The Road To Self Awareness

In this visualization exercise, seekers can gain a better understanding about themselves, and how they see the world around them. Which can lead to more self awareness. Grab a pen and a journal to jot down reflections and insights towards the end.

Transcript

Hello there.

My name is Melinda Roden,

Also known as Coach Mel,

And I am a yoga life coach,

And I am talking to you today about self-awareness.

Self-awareness,

By definition,

Is the ability to focus on yourself and how your actions,

Thoughts,

Emotions do or don't align with your own internal standards.

So when you're highly self-aware,

You can objectively evaluate yourself,

Manage your emotions,

And align your behavior with your values,

And then understand how others perceive you as well.

So this is important because if we don't have self-awareness,

We can spiral into this emotionally driven interpretation of how things are in our circumstances.

And so being able to develop self-awareness allows us to assess our own growth and effectiveness,

And then if we need to,

We can course correct.

So taking time to understand yourself and study yourself,

Which we call that Svadhyaya in yoga,

Is really going to help you be able to interact with yourself and with the world in a better way.

So today I'm going to lead you through a visualization called the road.

And so for this visualization,

It's very much like a meditation.

So I don't want you to really lie down.

I'd rather have you sitting up.

So just find somewhere comfortable to sit,

Whether it be on the floor,

Cross-legged,

Or maybe you're sitting in a chair,

Somewhere comfortable.

You may want to even grab a journal nearby.

And so if you'd like to pause this recording to go grab a journal real quick,

Because you're going to be remembering things and taking notes afterwards.

Okay.

So go ahead and pause now if you need to go run and grab a journal or if you need to get your comfortable seat ready.

Okay.

And begin now to allow yourself to get comfortable as you take in a different deep,

Relaxing breath.

And then gently release that breath.

Let any and all tensions and tightness just melt away.

As you breathe in and out,

Allow your eyes to roll up behind your closed eyelids as if you were looking through an opening in the top of your head.

Feel yourself relaxed and letting go.

And as we begin this exercise,

Allow yourself to become aware of all the details of the process.

Just allow yourself to see,

Hear,

Feel all that you're experiencing.

To begin,

Imagine you are on a road.

Any type of road will do.

This could be a road that is familiar to you or one in your imagination.

Either is fine.

Notice what type of road it is.

Notice what it is made of.

Notice the landscape,

The surroundings.

Notice where you are in relation to the road.

Now imagine turning around and noticing the road behind you.

Notice what you are aware of.

Now turn back around and begin to imagine yourself walking down this road.

After a while,

Your attention is drawn to the side of the road and you move over to an object alongside the road.

You notice that it is a cup.

Begin to examine the cup.

Notice what it's made of,

Its condition.

Is it old or new?

Does it have color or a design to it?

You can choose to either keep the cup or leave it there as you move along down the road.

As you continue down the road,

Again,

Your attention is drawn to another object alongside the road.

As you approach it,

You realize it is a key.

As you begin to examine the key,

You notice the details of the key,

Whether it's old or new,

Its color,

Shape.

Notice if it feels like your key or someone else's key.

Then,

As you move further down the road,

Choose to either take it with you or leave it there.

Now,

Continuing down the road,

You notice a fence alongside the road.

You also notice a house beyond the fence.

For now,

Just focus on the fence.

We'll explore the house later.

Notice the fence.

Notice how high it is,

How long,

Its style,

Its condition.

Notice if the fence seems old or new.

Notice if you can see or climb over this fence.

Now,

Focus on the house on the other side of the fence.

Notice the design and size of the house as you begin to approach it.

Notice the condition of the house,

The color.

Notice if anyone lives there.

Notice anything else about this house that interests you.

Now,

Find a way to enter the house and begin to explore the inside of the house.

Notice the feel as you enter.

Notice the rooms.

Take your time and explore the inside of this house.

Now,

Step back out of the house and return to the road.

And as you return to the road,

Notice the fence.

Notice if there is anything different about the fence.

Now,

You are returning to the road.

Look ahead on the road and notice what it looks like.

Notice how far you can see.

Notice how you feel continuing down this road.

Now,

When you are ready,

Allow yourself to begin to return to this time and space,

Bringing with you everything you experienced,

Able to recall it easily,

Taking a deep inhale through the nose and exhaling with a deep sigh.

And as you are ready,

You may breathe your eyes open and be fully aware.

Now,

It's time to grab that pen and paper or journal or whatever it is that you have something to write down with.

And while it's still fresh in your memory,

I want you to write down road and write down in just a few words what kind of road you saw.

And if you need to,

You can pause this recording any time and take your time with this exercise.

And then I want you to write down cup and write down everything you remember about the cup.

Write down key and everything you remember about the key.

Write down fence and everything you remember about the fence.

It doesn't have to be a big paragraph,

Maybe just a few key words to describe it.

And now write down outside of the house and what that looked like.

And write down inside of the house and what that looked like.

Write down fence and what the fence looked like when you came back out of the house.

Was it the same or was it different?

And then write down road and write down what the road looked like this time.

Was it the same road or a different road?

And again,

Remembering you can pause this any time,

Take your time with this exercise,

Maybe even listen to it one more time.

And now I'll give you the interpretation of everything that you've written down.

So the road,

The first road represents your life until now and how you feel about it.

The cup is how you feel about money and your relationship to money.

The key is how you feel about success.

The fence is how you see your boundaries and life right now.

The outside of the house is how you present yourself to others.

The inside of the house is your true self,

Your inner core,

Your inner self.

The fence,

This represents boundaries from an inner perspective,

Remembering that this is the second time that you've looked at the fence.

And the road,

When you look at it one more time,

This represents how far you can go in life or future or your future life.

So take some time to just maybe revisit what you've written down,

Think about the interpretations and you don't really need me or anyone else to give you an understanding of what this all means.

Take some time to sit with this and become aware of how you feel and see how you relate what you saw to how you are living your life right now.

And you can come back to this exercise as many times as you like.

You don't have to do it often,

But maybe you try this exercise today and then something's happening in your life.

Maybe you go through a course or you're seeing a coach or maybe you're about to move somewhere.

Maybe there's something in your life that's happening or changing and then listen to and come back to this exercise again and see if anything has changed.

And the more that you have an understanding of what's happening inside of you and outside of you,

The more you develop your own self-awareness.

I hope that you got something from this exercise and I hope that it's been useful to you and it's been my absolute pleasure to be your guide on this journey,

The road to self-awareness.

Shanti,

Shanti,

Shanti,

Peace,

Peace,

Peace.

Namaste.

Reviews

Great visualization and meanings to each. Thank you so much. I will return in a few weeks to re-do this as I am presently working on courses from a coach/guide. I hope some will change, others surprisingly I hope don't change. Shanti and Namaste ✌🙏❤