In today's meditation,
We'll be working to take a look at some of the labels we've internalized throughout our lives,
Assessing whether they're true or not.
Take a few moments and find a comfortable position,
Preferably lying on your back,
Palms facing up,
Just letting yourself melt into the ground,
Surrendering as you prepare for inquiry.
Deepening your breath,
Taking some deep inhales and exhales,
Feeling your belly rise and fall,
Noticing the expansion and contraction in your rib cage.
And with each exhale,
Seeing if you can let go.
As you begin to still your mind and relax your body,
I'd like to invite you to explore some of the labels people have assigned to you throughout your life.
As a child,
What were you told?
Did people call you smart or lazy,
Show off?
Were you praised for how you looked?
Athletic?
Were you criticized for being too tall,
Too short,
Too big,
Too small?
Or perhaps you were ignored and grew up with the belief that you were worth nothing at all.
Take a moment and see which labels come up the most,
Focusing on two or three.
Now imagine that you are writing these labels on paper.
So you have a few strips of paper,
Each with a different label on it,
That you've carried around throughout your life.
Holding on to these labels,
I'd like you to imagine that you're in a boat,
Floating far out at sea,
And you have these labels with you that you've written.
And you take a look at the labels and really ask yourself,
Are these true?
Do these really represent who I am inside?
And now watch yourself scatter these labels onto the surface of the ocean,
Watching them float up and down,
Bobbing in the waves.
Just floating there on the surface.
See your labels there,
Bobbing up and down.
And now imagine that you dive into the water,
Swimming down,
So that now you're beneath the labels floating on the surface.
And you gaze back to the surface of the ocean and watch the labels.
And you notice that they start to dissolve,
The writing smudges,
The paper grows thin,
And eventually the waves pull the paper apart into little fragments.
You dive deeper and look back up again at the surface of the water,
And the paper has dissolved into the ocean,
And it's now gone.
As you swim deeper,
You find yourself resting on the ocean floor.
It's calm and peaceful.
There's no turbulence or waves.
Any notion of who you are or who you believe you are no longer exists.
It's just a distant memory left on the surface.
Breathe into that.
Inhale and exhale.
You are free,
Deep down beneath the words,
Beneath the ideas and judgments from others,
From yourself,
Judgments you have of others.
Beneath all of that,
You're perfect and whole,
Just as you are.
Allow yourself to really embrace what this feels like,
To be truly free,
Completely yourself.
No longer trapped by labels or limited,
Misunderstood.
All of the labels have dissolved.
They don't exist.
You're just you.
Perfect and whole,
Just as you were born.
Now imagine that you begin to swim up toward the surface,
Watching as the light grows brighter and brighter,
Till you emerge,
Feeling the warm sun on your face,
Opening your eyes and looking around,
And observing how the world looks a little different when you no longer have these labels defining and limiting who you are.
You don't need the labels anymore.
Your true self,
The part of you that dived into the water,
Exists beyond and beneath all words.
When you reside in this place,
You'll feel safe,
At ease,
Loved,
Whole.
Swim around here on the surface,
Just feeling your freedom,
Taking a look at your body.
This body is free.
This identity is free.
I no longer choose to be held back by labels put on me without my permission.
I know who I am,
And at my core,
I am love.
Breathe into this freedom,
Feeling your ribs expand more than ever as you breathe into this reality that's truer than the one you previously inhabited.
Thank You.
If it serves you,
The next time you feel off balance or limited,
Imagine yourself diving deep down into your internal ocean and resting there for a while,
Restoring yourself and recommitting to live in freedom rather than limitation.
You don't have to live up to the expectations others hold for you.
Breathing into this truth and when you're ready,
Slowly bringing movement to your fingers and toes,
Deepening your breath,
Rolling over onto your side and imagining yourself waking up.
Going on about the rest of your day with this new awareness,
Fresh perspective about who you really are,
No longer limited.
