What does authenticity mean?
What does it mean to live from an authentic space?
Authentic is being true to yourself,
To your values,
Passions,
And emotions,
And it's aligning your actions,
Decisions,
And interactions with your inner beliefs.
It's self-awareness,
Vulnerability,
Staying present,
And intentionality.
And being authentic feels peaceful,
Expansive,
Open,
And easeful.
The body feels less tension,
It feels light and aligned.
Inauthentic may feel like physical discomfort,
A tight chest,
The pit in the stomach,
Tension in the shoulders,
Fatigue,
Insomnia,
And more.
We know when we have come out of alignment with our true selves,
But if the definition of authentic is being true to yourself,
Your values,
Passions,
And emotions,
That means that we need to know what our values,
Passions,
And emotions or beliefs are.
And so let's do a short meditation.
I will guide you through and see if we can begin on a journey of deeper authenticity.
So take a moment to get yourself into a comfortable position,
Whether seated or laying down.
Make sure that you're warm,
Comfortable,
And won't be interrupted for a few minutes.
And then begin to just notice your breath.
Your eyes can be open or closed,
Whatever's most comfortable for you.
But bring your awareness to your breath.
Don't change your breath,
You're just noticing.
Notice the sound of your inhale and your exhale.
Notice the expansion of your lungs and your ribs on your inhale,
And the contraction and the closing of the lungs and the ribs on the exhale.
Notice that sometimes,
Just by bringing attention to the breath,
The body becomes more easeful and calm.
Allow your breath to move in the way that it wishes,
With your curious observation.
Notice how the breath brings stillness to the mind and the body,
And that already you may feel slightly more peaceful or easeful than when you began.
Now changing your focus and bringing your attention to your breath.
Bring it into your body as a whole.
Just notice any areas of tension that you may be carrying.
Perhaps the shoulders or neck,
The jaw,
Or somewhere else.
And if you do find an area of tension or tightness,
See if you can allow a release or a let go in that place.
Direct your breath,
Your inhale,
And you could imagine that breath expanding the space,
Opening up and releasing.
Sometimes it may help even just to touch that part of the body,
If you're able to.
And many times just the awareness alone will shift things.
And now just feeling warm and heavy,
As though your body was melting down towards the floor or the seat.
You could imagine roots coming down from your body and anchoring you into the soil beneath where you are.
This very stable connection to the earth,
And feeling very secure and very grounded.
Here we could consider what masks we may wear to be less vulnerable in the world,
To meet societal expectations,
Or worn out of fear that we won't be accepted.
See if you can bring into your awareness one of those masks.
And imagine it peeling away,
Lifting from you.
And peeling away,
And just dissolving into the air,
Releasing and letting it go.
Even bringing your attention to the fact that a mask may exist is a huge accomplishment in itself.
Maybe you're not ready to let the mask go,
And that's okay.
But maybe you could imagine peeling one corner of it and lifting it to see what's underneath,
The real you,
To see how beautiful and radiant you are without it.
And if you are able to release it,
Peel it all the way off and let it go.
Let it go,
Let it disappear,
And look back to see how radiant and glowing you are.
How beautiful,
How authentic,
How true you really are.
You could imagine a tiny light beginning to glow from within you,
And with every breath it grows in size,
Getting bigger and bigger,
Expanding from its starting point,
Radiating outward,
Beginning to encompass every part of your body,
Part of your body,
And going even further beyond your body,
Out into the room,
Extending,
Reaching,
And expanding.
This is the beautiful energy that you are,
Your true self.
Repeat after me if you wish.
I am enough.
I invite my true self to shine.
I am enough.
I invite my true self to shine.
I am enough.
And I invite my true self to shine.
And I invite my true self to shine.
Savor this moment and allow this light to bring your whole body warmth,
Lightness,
Brightness,
Whatever you feel.
Soak this feeling in.
This is what authentic feels like.
Notice how this feels in your body.
How does your heart feel?
How does your body feel?
Do you feel peaceful and calm?
Confident and present?
Allow your true self to shine through in all of its glorious beauty.
This is who you truly are,
And this is who others want to meet.
This is the version of you that can experience deep connection with itself.
Others and the world around you.
It is from this place.
Savor this feeling within your body.
Breathe deeply.
Visualize the light expanding as far as you wish it to expand.
As far as you wish it to expand.
And then bringing your attention back.
See if you can bring a moment of pure happiness into your mind's eye.
And if you can't recall something right now,
That's okay.
You could feel what happy feels like.
You could bring about the sensation of happiness.
If you do have an image or a memory,
Bring that memory forward and see if you can remember every single detail possible.
What time of year was it?
Who were you with?
What were you wearing?
What happened to make it such a happy memory?
And feel how this feels in the body.
You may notice that it feels very similar to how it feels when you feel authentic.
Savor this feeling of happiness as well and notice how your body feels.
How does your heart feel?
How does your mind feel?
Take a deep breath.
And just bring your attention,
For those of you who did find areas of tension in the body at the beginning of this practice,
Bring your attention back to those places and see if perhaps they've become a little more easeful,
A little more open.
Perhaps they've released a little bit.
And if so,
Wonderful job.
Coming back to the breath,
Taking a nice deep breath and then exhaling with a sigh or a hum,
An open mouth sigh or a pursed lip sigh,
Or just a nice big cleansing breath,
Whatever feels right for you.
Carry with you this feeling,
This sensation of what authentic feels like in your body,
What authentic feels like for you.
This is your template to apply to other areas of your life,
To bring authenticity into other areas of your life,
Expanding out,
Taking one more big breath and let it go.
And then bringing some form of movement into your body,
Whether it be wiggling fingers and toes or something else.
And if your eyes were closed,
Gently allowing them to open,
Keeping a soft gaze,
Staying in this nice feeling as long as possible.
I hope for you is that you now have a very clear vision or sensation of what this feels like.
And you can bring this back to yourself whenever you need it.
You can revisit the sensation or you can revisit this recording.
I will be here for you.
Open your arms wide and then wrap your arms around yourself and give yourself a big hug.
Be proud of the work you've done here.
Practicing self-awareness,
Vulnerability,
Staying present and being intentional.
This is your pathway to deeper connection and greater engagement in your life.
Take good care,
My friends.
I wish you well.
