Mindfulness practice four,
Unpacking our stories.
Find a comfortable seat.
Notice your breath.
Follow your breath for a few cycles,
Focusing on the inhales and the exhales.
Pay attention to your physical body in your seat.
Feel where your body is touching the seat.
When you are ready,
Bring your awareness to your sense of self.
How would you describe yourself?
What words might you use?
Are your first thoughts those of identity,
Your job or occupation,
Your role in the world,
Your personality?
How do you feel about yourself?
Are you happy and satisfied with who you are?
Are there parts of you that you wish were different?
Notice what comes up as you consider these questions.
Spend some time with whatever arises.
Come back to your breath and notice if there are feelings of comfort or discord in your body.
On your inhale,
Focus on any tension in your body.
On your exhale,
Breathe some air into those spaces.
Continue this process for a few cycles of breath.
When you are ready,
Consider how you know what you know about yourself.
Who told you who or what you are?
How did you come to believe these ideas about yourself?
Are they true?
Is it possible that whatever you were told about yourself has more to do with the person who told you these stories than you?
What if you could let go of just one story right now?
Which would you choose?
Pick one story and notice where in your body you have a sense of the story as being true and being you or part of you or part of your identity.
Breathe it in.
If you are willing to do so,
You can simply express gratitude to the person who offered this perception of you,
Thanking them for providing you with a sense of identity at a time when you were still figuring out how to be in the world.
Then acknowledge that you no longer choose to live by their perception and that you are actively choosing to let it go.
Breathe.
As you inhale,
Focus on the place in your body that you have held on to that story of you.
And as you exhale,
Let it go.
Repeat this cycle several times,
Each time allowing the story to unstick and dissolve a little more.
You don't need to force it out,
But rather to accept that it's there and allow it to move through you.
And if it stays stuck and is not ready to go yet,
That is okay too.
You can try again later.
Take as much time as you need to gently observe it with no judgment,
Just compassion and breath.
When you are ready,
Bring your awareness back to the present moment.
Focus on your breath for a few more inhales and exhales.
Feel your body in your seat and slowly stretch your body however it feels it needs to stretch.
Welcome back.
Feel free to journal now about your experience or about any ideas or insights that arose for you.
