Discovering Your Unique Gifts

This is an inspiring and insightful practice to help you connect with your soul's gifts, and learn how to bring them forth into the world. Using the acronym GIFT, you will be guided to find your unique purpose through gratitude, nspiration, freedom, and transformation. You'll learn how to let go of doubt and courageously show up for your life.

Transcript

I want to spend time talking about the qualities that we can look for when we're thinking about what is my gift,

What is my unique gift.

Before I do that,

I want to talk about something that we need to develop throughout the whole process.

And so there are two avenues in spiritual development.

And Bill Plotkin,

Who's a depth psychologist,

He would call this,

There's an avenue towards spirit and then there's an avenue towards soul.

And spirit is up here.

When we think of what is an avenue towards spirit,

We think of oneness,

The idea that we are all the same.

And so we're doing practices to try and let go of our ego and to connect and find that sense of nirvana,

Enlightenment,

Connection with something greater than ourselves.

And so that's beautiful.

A lot of the things that I do are around that area.

And that's one aspect of our development.

And then there's this other aspect of development,

Which is the descent towards soul.

And it's in our soul work that is where we find our purpose.

It's where we find our unique gifts and contribution.

And it's called a descent because it will take a lot out of us.

It will challenge us.

It will bring us to the limits of what we're capable of.

It's really hard work.

It will make us uncomfortable in every single way because when we go down,

We have to go into the depth of our psyches.

We have to face our shadows and our limitations and all of these things,

All this gunk that's gotten in the way as we've grown up.

We have to clear that.

And it's challenging to do that soul work.

We have to get uncomfortable emotionally,

Spiritually,

Financially,

If we're really looking to find that unique expression,

That unique gift that we have to share with the world.

And so what we have to develop,

The reason I'm bringing this up,

Is that we have to start really thinking about developing this muscle of courage.

Just to walk this path,

We have to continually come up against the barriers of ourself.

We are in our own way.

And so to get out of our own way,

We have to develop the courage.

We have to answer those calls.

We have to answer those things that are creating some fear,

But also we know that it might be good on the other side.

It's like we all know the matrix.

We all know we can take the blue pill and things can be normal and comfortable and that's great.

Or we can take the red pill and go on this journey to uncovering who we are and what we have to share with the world.

And that's unknown and that's scary.

I really believe that we all have a unique genius in the real sense of that word,

Genius,

Standing for innate spirit present from one's birth or innate inclination that is present from one's birth.

It doesn't mean one in a million person.

It doesn't mean just Albert Einstein or just people that are quote unquote geniuses.

We all have that genius inside of us.

And so finding that is not this easy process where it's going to happen in one day.

I've been working at this for six years and it took me really three to four years to really be like,

Okay,

I feel like this is actually a gift that I'm here to share.

And so it's a stumbling,

It's a figuring out,

And it's fun.

It's fun.

It's why the whole point is because the journey and I'll talk about this in a little second so I'm not going to get ahead of myself.

But all right,

How do we find it?

What do I look for?

Lou,

How do I even have an idea?

And so I'm going to give us four to six things to look for.

And I'm going to use the acronym of GIFT.

GIFT is the main acronym I'm going to use,

But I'm going to add gifted,

An ED at the end,

And I'll talk about that at the end.

So the first is when we're thinking about what is something that we feel might be a gift is do I feel gratitude while I'm doing it or sharing it?

Before going on these insight lives,

As the clock is ticking down,

There's like 60 seconds before I'm behind the scenes and I have to click start live.

And so there's like 60 seconds of counting down.

And I do this little kind of meditation prayer where I just say thank you.

I'm just like,

Wow,

I am so grateful.

I'm a little nervous,

But I'm so grateful that I get to share and share with you all.

And so there's a reverence for your gift.

And so thinking about those things in your life that you feel you're doing that you have a reverence or a gratitude for.

I stands for inspiration,

Meaning that our gifts are inspired in the sense that they might come through us,

But there's something that we have an idea.

We will have an idea.

We want to bring it into the world.

And we play our role in the collective unconscious,

All these ideas running around.

And so I also say inspired in the sense that you might be good at something,

But it might not be your gift.

For example,

For me,

I was good at teaching yoga.

I was a good yoga teacher,

But it was not my gift because what I would do is I had like there was no inspiration for it for me.

It was just like I could I would look at teachers that were really good and I just copy all of their sequences.

And obviously I'd say things that were unique to me.

And I think maybe that's the essence I brought to it.

But like I wasn't really connected to the body and it wasn't my gift.

I was good at it,

But I could see in the relation of what I was getting back from the world that yeah,

It didn't fill me and it took a lot out of me,

To be honest.

And so inspiration,

It comes we allow something unique to come through us.

Liz Gilbert,

I love some of you probably read her book Big Magic,

Where she talks about how ideas kind of are floating in the in the universe and and we get one.

And then if we don't act on them,

It's going to go back up and find someone else who's going to be a channel for that.

So it allows there's an essence to believing in our ideas and putting ourselves out there,

Which again,

Takes courage takes courage to have an idea and say,

Hmm,

I think I'm going to do something with this freedom.

The F when we're in a process of giving our gifts,

We feel a sense of excitement and freedom.

Or if even if we're on the journey,

Not if we were in the process,

If we're on the journey,

Like that's like the what we're on,

There's a freedom.

And if freedom means a few different things,

Free means a few different things.

First,

I like to use the the vision of Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption.

If you remember at the end of the movie where Morgan Freeman read his character finally gets out of jail after being there for like 50 years or something.

And he's on the bus to to travel to his friend Andy in San Juan Teneo.

And he has this saying he's like,

I'm,

I'm so excited,

I can barely hold a thought in my head.

I think it's the excitement that only a free man can feel a free man at the start of a journey whose destination is uncertain.

I just love that that metaphor right there,

Right,

That the feeling of freedom on a journey where our destination is uncertain.

It is it's that that that movie,

You know,

A lot of people love that movie.

And I think that seems particularly I know I get emotional there.

And I think it's speaking to something in our subconscious,

It's speaking to something like there's something here for you,

Right,

That you are also read in some essence,

Right,

You are starting a journey that has an unknown future.

And and there's a freedom,

There's an excitement to that.

And so free also means that as you start giving it,

You know,

You'll you'll bring in to to more freedom in your life,

A freedom of how you actually want to spend your life and your lifestyle.

And yes,

At some point,

You will be supported by the universe financially,

You will be supported because it takes a long it took a long time.

But each step of the path,

I've seen how okay,

If I just stay on this,

It's I'm going to find a way.

So again,

It takes a lot of courage.

It takes a lot of getting uncomfortable with that.

So I firmly believe based on my own experience,

That you will find a way to be supported.

You have to get over what I'm going to talk about in a little bit.

Last part free,

Even though you'll get supported free means you'll also if it's your gift,

You'll enjoy giving it away for free.

Right now.

This is completely free,

Right that that yes,

You can give donations and that's amazing.

But this is a free offering.

And I was giving meditations on inside timer since 2016 for free and without any idea that there was going to be some sort of way to get paid at some point,

It was just I was getting so much from it,

I was getting the chance to connect with you all.

It gave me purpose,

It gave me meaning.

And so the thinking about the things you do that give you meaning that you would just do because you would do them.

T transformation.

So as we start sharing our gifts,

It's going to transform who we are and how we show up.

When I before I used to go give a speech,

Or lead a meditation workshop or teach a yoga class,

There was be different times where I would feel just like the most incredible amount of fear,

Like my whole body like clenched.

And at some points when I'm driving in the car,

There's just nothing you can do.

Like you just have to be with that and keep going through going through the fear.

And each time I would go through it,

It grew what I was capable of.

And so if I look back,

Right,

Even thinking about the first time I did an insight live,

Like that was another kind of new area of growth and continuing to step over.

And I look back at myself three,

Four,

Six years ago,

And I'm like,

Wow,

I'm a completely different person.

I have transformed so much.

And so I'm sure many of you are already on that path.

I'm sure many of you if you look back five years,

You'd be like,

Wow,

I've grown so much.

And so this process again,

It's about who we become.

It's about how we show up in the world and that energy as Marianne Williamson says,

Our light has a ripple effect,

Right?

We give others permission to shine their light.

We say,

Oh,

Wow,

That person,

That person,

I knew that person.

And she changed her life and now she's doing that.

And wow,

But that's inspiring to me.

And so we become that energy for others.

So we went over gift,

Gratitude,

Inspiration,

Freedom,

Transformation.

What's the ED?

So also things to look for,

But more on the negative end.

So the E stands for enormous imposter syndrome.

I could have just used I and just use imposter syndrome.

But in the sense that if you're feeling like,

Who am I to be doing this?

That's a great sign.

That's a good,

That's a sign you're on the right path.

And the idea of the imposter syndrome is that it's something like,

If it's really unique,

If it's something unique to you,

Of course,

No one's ever done it before.

Of course,

There's going to be like,

Who am I to do this?

Or someone can do it better.

And so just,

We have to work to like dance with the imposter syndrome,

As I like to say,

It's going to be there and that's okay.

And then the last part here is doubt,

That there's going to be an incredible amount of doubt.

And that's really the battle that we're continually facing.

Stephen Pressfield in The War of Art calls doubt the resistance,

Like we come up on resistance all the time.

And we're going to and the resistance wants to win,

It's going to give us stories.

You know what,

I have this,

I have this obligation,

I have this responsibility,

Or you know,

It's probably better to not do this today.

It's going to give a lot of stories.

And so we have to constantly work with that doubt and get over those mountains in our mind.

Trevor Hall has a song called The Fruitful Darkness.

And it says,

All those mountains standing in my mind,

I could have fallen,

Could have turned around,

But all good stories have their ups and downs.

And so that's really what we're traversing is,

Is the limitations in here is,

I don't think I'm good enough.

I don't think I can do it.

There's mountains in here.

And by doing the things in the outer world,

We're traversing these mountains into growing ourselves in our self belief and what we think that we're capable of.

And it doesn't have to be perfect.

It's not going to be perfect.

It's going to be messy.

It's going to be windy.

It's going to be scary.

The Bhagavad Gita says,

It's better to follow your own path imperfectly than to follow someone else's path perfectly.

And so if you're feeling right now in your life,

We're like,

Yes,

Lou,

I've been trying to figure this out for a while or I'm just lost or scared or I feel like I'm going backwards.

Realize that that's part of the path.

Backward sideways is still teaching you things that you might not realize.

And so keep allowing yourself to make mistakes.

Keep allowing yourself to follow that path imperfectly and trust that that is the essence of what this is all about.

All right,

So shifting from listening to the things that I'm saying,

And it's going to be more of now trying to listen to what you have to say internally.

And so closing down your eyes and letting yourself find a comfortable seat wherever you are.

Letting the chair,

Letting the cushion receive you.

Letting shoulders relax.

Taking a few conscious rounds of breaths to bring you into a space of receptivity.

Bring you into a space of openness.

And of course,

Relaxation.

Feel that firm foundation wherever your sits bones are connected to.

Feel a strong back body and a soft front body.

Releasing any tension if you're holding it in the belly and releasing any tension that you're holding in the face or the jaw.

Using the rhythm of your breath to feel a sense of ease with each inhale that expands the body and each exhale that roots and relaxes.

And so we're going to go on a little journey today to use these qualities that we talked about and see if we can connect them to our own life.

And so to begin,

I'd like you to envision that you are walking through a wide field.

Getting a sense of what you see,

How your feet feel stepping on the ground.

Feeling the vastness,

The openness.

And this field is like a special realm that we are entering,

A liminal space where you will take a journey to uncover your gifts.

And so get a sense like a childhood of the wonder that is in this space.

Maybe you even see yourself embodying some playfulness,

Skipping,

Frolicking.

Sometimes we take life so seriously,

More than sometimes.

And so inviting a sense of that play.

Kids are just tapped into their gifts.

They don't have that critical voice that's shooting them down yet.

And as you move through in the distance,

You see that there's a house.

Imagining whatever beautiful,

Majestic house comes to mind.

This is where the discoveries will be made.

And so go ahead to the front door of this house where there is a large door and on it a sign.

It says,

Only enter if you have the courage to wholeheartedly walk this path.

If you have the courage to step into the unknown.

So notice if that critical mind's coming up and welcome it,

Remembering that that is a good sign.

So sometimes we don't feel courageous and that's okay.

And it's those moments that we can take on a different energy.

And so just feel yourself feet firmly planted on the ground,

Sensing your strength,

Your power.

And if it's helpful for you,

Taking on the energy of something that represents courage.

Maybe that's a lion,

Lioness,

A warrior.

And almost like that energy just kind of comes over you or you step into it.

So you allow it to move through your body.

And as you do this,

I'm going to offer some words that you can repeat silently or you can just listen,

Allowing yourself to really tap in to that wholehearted courage inside.

I have what it takes to uncover my gifts.

I am courageous.

I am powerful.

I am capable of more than I think.

I have what it takes to uncover my gifts.

I am courageous.

I am powerful.

I am capable of more than I think.

And maybe repeating one,

Really allowing your whole body to be engulfed in this courageous energy.

When you feel ready,

Open the door,

Step into the house,

Signifying your willingness to walk this path.

And once you step in,

Notice what you see,

There's a hallway with some doors.

And as you step in,

Take a full breath in with me and breath out.

And you're going to start to walk through this hall until you see a door on the right.

I'd like you to open it and walk inside.

And this room represents the first quality of a gift,

Which is gratitude.

So in the center of the room,

You see a wrapped package,

Just like a gift right there in the center for you.

I get to pick it up.

And what is inside is the expression of what your gift is to the world.

And so you might have a sense of what it is already,

Or you might not even know,

And you're just kind of holding this.

And so we're going to use this package as a way to charge these energies that we're working with.

And so first taking a moment to find gratitude for being on this path,

For even thinking that this could be a possibility for you.

Feel thanks for whatever brought you here at this moment in your life.

For wanting to do this work,

For doing this work,

For facing your fears,

And I'm sure many other areas of your life.

Gratitude for your wholehearted intention.

And as you start to feel this gratitude for who you are,

What you've done,

Start to send that energy into the gift package,

Almost like you're charging it from your body to your hands,

And you're just filling this gift with the energy of gratitude.

And then as you hold this,

I'd like you to imagine just what that feeling would be like living aligned,

Living so aligned with who you are and the gifts that you share.

And you tapped into the full service of what you're capable of.

You don't have to know what it is,

But just maybe imagine what that feeling might feel like and finding gratitude for this ability to play your unique role in the cosmos.

Find thanks that you get to do this.

You get to live this life that you love.

See how beautiful that is.

You fully expressed,

Charging that gift with your thankful energy.

And then together with me,

Let's take a breath in and breath out.

You're going to take this gift with you,

Thank this room for what it showed you,

Start to enter or leave the room back into the hallway.

You walk down a little bit and you see there's another room on the left.

Go ahead and walk inside this room,

Bringing your gift with you.

This room represents the eye,

The inspiration.

And on the wall of this room are things that inspire you,

Might be people,

Places,

Pictures,

Images,

Books,

Almost like your walls of inspiration.

Maybe there's motivational quotes or maybe it's some things that you have in your home that you see there.

First just taking in the inspiration of others,

Charging,

Sending into this gift.

Even though our gift is unique,

We have teachers,

We have mentors,

We have people that come into our life whom we learn from and we kind of use in our own way what we learn from them.

And so just allow yourself to take in that inspiration,

Letting it fill you,

Letting it fill your gift.

And then coming into your own experience of the inspiration that you'd like to come through you,

That you are the perfect vessel for something to be birthed out of.

And you again may already know,

Get a sense of what that is and you may be waiting to tap into that.

And so what I'd like you to do here is just take a moment to open and receive that guidance or to call that in and doing it to whatever you connect to spiritually.

It can be God,

Goddess,

A muse,

A great being,

A saint.

Feeling your heart open as you ask for this inspiration to be shown in your life,

To be blessed with it so it can at some point bless others.

Feel that pouring through from some other realm into your body,

Into this gift,

Filling it with that divine energy.

And then taking a breath in with me,

Let that go,

Thanking this room for what came,

What didn't come,

Starting to leave the door back into the hallway,

Continue to walk down.

You see another door on your right,

Continuing to take this gift with you as you walk in.

And as you go into this door,

It leads right out to the side of the house where you are once again looking at a wide open field.

And this is representing of that freedom.

And as you look into this vast space,

I'd like you to connect back to a time when you felt great excitement.

Maybe you see an image in the sky,

Almost like there's a drive-in movie theater out there,

You can see that time in your life,

Or maybe you just kind of bring it into your experience.

Maybe it was a time when you were a kid,

Excited about play a sporting game.

And as you bring this in,

Sense the possibilities,

There's all directions,

It's all wide open.

And allow the gift that you're holding to fill with those possibilities.

And I'd like you to also feel the warmth of the sun rays.

The sun offers its gift of light freely,

It asks for nothing in return,

It's just giving,

Giving,

Giving.

The same thing will be for your gift,

You will give it away for free.

You won't need anything in return because you get so much more.

And so I want you to think about what does your gift make other people feel?

How do you want them to feel?

Do you want them to feel connected,

Inspired,

Comforted,

Peaceful,

Motivated,

Empowered?

And so rather than needing to know what the gift is,

Connect to what the feeling is,

Right?

What are people getting when you're giving your gift?

Maybe they're getting knowledge,

A path,

Entertainment,

Hope.

And whatever that energy is,

Feel like you're channeling it again into this gift.

And then take in this nature scene,

This feel,

The sun giving to the field,

And there's an abundance in there.

There's just this giving,

There's a receiving,

There's just,

It's full,

Right?

Nature is in this abundant state.

And so trusting that as you give your gift freely,

That that abundance,

That freedom,

That support will find you.

And taking a breath in with me and let that go,

Moving away from the field,

Back into the house,

One last room to travel towards,

Going over into the hallway,

Another door on the left.

And then you can take a breath in and this is your room of transformation.

And in this room,

I'd like you to look to the left and on the wall you see a picture of you 10 years ago.

Look at that person.

Do you recognize them?

Can you sense how you've changed?

Can you sense what has changed who you are as opposed to this version of you 10 years ago?

And if you haven't changed,

That's information.

What can change?

What can grow?

What can transform?

And then I'd like you to look at the wall to the right and on there is a picture of you 10 years from now,

One who is fully aligned with their purpose,

Sharing their gifts.

What does that version look like?

And who do you need to become to be that version of you?

What do you need to do now?

And so imagine that you send the energy of transformation into this box and maybe if your 10 year version has any insight,

You receive it from them too,

What are they saying for you to do,

The wiser,

Elder version of you?

Or maybe you feel some intentions that you need to get there and I'm going to offer a few that you can repeat and feel that energy into the box or you can just continue to receive from your future self.

I am powerful.

I am courageous.

I am disciplined.

I believe in myself.

I trust the process.

I am powerful.

I am courageous.

I am disciplined.

I believe in myself.

I trust the process.

Holding this gift,

Feeling that energy,

Thanking this room,

Your younger self,

Your older self for its teaching.

Full breath in with me and breath out.

So coming back out and there's one last door to walk through at the end of the hall directly in front of you,

Sensing all the energy and your gift that you cultivated.

Like it'll walk through the door and it leads outside where there is a bridge with a river flowing beneath it and beyond the bridge there's a stage with a crowd eagerly waiting for you.

The crowd is all those people that are going to receive your gift.

There's just one last demon you must face.

As you walk on the bridge there's a cloud that comes above your head.

You sense the fears are coming up,

The imposter syndrome,

The doubts.

So I'd like you to stand on this bridge and just embrace those feelings.

Let them notice where you feel them in your body.

What are the doubts that you face in your life?

What are those things that come up for you that stop you,

That hesitate you?

And stand firmly on this bridge as you look out over the river flowing.

And also sensing what does this bridge represent in your life?

What are you courageously crossing to get to a new side,

Transition maybe?

And then sense the people over in the crowd.

They see you coming but they sense that you're stuck,

You're paused,

Right?

But they want you to come so bad because they need you.

They need your support.

They need you to get over your fears,

To get out of your own way so you can give them the gift that you have.

Can you embrace that there's people out there waiting for you that you might not know,

That you might not see yet?

And doing it for them.

And so when you feel like you can embrace this and walk forward,

Imagine that that cloud that is above you starts to rain.

And as it rains,

That rain cleanses the doubt and cleanses the imposter syndrome and all the fears off of your body and it runs into the river.

So just feel what that might feel like,

Just this cleansing energy.

Maybe you even feel like you're breathing in some light and breathing out that cloud from your body.

When that's all clear,

Looking towards the other side of the bridge,

Looking over at that stage and start to walk.

As you take your gift onto the stage,

Look at all these people eagerly waiting to receive you.

Imagine that you open this gift and all that energy you cultivated is sent out towards these people and you can see their faces.

They're smiling,

They're crying.

They're so grateful for you.

And so how is that energy being sent to them?

Maybe you imagine little rays of light,

Maybe it's like little flowers getting sent to each one of them.

And noticing how many are in this stage.

How many people are you impacting?

Is it one,

10,

100,

Thousands,

Millions?

See their faces light up as you share them.

And here we see all things coming aligned,

Feeling grateful,

Inspired,

Free,

Transformed as you share your gift with the world.

And so enjoy that.

Allow them to really feel it.

And as you do,

Also receiving their gratitude back because of you,

They will allow their lights to shine and they will have that impact on other people and the ripple effect keeps going.

And the world,

We need your gifts.

And so you might know what this energy is being sent out,

You might know what it looks like specifically,

But again,

Just trust that as you cultivate this,

That it's there.

It's there for you.

It's just walking the path,

Staying courageous,

Doing the work.

Give applause maybe if you see it or any other way you want to wrap up this beautiful moment with the people whom you're sharing.

And then when you feel like you can,

Releasing all the visualization,

Coming back into your body trusting and you will keep what was meant to be kept and remembering that intention right before you entered the house,

Right?

That I will wholeheartedly walk this path,

Reaffirming that here.

Taking one last full breath in with me and breath out.

And whenever you feel complete and want to come back,

If you're still sharing your gifts out there,

You can do that as well and come back to our space here.

If you are still here,

Thank you so much.

I know that was a long journey.

I knew it would be.

So it's kind of like meta and interesting to do a practice like this because I'm in the process as we're doing this of sharing my gift.

And so I just want to tell you how thankful I am for you.

I said it's taken such a long journey to get to even this point.

I know there's farther to go,

But I'm just really feeling grateful right now for this opportunity and yeah,

Just want it so badly for all of you.

And I just know that it's there for you.

Reviews

Thank you. I’m enjoying learning as you share your gift.

Thank you, I am beginning to trust and find the courage to allow the universe to guide me on this journey. The visualisation helps.

Absolutely loved this talk and guided meditation. I will repeat this exercise for the next 2 weeks. Amazing visuals in the guided part. Very simple and powerful. Thank you!

That was really amazing! 💕 Thank you for sharing your gift 🙏🏻. I Loved this meditation, and the talk before also. It really hit home with me! It was exactly what I needed. It really was perfect for where I am in my own process, the timing for me finding, and doing this couldn’t have been better.

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful gift to help others find theirs 💗

Great insights and thanks for sharing your gift 💝 I wish you would do a version of the visualization with some background music that inspires and soothe. Thanks for all you do 🙏 Namaste

Such a great way to start my day. So much to take from this meditation. I will surely be revisiting it again. Namaste 🙏

Thank you for sharing your gift...this meditation came when I needed the gift of light to shine as I journey deeper into my sobriety. This is a time of discovery...my world is new every day as I continue to wake up. I was in a stuck place...and this meditation opened yet another door. The bridge metaphor is one I have been using in my work...as I listened feelings came up, I paused, explored and wrote into what was waiting to be opened.
I trust the energy of my healing...as that energy shows me my gifts.🙏🏻

Really grateful for this wonderful gift of inspiration freedom and transformation! Thank you!.

This is wonderful and definitely one that I will save to come back to. I loved the GIFTED acronym (especially the ‘enormous impostor syndrome’ 😃) Thanks 🙏🏼💕

Loved this practice! Thanks for sharing your gift. 🎁

This was enlightening. Grateful to hear your message and guidance. Namaste

This showed up at an amazing time. Thank you so much.

Awesome!! Thank you for guiding me today, and sharing your Gift 🎁 Sending gratitude and blessings 🙏🙏

Beautiful, informing, engaging. Thanks! Namaste.

Lovely. Thank you for sharing your gift with us.
Shanti and 🙏.

Beautiful journey towards myself and my gift. Thank you!

I needed this! Thank you! ❤️✨

What a blessing you are to the world! I’m so grateful you are sharing your gift with us; I’m better because it!
With Gratitude,
Teresa ♥️🙏🏻♥️

Wonderful..amazing journey..many thanks for sharing your gift which in turn opens possibilities to get in touch with ours...I felt mine..gonna explore..💕😊💖