Welcome to today's meditation.
I am enough.
We're going to use this meditation as a way of overcoming doubt or imposter syndrome.
And just for the record,
Most of us live with those voices inside us,
The ones that doubt whether we can do what we set out to do,
Achieve what we dream of,
Meet the person that we want to meet,
Make the money we decide to make,
Show up for ourselves,
Our families,
Our communities.
All of us humans suffer from imposter syndrome at some point or another.
And so we'll begin just bringing the body into a comfortable position.
You may be seated,
You may be laying down with the support under the head,
Perhaps with the knees bent and the feet flat on the floor.
And then these first few moments here will allow the body to settle in so that we really feel a sense of ourselves being held from beneath,
Perhaps noticing how the muscles release and relax the longer we rest here and perhaps noticing too the breath in the body has become a little softer,
Just subtle changes.
And let's make sure that we're relaxing as well the muscles in the face,
Letting the corners of the eyes turn down,
Letting the mouth lift into a gentle smile,
But keeping the lower jaw relaxed,
Allowing everything to become as easy and sweet as possible.
And from here,
We'll just open this practice with a few conscious breaths,
Slowly breathing in through your nose,
Feeling that expansion all around the body.
And just to slowly,
If not slower,
Releasing the breath any which way nose or mouth is fine.
And just noticing how the body recedes,
Waiting for your next breath,
There's no rush.
Again,
Inhaling to fill the whole body,
Kindly,
Generously oxygenating.
And as you exhale,
Everything's relaxing again.
One more round in that same way.
Think of the breath as kindness pouring into your body like silk.
There's an opportunity to let go of anything that no longer serves.
So today's meditation is going to be quite simple.
I want it to be something that you come back to as a sort of touchstone.
And I mean,
And it's here,
Whenever you feel like you've pulled the plug against your own sense of surety or self love.
And just to use this practice as a way of filling back up again,
So that you can feel that energy of intimacy with yourself,
Connection with the world and confidence to be in the world,
Doing and being what you do and being who you are.
And I want you now with the eyes closed,
Just to cast your mind back to a time in your life that could be recently or in the distant past.
When you accomplish something that you feel really proud of.
Something perhaps that took a lot of endeavour or vision or hard graft.
It might have been a singular activity or something collaborative.
And just to begin to map out and vision out all of the effort,
All of the details,
All of the components that went into that achievement.
It might have been hard practice,
It might have been early mornings,
It might have been a lot of communication skills,
Planning,
Boldness,
Trust,
Logistics.
And just to picture in your mind's eye the days and weeks and maybe years of work and commitment and effort that contributed to this achievement.
Something perhaps that you felt on embarking was too large for you,
Too much,
Too demanding,
Too difficult.
And just to smile as you bring to mind the memories of each of the steps,
No matter how difficult they might have been at the moment of taking,
No matter how many twists and turns and obstacles were set in your path.
To notice your doggedness,
Just giving yourself another half a minute or so to allow any associated images or memories to rise to the surface.
And in doing that we are honouring,
Celebrating,
Remembering the dedication that we have put into something.
The fact of our showing up,
The fact of our seeing it through and the fact of our achievement which doubtless affected,
Impacted and influenced so many other lives.
And just now to take a couple of breaths here into the heart space and into the belly and to really enlarge that feeling of satisfaction of a job well done,
To really honour the creation of something that didn't used to exist,
Perhaps or perhaps not,
And to take pride in the value of that work.
And I want you now to bring your mind to some task or version of yourself,
A role that you are playing,
Which you're currently struggling with,
Something perhaps about which you're saying,
I can't do this,
I'm not good enough,
There are too many others doing it better than I am,
No one will ever pay me,
I can't find the clients,
Nobody wants my work,
I have nothing to add.
Those sorts of voices,
That sort of persona that's showing up in your life right now.
And as you meet this persona,
You might imagine her or him as another being just sitting opposite you,
Entering the room.
And rather than shying away from this persona,
I want you to embrace it,
To hug it warmly,
To bring it closer into the warmth of your body,
Your heart and your embrace.
And I want you to tilt his or her chin up so that you are looking eye to eye,
Eye to eye.
And you look into your own eyes,
This persona of yours,
And you extend your compassion,
You extend your understanding,
And you extend your wisdom.
As you say,
I see you,
I thank you for being here.
I see that you're afraid.
I see that you're doubtful.
I see that you think you're not enough.
And I welcome you with all of my heart,
And with all of my love.
And I'm pretty sure I've met you before.
And I'm pretty sure that you're here to keep me small.
And I don't mind that you are.
But I have this to say to you,
I will not give in to my fears.
I will follow my heart and my truth,
For they are greater than my fear.
And though I know you are here to try to keep me safe.
I trust in my vision.
I trust in my capability.
And I trust myself to do beautiful and sometimes hard things.
And continuing to look her or him in the eyes,
Take them by the hands,
Smile,
And begin to repeat the words,
I am enough.
I am enough.
I am enough.
I am enough.
I am enough.
I am enough.
I'm enough.
I'm enough.
I am enough.
I am enough.
I am enough.
Keep saying it as many times as you need to.
Let your persona join in,
Until you have your hands on one another's shoulders and you're jumping up and down,
Looking into each other's eyes,
Smiling,
Beaming wide.
I am enough.
I am enough.
I am enough.
Let that smile ripple across your faces.
Know it and feel it to be absolutely true.
I'll give you another half a minute or so just to keep practicing that,
Exploring that,
Growing that feeling within you.
And then just letting that go when you are ready,
But keeping that warm glow of love inside you and the warm smile spread across your face.
We'll just let ourselves bask in that feeling for a moment.
That certainty,
That new reality that we've created.
Hopefully feeling kinder in your own skin.
Hopefully feeling warmed by the light of your capability and love for yourself.
And just when you are ready,
Connecting again in that place that touches the floor,
Feeling the root of your body grounded and touching in with your breath,
Noticing how you are breathing,
Giving thanks for this gentle life-giving rhythm.
And perhaps if you'd like to close by bringing your hands to the heart,
Either in prayer position or one on top of the other,
Just cradling the heart,
The heart which always knows truth,
The heart which doesn't deny who you are,
The heart which doesn't deny what you have to give,
What love,
What offerings,
What generosity,
The heart which knows truly that you are enough.
And so just taking a couple of deeper breaths to bring yourself back into the present moment,
Exhaling away anything that needs to leave and inhaling a little extra joy and energy.
We'll seal our practice by joining the hands together at the heart center and simply bowing the head towards the heart in a gesture of thanks.
Namaste.
