Hello friend.
Welcome.
My name is Lou Redman and I am so excited to share with you today this topic around self-expression.
I intend with this practice to help you to connect with what wants to express itself through you.
What is the art?
What is the gifts that you are here to give to the world?
And this is going to be a meditation to explore what is it that gets in our way from fully being able to express ourselves in both a physical way,
Maybe just in our bodies,
Or in an idea,
An emotion,
Something that wants to come out into the world.
And how do we get in our way?
How do we remove the doubts,
The fears,
And the limiting beliefs?
There is a saying from Rick Rubin.
He has a beautiful book out called The Creative Act.
And this quote really just,
I had to take a double take when I heard it because it's so good.
Here it is.
Self-expression is not about you.
Say that again.
Self-expression is not about you.
You might be like,
What do you mean self-expression?
Literally,
It's in the name,
Self.
How could it not be about me?
It's because,
At least what I see Rick getting at,
Is that our ability,
When we self-express,
When we create,
It's for the people that it's going to impact.
That if we don't do it,
Those people will not be impacted.
They will not be helped.
They will not be touched in any way.
If John Lennon didn't express his creativity and imagine,
That song wouldn't be here during such pivotal and powerful moments in history.
And the paradox,
Or maybe even more of the irony here,
Is that when we listen to our doubts and our fears and the resistances and blockages that come up within us,
That is when we're making it about us.
We're making it about our fear,
Our doubt,
And that's where we're getting in our way from expressing what wants to come through so that it has the potential to be who it's for.
We don't have to necessarily know who it's for,
But that concept of self-expression is not about you.
It helps us get out of our own way so that we can tap into our gifts and let the energy of creation flow.
And that's what today's practice is going to help you to do.
And so let us get into the work in this practice.
And so allow yourself to switch and find your meditation posture if you haven't yet.
Letting your body settle,
Feeling the support beneath you,
Letting the lower body get heavy as you continue to keep an alertness and a lightness through your torso,
Letting the shoulders relax,
Letting the jaw soften,
And connecting in whatever way might support you to drop in a little deeper.
Maybe that means you feel your breath moving in and out of your body.
Maybe you tune in to the sounds around you,
The symphony of life happening in your room,
In your home,
In your community.
Whatever is your focus,
Allowing it to deepen you into this moment,
Into presence.
And it's from that presence that so many good things flow.
Insights come,
Energy moves,
Alignment and synchronicity happens.
Taking a few more moments to invite a deeper contact with the present moment and the energy that is enlivened within you.
And then take a conscious breath in and breath out.
To express ourselves,
It's helpful if we first connect with our capital S self.
So that might mean our soul,
The Atman,
The unchanging energy of our being.
And so the invitation for you is to evoke and invite that connection,
Connecting you to all that is,
The universal power holding everything in harmony,
Where the soul is connected to spirit.
Inviting in that connection,
That guidance,
Wherever you find inspiration from.
And as you connect with your source of inspiration,
Your source of guidance,
Comfort,
Refuge,
Letting it know your desire.
And not your desire to get anywhere,
But your desire to be a vessel for the spirit and the energy to move through you.
And so that might mean you say,
Here I am,
Use me,
Guide me.
Or as it said in the prayer of St.
Francis,
Make me an instrument of your peace.
Make me an instrument of your peace.
Let yourself call and speak to that energy in any way that's true for you.
Evoking its presence to come through.
And just noticing what happens when you connect with that energy.
How does your body speak?
And then moving on,
We're gonna play with self-expression here a bit.
So as you connect with your body,
I invite you to begin to allow your body to let it express itself a bit.
And so that might mean some movement,
A rocking,
A stretching,
A shaking.
Maybe you can get up and start dancing.
So the practice here is to just connect with your body and let your body express itself.
See if you can give a few moments to do that.
How does your body want to express?
And you can do this with your eyes closed.
You can keep in a meditative state while you let your body express.
And notice what comes up as you do this.
Notice the thoughts.
And then coming back to a still posture.
And if you didn't do that,
Or if you noticed a lot of self-criticism while you did that,
Is that the same voice that gets in the way of other expressions that want to come through you?
Maybe that resonates with you or not.
And so I'd like you to connect with what that voice is.
Whether it's the voice that came up just now,
Or a voice that stops you from fully expressing yourself.
What does it say?
This is dumb.
I look stupid.
What's the point?
This won't be liked.
I'm too old.
This is the voice of opposition to our creativity,
To our expression.
What is that for you?
And as you identify it,
Notice how this voice feels in your body.
Where does it show up?
How does it show up?
And then imagine the voice leaves your body so you're looking at it as if it was an energy.
We have to learn to work with the voices and energies that block our self-expression.
So take a look at whatever it manifests as.
Maybe it's a cloud.
Maybe it has eyes.
Maybe it's a really solid figure.
Maybe it's some archetypal figure.
There's no right or wrong way to do this.
So looking at the voice,
The energy,
The thing that gets in the way of your creativity and self-expression.
And as you look at it,
Stay connected to your body,
Noticing if anything's shifting.
And what I'd like us to do is for you to learn from this voice.
And so I'm going to give you some questions for you to ask it.
As you ask these questions,
See if any answers bubble up from your subconscious.
Not forcing the answers,
Just letting them be there or not.
And so asking this voice,
Where do you come from?
Why are you here?
What do you want me to know or understand?
What is your gift for me?
And so maybe some answers came and maybe not.
That's okay.
Just opening the door to be able to work with this voice when it shows up.
And now asking you,
What would you like to tell this voice?
What does it need to know?
So however you'd like to share.
Really connecting to your strength and your power and your resourcefulness as you share with this voice.
Whatever you'd like to tell it.
And then check in with your body.
Do you still feel the resistance that voice creates?
And if so,
An invitation to bring your hand over that part of your body where you might be feeling some resistance.
And maybe you breathe deeper into this part of your body.
And an invitation to make a sound that expresses this part of your body.
Any sound that moves this energy.
Practicing clearing the resistance from within.
And if your body feels light and clear already,
Great.
Just stay with it.
Either or,
Maybe noting to yourself what you want to do,
How you want to respond when you notice this voice and this energy show up.
And then letting that go.
It might stay there.
It might come back as we move into this next part.
And now that we've worked with a blockage,
We're gonna work with really connecting to what wants to express through you,
From you,
In you.
So asking yourself the question,
What part of me is yearning for expression?
What part of me is yearning for expression?
And the answers could be anything.
It could be expression in your relationship,
Expression in your art,
Expression in your job.
What is yearning for expression?
And then connecting with your medium for self-expression,
Or one of your mediums for self-expression.
For me,
A medium for self-expression is this.
It's meditation.
For you,
A medium could be drawing,
Cooking,
Entrepreneurship,
Excel spreadsheets,
Writing.
What is a medium for the expression that wants to come out?
See it and feel how that shows up and how it wants to come through.
Really see if you can visualize this creation or this expression happening.
And then letting it be there.
And knowing that the voices and the doubts,
The fears will come up often as we work to express ourself.
It's helpful to really come at this from an identity level.
If we can shift our identity,
It's so much easier to let ourselves express.
And so the overarching identity I'm going to offer for today is for you to take on the identity of an artist.
I believe,
And many others have said,
That we are all artists of some sort.
That it doesn't have to just be painting,
Drawing,
Or things like that.
That our life is an art,
Is a creation,
Is an expression.
So let's see if you can take this on for you.
For you,
This might be easy.
And for you,
This might be a stretch.
And that's okay.
Whatever the case,
To do this,
Imagine that in front of you.
And you can maybe even just see yourself,
Visualize yourself.
Or you can imagine that it's literally right in front of you.
Is an energy,
A portal,
Almost like a spotlight that's shooting up from the ground.
And this energy represents the embodiment of an artist.
And particularly in the medium of your choice.
So again,
For me,
That would be a meditation artist.
For you,
This might be a writer or a business owner.
And imagine that you're standing right before this energy.
And you can do this,
Like I said,
Visualizing it.
Or you can physically stand up and imagine that it's in front of you.
And so before you are to step into it,
Asking what gets in the way of me embodying this identity.
Maybe it's that voice and maybe something else shows up.
Just notice that.
Breathe into it.
And then before you step forward,
Knowing that the resistances will be there,
I invite you to see if you can still step forward.
And before you do,
I'd like you to think about the people.
Imagine the people out there that need you to self-express.
That are waiting to be impacted by your gift,
By your art,
By your business,
By your book.
And see them in the distance.
Feel them.
Recognize that they're there.
And that self-expression is not about you.
It's about them.
And when you're ready,
I'd like you to step into this energy,
Imagining that you're fully taking on the identity of an artist.
So take a breath.
Step into it.
Let that light,
Let that energy imbue each part of your body.
Feel it fully.
And see and feel and imagine yourself doing that medium that is unique to you.
See yourself expressing fully.
Creating what you are called to create.
And as you do that,
Imagine that there's an energy that's actually going out into the universe,
Being received by those people who need your expression.
Self-expression is not about you.
Can you take that in and work to keep getting out of your own way,
So you can keep sharing this with others.
See the smiles on their faces,
The fullness in their hearts.
An invitation to really claim,
I am an artist.
I am an artist.
And then take a full breath.
And letting that go.
Begin to come back into your body,
Into this moment.
Letting that work settle.
Allowing this new identity to integrate.
It might still feel foreign,
And you might need to live into it.
Remember to have patience.
Remember that sometimes the doubts or the fears will be there,
And they might get in the way,
And that's okay.
You're not doing it wrong.
I really want to encourage you to notice them.
To see them in a new light.
And when you can,
To touch back into that energy and identity that you connected with.
And remember that self-expression is not about you.
And so just take a few more moments.
You can let everything go and just sit with whatever you're connecting with in your body.
Noticing and being with the effects of that practice.
And you're welcome to stay and sit for a little while longer.
But if you'd like to come back,
Go ahead and open your eyes and emerge back into your room.
Deep bows to you for your practice,
For showing up,
To want to connect with your expression.
It brings me so much joy to help you activate that more in the world.
So thank you so much for being here.
If you like this,
I have a course called Develop Unshakable Confidence that is all about moving through the fear and the doubt so that you can connect with the energy that wants to come through you.
So maybe go ahead and check that out if you haven't.
And definitely join my circle if you haven't.
It's a great place to stay up to date with new meditations or events.
And you can check that out by just searching Lose Circle.
So thank you so much for your time,
Your energy.
And I send you lots of love as always.
Namaste.
