Coming Home To Yourself

Come home to yourself by connecting with your highest, most inner presence.

In this practice, you'll be guided on a journey to meet your future self in your future home - a refuge of safety, security, wisdom, and actualization.

A short introduction to meditation and mindfulness is followed by a guided visualization practice designed to connect you with your inner wisdom so that you can bring more of that wisdom and insight into your everyday life.

Transcript

Give yourself this gift.

It's gonna be an hour of your time that has the potential to impact every following hour of your time.

So I invite you to go ahead and turn your phone on airplane.

I'm gonna join you and turn off distractions,

Grab yourself a drink if you need one and make yourself comfortable.

Wherever you are,

Find yourself a nice comfortable place to sit.

And we're gonna be doing a meditation experience tonight.

Now,

Some of you may be meditators,

Experienced meditators,

And some of you may have never tried meditation.

And no matter what level you're coming into this practice at,

We can all have a very meaningful experience doing what we're about to do.

I love meditation for so many reasons.

And there's a very strong Jewish tradition of meditation.

A beautiful teaching from the Baal Shem Tov says,

Truly,

You are where your mind is.

And when we learn to become aware of where our mind is and we learn to shift our attention,

We can be wherever we choose to be.

And together today,

We're gonna choose to be somewhere very,

Very empowering and special.

We're gonna go today on a journey of meditation and mindfulness.

Now,

Meditation is defined as a type of mind-body complementary medicine.

Some of the benefits of meditation include improved ability to think or concentrate or solve challenges,

Better ability to adapt and overcome emotional challenges,

And something we can all benefit from,

Which is improved overall health and mental health.

Now,

Today's technique is universal and it is definitely designed to improve our overall health and our outlook in life.

So I want you to keep in mind before you start,

Whether you've meditated or not in the past,

That there's no correct way to meditate.

If you notice that your mind is wondering in this experience and you notice it,

It doesn't mean you're distracted.

It actually means that you're mindful.

So if at any point during this exercise,

You notice that your mind is wondering or even that you wanna get up and move or stretch or open your eyes,

Whatever you wanna do here is completely fine.

And at any moment,

You can choose to just bring your attention back to your breath and back to the sound of my voice.

This practice is called greeting your future self.

When you're ready,

Go ahead and notice your breath wherever it is right now.

Connect with that sensation of breath,

Gently lengthening the breath from the throat down into the belly,

Allowing your breath to relax you and noticing the sensations in your body.

You can connect with your senses,

Anything you might feel in your body.

Maybe there's some aches and pains.

We all have these things and we can notice them.

And we can also notice parts in our body that feel relaxed and comfortable and the sensation of your feet against the floor,

On the soft carpet,

Your body making contact with a chair or the couch,

Wherever you're sitting.

And with each breath,

Notice yourself becoming more relaxed and allow yourself to become even more comfortable.

You can let your shoulders drop.

You can let your hands feel heavy.

And with each breath becoming more relaxed,

More comfortable notice the sound and simply allow whatever noises you hear to be there,

Whatever sounds,

Hear them as they are,

Notice them and bring your attention back to the sound of your breathing.

And you can place one hand over your heart if that feels comfortable for you.

You can put another hand on your belly and notice a sensation of your belly moving in and out,

Filling up your whole body with breath and giving yourself this moment to relax.

Noticing these outside sounds,

It's a reminder of how good it is to leave the noise aside,

Put the noise aside and bring your attention wherever you want it to be,

To a quiet place,

To the peace of your inner world and to a place of noticing your breath.

If you notice your mind wandering,

You can bring yourself back gently to the sound of my voice and the sound of your breath.

As you start to feel more relaxation,

You're invited to join me on a journey into your beautiful future.

Now,

If you're younger,

This can be far off into the future.

If you're older,

Perhaps it's not so far ahead.

I want you to imagine yourself in your beautiful,

Peaceful,

Embracing future home.

It's comfortable.

You're at ease in this space and you can notice your future self in this space.

Older,

Wiser and more at peace.

You can begin by making note of the front door of your future home and the space around it that welcomes you in.

What objects and colors do you notice around the front door?

Are there plants or flowers reconnecting with your breath?

And noticing this space,

Gently open the door and meet a beautiful,

Calming,

Embracing space that you have mindfully created.

Take a moment to notice your surroundings.

What colors and shapes do you see in this room?

What textures do you notice?

What beautiful objects do you see around you?

What do you notice in your future home that isn't there in this future home?

You notice what's on the walls?

Notice the furnishings.

Are there plants in your home,

Pictures?

What does the lighting look like?

Take a few moments here to slowly and carefully tour through your future home,

Feeling fully at ease with what you're noticing.

Go ahead and take a moment to notice any details that pop out at you and picturing the lighting that surrounds you there in your future home,

An aura of calm and collectedness.

There you are in your future home,

Your future self,

Surrounded in light,

Full of beauty and full of wisdom.

Allow yourself to enjoy this perspective for a moment.

This is where your future self lives,

You in time to come.

Now you can gently approach your future self,

Greet her and notice the way she returns your greeting,

Welcoming you warmly into this time and place in your future.

What does your face look like?

And what about your hair?

How is your future self standing and caring herself?

Is she on her own or is she surrounded by others?

Your future self is inviting you to have a conversation in a comfortable spot in this home.

The two of you enjoy perhaps a coffee or a tea,

Your favorite drink,

Settling in and making yourself at home,

Speaking with your future self.

There are a few questions you may want to ask her.

You can begin by asking future self,

What can you share with me about your life now?

Staying connected with your breath,

Giving yourself a moment to listen to anything that might be coming through.

Now you can ask your future self,

What do you love about your life?

Now you can ask your future self,

What is it that I need to know to get me from where I am today to where you are sitting?

What is it future self that I need to let go of in order to create this future home of ease and comfort and grace?

Future self,

What advice do you have for me today?

Listening,

Taking it all in.

Now it's your turn to share with your future self one thing that may be weighing on your mind today,

Even if it's something small.

It doesn't have to be something huge.

Whatever pops up for you.

Give yourself a moment to ask your future self,

How did you overcome this?

And listen,

Ask your future self to share with you about what is meaningful in her life.

Now you can ask your future self,

How she's created more harmony in her home.

And we're gonna spend a few more minutes here with our future selves.

And ask your future self to share with you one or two words that'll give you strength and peace in your process moving forward.

These are the words that you can call upon over the course of your journey toward this moment of your future self.

What are these words?

Now,

As we're getting ready to leave,

You notice that your future self has a gift for you.

Have a look over at your future self.

See what it is that she's giving over to you.

What's special about this gift?

What do you notice about it?

And how is it gonna be useful for you?

You might even ask your future self,

What is it that you would like for me to know about this gift?

Now,

Bringing your visit to a close,

You can thank your future self for being here with you today and sharing so much wisdom.

Taking a deep breath in,

Breathing in this experience and remembering whatever it is you need to remember.

Finding your way back to your breath,

Back into this moment,

Knowing that everything in those images,

All of the messages and the energy of your,

Are becoming a part of you right now.

In a few moments,

I'm gonna count down from three to one.

When I count to one,

You'll be relaxed and ready to remember everything about your journey.

When you open your eyes,

Please remain silent.

Give yourself a few minutes to journal what it is that you most want to remember from this experience.

Three,

Coming back to the present time,

Starting to feel more alert.

Two,

Stretching your body,

Feeling the ground beneath you.

And one,

Opening your eyes,

Refreshed and awake.

All right,

I would love to give you this moment now to make a few notes from your experience.