6 Human Needs - 5: Growth

5. Growth

The need for growth is an intrinsic human drive that propels us towards self-improvement and fulfillment. Recognizing this need within ourselves is crucial for personal development, enabling us to realize our potential and embrace change positively. It encourages resilience, adaptability, and the pursuit of new skills and knowledge.

In relationships, understanding the need for growth fosters a supportive environment where partners encourage each other's personal and shared aspirations. This mutual support for growth strengthens the bond, ensuring the relationship evolves and remains vibrant. Embracing growth, both individually and together, leads to deeper satisfaction and a more profound connection.

Transcript

Good evening everybody.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I like the Dracula one.

Good evening.

How's everybody feeling tonight?

Feeling good.

Me too.

You know,

If vampires were out there,

They would probably come to places like this that are really dark with a bunch of people with their eyes closed.

It's usually my Halloween talk.

I front loaded it this year.

Thank you all for coming today.

My name is Seth Mung.

I am currently in the middle of a series here.

The series is the six human needs.

Has anyone been here for at least one of the needs classes?

So the six human needs,

They are kind of these basic,

Almost primordial needs that all people have.

They inform a lot of our behaviors,

Our decisions,

And are the basis for a lot of our emotional states as well.

The needs that we've been going over are certainty,

Uncertainty,

Significance,

Connection,

Growth,

And contribution.

So those are the six needs that we've been covering.

The needs are interesting in that some of them actually contradict other ones.

For instance,

Certainty and uncertainty.

They are talking about two different needs we have.

One is to feel this regularity and this continuity and this security.

Things being stable.

And the other one is that we have this actual deep need for variety and newness and change.

The next two,

Significance and connection,

Are opposite.

Significance is about me.

It's about I want the attention.

I want to be seen.

I want to be important.

I want to be special.

I want to belong.

So again,

We have these two needs that seem to almost be opposed to each other.

The next two needs,

Growth and contribution,

This is when we're kind of moving a little bit more out of these dualistic states.

These two partner up a little bit better.

Today we happen to be on the need of growth.

Yay!

It is a well-known saying for us all that growth begins at the end of our comfort zone.

Who's heard this saying before in their life?

Yeah.

And yet,

I think that the thing that I struggle the most against are the times that I am forced out of my comfort zone.

Can anybody relate to that?

That although we crave growth and we want to learn more and evolve more and better ourselves and see more and understand more,

Become more,

Because something in us knows that we are more.

That we could be more and that we already are more.

That we're growing into this bigger thing that we already are.

Growth also can be uncomfortable.

It can be painful.

It can be unexpected.

It can require us to say yes to things we would rather say no to.

Or say no to things we'd rather say yes to.

It forces us sometimes to stand in the middle of the fire and to not fight and to not flight,

But instead to face and feel.

To not try to get better,

But instead learn to get with what's going on inside of us.

To look at ourselves and others with the eyes of curiosity and understanding versus trying to get something or get somewhere or fix a thing or make it the way we want.

Growth is interesting because each of us also is going to need different elements to help us grow because we all need different kinds of growth.

I myself went into a Buddhist monastery for about a decade when I graduated college and spent my whole 20s in that world.

When I was 31 years old I came back to the U.

S.

And I had to now learn what it meant to pay taxes and get a job and have a car and do stuff like this.

How to be a normal functioning American citizen.

Whereas my friends who didn't do that and just got married and had kids and got a house and did the thing,

They were trying to grow by learning about meditation and what do I do with my emotions.

We all need different things to grow based on our past,

Based on what we were taught by our families,

By our lineages,

Our culture,

The places we grew up.

So our life experiences,

They really dictate that.

It is difficult to judge what anybody else needs for their growth.

Just because something looks to us like it's moving backwards,

Maybe to them it's moving forwards.

And vice versa,

Sometimes if we see something outside of us that we're like,

Wow,

That person is doing great and they're crushing it.

But then maybe you hear next week that they've committed suicide or overdosed or drank too much or actually have been sexually abusing people.

That all of a sudden these people that we hold on these pedestals,

We realize they're also just these broken individuals.

And sometimes these people over here that we've been discarding sometimes demonstrate that,

Oh my gosh,

This is actually a person of character.

A person in my life or even someone in my workplace.

Maybe someone in a lower position than me,

Maybe it's a janitor or something.

And you think,

Is this better or worse?

But actually someone's character and where someone's actually at in themselves is really hard to see unless we really spend time with someone and watch their actions.

The Buddha said the same way that it's hard to see the size of a fish from the ripples above the surface.

It's really hard to see what someone's like underneath by just some of their actions.

Growth is something that's going to happen to us regardless.

We get to choose to be pulled into it kicking and screaming.

We get to choose if we decide to face it bravely and courageously.

We get to choose if we actively pursue it.

And we get to choose if we actively avoid it.

But life will continue to happen.

Things will continue to trigger us,

To push our buttons,

To force us to feel things we don't want to feel,

To look at ourselves,

To be faced with the consequences of our own actions.

The results of our lives,

The relationships we have are all mirrors.

Your life right now,

If you look at your life,

Your life is a mirror of what's going on inside.

If you want to see what's happening inside,

Look around you,

See what life you're creating for yourself.

You'll figure that out quick how you're doing.

How do we know when to set boundaries and say no versus being with something?

How do we know when it's time to cut and run or when it's time to go through?

How to know when is an opportunity to grow in a difficult way?

Or when the growth is actually to not engage with the situation anymore.

That is up to you.

That is up to you.

You get to decide where you put your focus and your energy.

You get to decide what processes you want to go through.

And learning to grow is growth in itself.

So I invite you all to get comfortable.

You can lay down,

You can relax.

As I lead us in a little guided journey of relaxation,

Journey of relaxation,

We set the intention for more.

To become more,

To be more,

To experience more,

To receive more.

To step deeper into the fullness.

Of what this is,

What we are,

What this and we could be.

So as we relax with the eyes closed.

You can take a couple deep breaths,

Breathing in through the nose,

Down into the belly and out through the mouth.

As we begin connecting to the body,

Breathing into the body.

We connect to the knowing,

To the soul knowing.

That there is so much more.

That there is so much more.

As we lay down and relax.

And breathe.

We begin to soften,

We begin to.

Allow the borders,

The boundaries,

The barriers to blur.

Allowing any dense energy that has been trapped in your body to turn into smoke and begin to slowly.

Dissipate,

Slowly drift off.

Into space.

Feeling the space around us.

The mind is not trapped within the body,

The mind is so much more.

You are so much more.

Connecting to the space around you.

Breathing into this space.

Recognizing you can connect to the space beyond this room.

You can connect to the space beyond this planet.

As we relax and open up.

Connect with the vibration of love.

Understanding,

Forgiveness,

Compassion.

The parts of us that are afraid,

The parts of us that are wounded,

The parts of us that shut down.

The parts of us that feel like they need to fight and defend.

We forgive ourselves for fighting.

When we don't need to.

And we give ourselves permission to not know.

To be in the discomfort.

To face and feel those things which are hard to face and feel.

But recognizing the gifts,

The information that is to be found within.

But recognizing the gifts,

The information that is to be found within.

Every experience,

Every interaction.

Where in your life are you growing the most right now?

Everywhere in our life right now that we're struggling.

That we feel stuck,

That we feel unsure,

That we're resisting.

The edges that are disrupting our sense of well-being.

Those are the areas of growth.

Connecting to an area of your life,

A situation,

Dynamic.

A behavior,

Experience that you are struggling with right now.

As you breathe and relax.

Asking yourself,

What is it that I am supposed to be learning?

What is the gift in this situation?

How is this happening for me?

Breathing into the heart of the fire.

And we will find water.

We again slowly connect upwards and outwards into space.

Breathing,

Imagining we're traveling as far up and out into space as possible.

Traveling to the edge of the sky,

To the edge of the galaxy,

To the edge of the universe.

Allowing yourself to completely rest,

To let go.

To be as big as possible.

The more we release what we think we are,

The more we can become what we actually are.

For you are limitless.

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Taking a deep breath into your body.

Bringing your awareness to your heart.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

One last deep breath,

The deepest breath we've taken all day.

We can begin wiggling our fingers,

Our toes.

We can begin to stretch out and come back.

Reviews

Beautiful practice and beautiful meditation with handpan music .
Much love and gratitude ❤️🙏🕊️