The Path To Self

This guided meditation is an invitation to reconnect with your authentic Self by gently stepping out of old patterns of protection, performance, and self-management. Through a slow, embodied journey along a symbolic path, you’ll meet the inner parts that have worked hard to keep you safe — and practice relating to them with compassion, curiosity, and trust.

This is not about fixing or silencing parts, but about allowing Self to lead. A practice for anyone seeking deeper self-friendship, inner steadiness, and a felt sense of coming home.

Transcript

Good morning,

Good evening,

Good afternoon,

Wherever you may be,

Whatever you may be doing,

Hello my name is Tariro Mundawarara,

I'm the host of the stories from the soul podcast and author of the circling back newsletter and I am a meditation teacher here in this space and I help guide people back home back to their authentic self and that's what this practice today is all about I speak a lot about becoming your best friend and I truly believe through lived experience that that relationship with self is not only the most important relationship that you will ever have but all too often it's the first relationship that we actually ever abandoned and this practice is part of a series of other practices which guide you through engaging with the different parts within you that might be engaging with your inner child that could be a different form of parts work or it could be even shadow work but the practice today is about walking a journey with self so let's take a moment to settle into wherever you are and allow the breath to soften the edges of your day and allow yourself to meet yourself here and when you're ready I'd like you to anchor into the energy of a time when you felt at peace grounded,

Truly authentic feel and lean into that feeling right now and with the energy of that feeling I want you to find yourself standing at the base of a path could be a familiar one or it could be a path that you've never seen before it doesn't matter what matters is that you are here at the beginning of something that belongs to you and before you take a step I want you to notice who else is with you which other parts of you are around you which parts rise quickly,

Immediately,

Is that the part that feels the need to perform,

To protect,

The one that wants to manage,

The one that's worried,

The one that's insecure,

The one that has hope let them gather with you at the start of the path and I want you to now to speak to them in the same way that you'd speak to a dear friend a dear friend that you love a dear friend that you trust,

A dear friend that knows you completely and entirely and I want you to turn to them and say I'm going to walk a little way on my own you don't need to come you don't need to manage you can just wait for me here and I will return say that to them now I'm going to take a walk,

I'm going to walk a little way on my own you don't need to come you don't need to manage you can just wait for me here and just watch how they respond some may step back straight away,

Some may hesitate some may refuse and cling a little if they're not ready to let you go that's totally fine there's no rush,

There's no failing here,

Just meet them be curious and ask them ask them to tell you why they won't let you go and listen to what they say and respond and reassure those that want to hang on that you will return that they can trust that you will be back and once you do that and for those whose paths were willing to let you take this journey let's turn around and begin walking let those first few steps be slow,

Unhurried gently walking along the path and as you move a self away from your parts along the path notice what's happening inside of you if there's thinking,

A narrator,

A commentator if there is that's a part that's still walking with you and again see if it's willing to return to the base just for now it's not to be banished,

It's not to be silenced just gently asking it to go and rest at home for a moment and if it's not that's fine,

Stay with it ask what it's afraid will happen if it lets you go alone what is it afraid will happen if it lets you go alone and listen to the response just take a moment to listen to really truly deeply listen to how that part answers that question what is it afraid will happen and as it responds just scan your body feel for anywhere where there's tension,

Tightening those are parts too acknowledge them,

Accept them and again invite them to go back to the base of the path if they're open to it and if after all of that those parts still decline don't push them away it's fine you walk with them,

You'll learn from them and you'll hold them the way you wish someone had held you but as some of them do step back or if they don't even begin the journey you'll start to feel something shift and here is a deeper,

More textured,

More intimate version sensory,

Somatic,

Rational lean into that version now lean into that self and as you walk up the path the air gets clearer not just around you but inside of you as well almost as if someone gently opened a window in your chest and let a long stale brew breathe after a cold winter filled with smoke from the fire the mind gets quieter,

Not by force but the way a lake settles once the wind stops the thoughts,

The questions,

They disappear and they simply soften into and drift and lose their urgency,

They're no longer so pressed your awareness begins to expand becomes a widening from the center outwards and a sense of space starts open behind your eyes space starts to open between your ribs space begins to open between one heartbeat and the next your presence deepens,

You feel heavier and lighter at the same time as though gravity finally knows how to meet you,

Where to meet you and there beneath all of this shifting and softening you notice it a subtle vibrating hum,

A quiet aliveness a warm steady current moving through you as though your inner world is waking up to itself this hum is self-energy your energy the aspect of you that doesn't perform,

That doesn't negotiate,

That doesn't apologize it's the part that is not a part,

It's the you that is you and if you feel that allow it to widen let it ripple outward like ink spreading into water let it pour into your chest first and in there loosening the armor that's lived there for far too long let it slide down into your belly into the places that clench when life feels so uncertain allow it to warm your arms,

Your hands,

Your legs,

Your feet reaching the places that have been tight,

Tired,

Quietly calling for attention feel how your body drinks it in how something in you whispers I remember this that feeling of peace you know it,

You recognize it etch it into your mind this is what self feels like and if as you do that some resistance comes up if it slows,

If it pauses or gathers behind a familiar knot just stay soft and stay in this place it may be a part that remains standing on guard a loyal one one that has held the doorway for years because it believed it had to exhale and acknowledge that gatekeeper and instead of pushing past it,

Meet it acknowledge it,

Thank it,

Appreciate it and ask gently if it might just step aside just for now and allow it to step back and be with the others at the base of the path and if it does,

Then it does and if it's not ready,

If it remains,

Shakes its head or says not today,

Allow that your system's not a machine it's a family and every part in that family deserves the dignity of moving at its own pace to its own place and as you stay with whatever is here,

Whether the current is flowing freely meeting pockets of hesitation,

Just pause for a moment and simply notice what it's like to be with self in this exact way just notice that what is that like?

To not be fixing,

To not be managing,

To not be performing,

Just being with notice the quality of your presence right now is it soft?

Is it curious?

Is there a quiet steadiness beginning to take shape?

And importantly notice now how much honesty begins to rise when your path step back even a little when was the last time you felt this much room inside yourself?

This much internal space to breathe?

This much of you available to you?

Let yourself observe what shifts as you stand here and separate from the noise and bring yourself closer to the center what becomes clearer?

What becomes less urgent?

Which thoughts lose their authority once you've anchored in this inner steadiness?

And gently ask yourself what part of me has been waiting for this?

What part of me has been waiting for this?

How old is this part?

Really allow the age of that part to come through now and lastly ask what part of me recognizes this feeling of peace as home?

What part of me recognizes this feeling of peace as home?

It might not be a perfect home,

Not a tidy home,

But a true one the kind you return to not because it's polished,

It's pristine,

Not because it's ornate,

Flashy,

But because it's yours because it's yours and notice what opens in your chest when you're not trying to be other to being anything other than present you feel which patterns loosen when your system realizes it does not need to brace to prepare to be at alert observe those quiet truths that surface here that ask what you actually need what matters more than you've admitted?

What have you been carrying alone that no longer needs to be held that way?

What have you been carrying alone that no longer needs to be held that way?

These aren't questions to answer with your mind,

They're invitations little doors that open naturally but you're more self than part and the answers will just come like a firefly in the dead of night the brightness just illuminates what do you actually need?

What matters more than you've admitted?

What have you been carrying alone that no longer needs to be held that way?

And as you stand in this awareness you might notice something subtle but unmistakable a sense of returning a coming back a settling into your own alignment and almost as if some small patient part of you exhales and says there you are,

I've been waiting for you take your time with that allow it to settle,

Allow it to land without rushing to make meaning from it you don't need interpretation here you just need presence you just need presence just sit with this for now because this moment this tenderness between you and yourself that's the essence of this practice this is how you become your own safest place your best friend this is how you guide yourself home one honest moment at a time and just sit with this feeling for a simple moment the steadiness,

The clarity the quiet reunion with self let it imprint let your system recognize it,

Let the body remember what it's like etch itself onto the tablet that is you when you're not blended with parts how you feel when you're not negotiating with old patterns how you feel when you're simply here this is the most honest authentic version of you and as this settles,

As the edges soften and the center becomes clearer you might begin to realize something important this isn't just a meditation moment this isn't something you leave behind on the path this is a state that has always existed this isn't anything external,

This is you it's a state in a place that you can return to again and again and it's a connection and a relationship that you have always had and will always have one that you'll always be able to rely on as you walk through your days you can check for those markers those markers are am I in my heart,

Am I in my head is there pressure on my shoulders,

Is a protector trying to run the show and when you notice them speak to them with the same kindness you offer to your external best friend and simply say I hear you,

I see you,

I understand you I hear you,

I see you,

I understand you that's all and if you're feeling steady you can even open yourself to any quiet messages that might be coming deep from inside you and maybe something comes up,

Maybe not,

Doesn't matter just allow it to be and with that we're going to take a deep breath in and we'll hold it at the top for a count of four and we'll take one sip of air in and then sigh it out so that's an inhale through the nose,

Hold it for four,

One sip in and then sigh it out through the mouth so here we go,

Inhale through the nose hold it for four,

Three,

Two,

One,

Gasp in and sigh it out and anchor this experience remember this place now when you're ready turn around and gently walk back towards the base of the path take your time go as slowly as you need to and when you see your parts again just notice how they greet you some may be relieved,

Some may be unsure,

Some may be proud however they greet you just thank them thank them for trusting you even a little let them know that you want to keep earning that trust step by step not through force but through presence,

Persistence and showing up and if you're still holding that warm tingling current of self-energy I want you to extend it towards those parts right now let them also feel what it's like to be held by you by self your groundedness,

Your compassion,

Your steadiness,

Your certainty,

Your divine innate power and just anchor now in this moment with this quiet reunion between you and the ones who've been waiting for you to lead and as you do that and sit there place one hand on your heart,

The other on your gut and bring a soft gentle smile to the edges of your mouth and feel that warmth radiate through you from self into your parts and that connection with that internal family and when that feels complete I want you to thank your parts,

Bring your hands together and give deep bows to your parts thank them for being there for you,

For guiding you,

For supporting you let them know that they're always home and you'll be back and with that let's take a deep breath in and a long exhale close and anchor that feeling of peace and let's complete and close the container and bring your awareness back outward maintain that peace,

Maintain that glow and open your eyes gently and allow yourself to carry all of this homecoming with you for the rest of the day,

For the rest of your morning,

For the rest of your evening and for the rest of the week thank you and thank you thank you for being here,

Thank you for showing up for self,

Thank you for showing up for your parts and thank you for sharing this moment with me and if this practice resonated with you or even if parts of it didn't,

I genuinely love to hear from you so please leave a comment and let me know what landed and equally so what didn't and if you'd like to explore more practices like this you'll find many more on my profile and specifically if you have a look at my course entitled Speak Your Truth A Journey Through The Throat Chakra it's a three-part course and I always see it as the beginning of a journey towards a relationship with self through the chakra of the throat,

Through truth thank you again my name is Thariru Mandawarara,

We'll see you next time,

Honor your truth,

Keep growing,

Keep becoming thank you