Hello,
My name is Lou Redmond.
Thank you so much for letting me share some of these thoughts with you today.
Many people get into meditation to find relief from their problems and to help them access a greater sense of well-being.
With that,
It's natural to think that the purpose of spiritual growth is that we don't feel the pain of being human.
After my first meditative opening,
I thought I found the secret that would shield me from hardship.
I was in the honeymoon phase of a spiritual awakening,
And I naively imagined I would live blissfully ever after.
In my ignorance,
I thought spirituality was about being in the light and turning away from darkness.
As I mature,
I'm learning the opposite to be true.
While divine realizations are amazing,
Most growth happens not on the meditation cushion,
But in our petty frustrations,
Overreactions,
And daily emotional chaos.
Our practice lies not in avoiding the people and places that trigger us,
Rather in welcoming and learning from them.
A concept I want you to hold is,
Every trigger offers treasure.
When we are easily disturbed,
Offended,
Or emotionally charged,
We have the opportunity to better understand ourselves.
As we lean into our overreactions,
We can separate ourselves from the experience and get curious.
Why is this bothering me?
What is at the root of this?
In doing so,
We may recognize that we're overreactive because something that happened when we were 13.
One moment in our past creates imprints that show up to this day.
Our triggers offer doorways into our shadows.
We despise someone because we haven't accepted the part of us that is like them.
In doing the work to look at our triggers and integrate our shadows,
We become more whole human beings.
While you might see me as having reached a level of spiritual maturity,
You'd be surprised how much petty annoyances caused me to act in ways I'd be ashamed of if my quote-unquote followers were a fly on the wall.
I'm doing this work just like you.
That is why I know how important it is to look at our childhood patterns and shadows and do the inner work to release past wounds and clear out blockages.
As we do our work through difficulty,
We then open ourselves up to experience more aliveness,
Purpose,
And freedom.
What you want is on the other side of where it feels hard to go.
I want to say that again.
What you want is on the other side of where it feels hard to go.
I'm here to guide you through your resistance,
Fear,
And shame.
Thank you for being on this journey with me.
We're all,
As Ram Dass would say,
Just walking each other home.
If you enjoyed this talk,
I go deeper on this topic in my course,
21 Days of Mourning,
Motivation,
And Inspiration.
So if you like this,
I highly recommend checking that out at my profile where you'll find a meditation that we do on this topic as well as other inspiration and motivation to set your day up for success.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Thank you so much for letting me share with you as always.
My name again is Lou Redmond.
If you're newer to me,
Feel free to go ahead and find my circle,
Lou's circle,
And you can stay up to date with new talks and meditations and all the things that are going on.
Sending you so,
So much love and namaste.
