The Inner Anchor: 9 Mindful Attitudes To Cultivate Inner Calm And Self-Assurance

The eyes of the beginner are very important to maintain, no matter where you are on your journey. This is because when we begin something: we have a sense of wonder and curiosity, we are open to being imperfect and we surrender some control over our experience and in favour of simply enjoying the journey. Today we explore this topic, you’re guided through a meditation to put it into practice and we’ll end with a journal prompt to help you reflect further.

In today's class, we cover both self-trust and a more universal feeling of trust. Practicing both brings a sense of self-assurance and ease into life: to trust in your own intuition and authority, even when you make mistakes, to take control over your own life and well-being, and to trust that your experiences are unfolding as they should. As with the other days, we’ll explore the attitude of trust through both meditation and journaling/contemplation.

In a world where we are conditioned to continuously strive for bigger, better, and more; this attitude can feel counterintuitive. Striving creates force and tension both energetically and within the body we tune into a feeling that whatever is already here is good enough, we can take anchored, strategic action toward our goals rather than scattered ones. Whatever action you take comes through gratitude and ‘being-ness’ so it’ll be laced with more wisdom and insight than doing for the sake of doing. Again, we will explore this attitude through guided meditation and journaling.

Self-acceptance, the cornerstone of personal well-being, isn't about creating a flawless version of yourself; it's about acknowledging and celebrating the unique tapestry woven from your strengths, weaknesses, flaws, and experiences. It's the quiet understanding that you are worthy, just as you are, but you’re worthy of letting go of thought patterns, habits, or limiting beliefs that tell you otherwise. We will explore the layers of self-acceptance once again, through meditation and journaling.

So much internal suffering and turmoil is caused by our discomfort with the feeling of being unable to control the outcome of situations in life: be that situations with loved ones, relationships, careers, or big world events. Mindfulness teaches us to cultivate the ability to accept things as they are, instead of what we'd rather they be, so within that feeling of acceptance, we can make peace with what is; as we are not entitled to things being any different. Acceptance is not apathy, but rather choosing to control what you can control: your attention and attitude, instead of allowing the things you cannot control to take over you. As with the other lessons, we will explore this attitude through both meditation and journaling.

This is about accepting others unconditionally in the same way we would like to be unconditionally accepted; to accept people for who they are, not for who they aren’t or who we'd rather they be. This attitude is the root of more harmony and understanding in your relationships and with the external world. In today's class you'll be led through a 'metta' loving-kindness style meditation and journaling prompt.

Letting go is about letting things be and accepting things as they are, cultivating the ability to allow your experience to be what it is, and practicing observing it from moment to moment. It's a very human tendency to cling to things: to ideas, to experiences, to people, or to ideal outcomes of certain situations; but mindfulness teaches us that, the key to our freedom is to surrender that urge to cling, in favor of the act of letting go and allowing things to unfold in their own way. Once again you'll be guided through a meditation and journaling exercise to explore this urge to cling and soften that into letting go.