice them as you would notice the ripples on the surface of the lake.
They don't define you,
And they don't define the lake.
Now gently bring your attention back to your breath,
Back to the room,
And carry this with you.
And try to remember that the clarity that you're seeking doesn't come from more effort.
It comes from letting go of the need to prove.
It comes from accepting that you are already worthy just as you are,
And that's good enough.
