Guided Self-Reflection Practice With Ava

Welcome to this 10-minute guided self-reflection practice. Self-reflection is the single most important skill for our healing and cultivation work, it is about being present and tuning into our person.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided self-reflection practice.

Self-reflection is the single most important skill for our healing and cultivation work.

When we're thinking about the three parts to a functional spiritual practice,

Being able to self-reflect,

To see,

Feel,

Connect to,

And understand the material inside of us,

It's the biggest skill,

Most important tool we need in order to heal,

Which is about connecting to the uncomfortable,

Contradictory material inside of us,

And also to cultivate,

To really know what we desire,

To feel our alignment,

To find the easiest,

Fastest,

Best way towards cultivating towards our purpose.

Self-reflection is about being present and tuning in to our person.

So the third part of our spiritual practice,

Awakening and being,

Is not about our person,

But we can use our skills in being.

We can use our embodied presence,

Our being,

Our awareness,

Our love,

Heart space,

And depth as a way of being able to really tune in to those deeper,

Wordless layers of our person and our material.

So find a comfortable position to begin.

There are so many ways to perform your self-reflection practice.

You could be laying down,

Cuddled up in a position on a couch,

Maybe it's in a formal meditation seat,

A yin pose.

So take some time now to start to place the body somewhere that feels nice,

Including the environment,

Your props.

You might have a journal nearby,

Maybe a drink of water or a tea.

Because this practice is about your person and your material,

That context is always changing.

So really explore.

Start to take some fuller breaths and adjust here,

Sensing if this feels right here,

Exactly as you would drop in to a meditation.

But your seat can be a little less formal,

So a bit more flexible with the way you're going to place your body.

And even more than our meditation practice,

You're going to invite movements and adjustments.

So the body's really participating with your self-reflection practice,

Allowing a little bit of stretching with the arms overhead,

Or stretching out the legs,

Taking big belly breaths.

As you close down your eyes,

Feel yourself arriving into the inner space.

Soften off your shoulders,

Taking those fuller breaths through the heart space and down into the body.

Taking those other little wriggles,

Stretches,

Breaths,

As you soften down your belly,

Your thighs,

The legs,

All the way to the feet.

Taking that big breath into the back of the body,

Opening up the space in the spine,

Ribs,

And the back of your hips.

Next big breath,

Just opening up the space in the back of your neck,

Scalp,

Skull.

Soften down your face and start to sense the heart space,

This most inward and center point of your being.

Breathing in and out of the heart space,

Just feeling that depth,

Your essence,

As your breath connects to a point just behind your sternum,

Your center,

Your essence,

Essence core,

The stillness.

And take some full body breaths,

Just breathing with your whole system,

All the layers that are here,

Without any effort of picking them out or following any story.

For now,

Just breathe fully with every cell,

Every vibration,

Every layer,

Emotion of your body.

Sensing the overall quality of your system,

Your nervous system,

This inner space right now.

Full body breaths,

No matter what's here,

Whatever's presenting inside,

Just full body breaths for one or two more rounds of breath.

A sense of allowing everything to be here as it is.

The heart opening with your breath,

Carving a pathway into the center.

As you sense you're a bit more present with the body below the shoulders,

Even if the mind's moving,

That's totally fine.

It is this returning to what's here,

Breathing through the heart,

Breathing with the whole body.

So next is tuning into any uncomfortable sense,

Any uncomfortable material,

Emotion,

Story even in your system right now,

Something that's living inside you.

If anything is really loud or maybe quiet,

Ask yourself,

Is there anything that feels uncomfortable,

Sticky,

Worried,

Anxious right now?

Just tracing that material,

Just recognizing,

Detecting,

And choose if there's something you want to bring into the light,

Make more clear,

Help to loosen off unnecessary tension around it.

Just bring it into your awareness,

Asking yourself,

What is it that feels uncomfortable with this?

Keep breathing with it just to help your focus be here.

Why am I worried?

What is it that doesn't feel right or I'm worried about?

What is it that triggers me about this?

Just allow that reflection to draw in.

Feel free to pause the recording here and just breathe with this,

Or you can start to journal in this reflective way now with this first reflection.

Pause the recording here and return when you're ready for the next reflection.

Now we come back to the heart space,

The breath,

Really feeling the joy of breathing in the heart,

Breathing that smiling energy through the whole body,

And reflecting now,

What feels really right?

What feels inspiring?

What feels abundant?

What do I feel grateful for right now?

So pausing the recording here as you journal or reflect,

Visualize,

And sense now what feels really abundant in your experience.

And our final reflection,

Coming back into the heart space,

Adjusting the body again,

Taking those fuller breaths,

Sensing that background of stillness.

And then again,

Feeling into your sense,

Your layers,

Asking yourself a deep question,

And then allowing images,

Thoughts,

Words to bubble up.

But keep asking this question repeatedly as you dig a bit deeper and allow more material to come up.

Not just trusting the first answer,

But keep that inquiry going a bit deeper in as you ask yourself the question,

What do I need right now,

This week,

Today?

So asking that question,

Coming back to the journaling,

Writing that down,

Or just reflecting contemplatively,

Pausing here to complete this reflection.

Once you feel complete with these reflections,

It's time now just to seal off this practice.

So again,

Just checking into the body,

Maybe the palms come to prayer,

Or a palm on the heart space.

Just sensing the effects,

If something is still here,

If material still feels tight,

And start back with that first reflection again until you feel complete.

And then very gently and slowly move on to the rest of your day.