What's good,
Legend?
American author and philosopher Howard Thurman has one of my favorite quotes ever.
Don't ask yourself what the world needs.
Ask yourself what makes you come alive.
When I think about the things that make me feel alive,
Or most like myself,
I think about my core values.
These are the principles and qualities that guide how we show up in life.
Core values are like a compass.
They point you toward what matters most,
Help you make choices with clarity,
And create alignment between your actions and the person you truly wanna be.
When we live in line with them,
Life feels more purposeful,
Our decisions feel lighter,
And we naturally gravitate towards people and experiences that light us up.
On the other hand,
When we're unclear about our values,
Life can feel chaotic,
Heavy,
Or scattered.
We end up chasing things that don't truly matter,
Over-committing,
Or feeling disconnected from ourselves.
Being unaware of our values doesn't just make decisions harder.
It can quietly drain our energy and keep us from the fulfillment that we're craving.
This meditation will offer you a moment to return home to yourself.
We'll begin with some collective breaths to ease us into our practice.
We'll move into an open awareness meditation to tap into the present moment.
And then we'll take some time to contemplate in order to help you uncover or reconnect with your core values,
The ones that make you feel most alive and like yourself.
By the end,
You'll hopefully leave with a greater sense of clarity,
Groundedness,
And inspiration for how you wanna walk through your life.
Let's start by getting into a comfortable meditation position,
One that leaves you feeling relaxed,
Yet alert.
And let's start with a couple of deep collective breaths together.
Mouth closed.
I want you to start off with a deep inhale,
Filling up.
Ffff.
Hold at the top for a count of five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Mouth closed.
Let it go.
Ffff.
Let's try that again.
Deep inhale,
Fill up.
Ffff.
Hold at the top for a count of six,
Seven,
Eight.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Mouth closed.
Let it go.
And breathe into your body on that exhale.
Last breath.
Deep inhale,
Fill up.
Largest one yet.
Ffff.
At the top,
Hold for a count of seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Mouth closed.
Exhale and breathe into your body.
Ffff.
I wanna take some time right now to just tap into the current moment and what is going on right now in the present.
So I want you to extend your focus to your surrounding environment.
What are some of the sounds that you're hearing?
Maybe it could be the whizzing of a fan,
The buzzing of a refrigerator in the next room,
The sound of somebody rustling.
But as you're taking in the here and now,
I want you to do so without judgment,
Without an explanation needing to be made inside of your head.
We're just taking in the natural soundtrack of our life right now.
I want you to take a moment to just check in and notice,
How's your body feeling today?
Just feel the sensations and let them be.
No stories surrounding them.
They aren't good or bad,
They just are.
I want you to notice and focus your attention on your emotions right now.
Feel what you're feeling.
Give your emotions some space to be.
Feel that.
Now notice what else is there.
Once again,
Nothing is good,
Nothing is bad,
It just is.
Now finally,
I want you to take some time and focus your attention on your thoughts.
Notice your mind thinking thoughts without trying to change them or explain them or place them in some overarching story or narrative.
Just focus on the experience in your head.
I want you to take a deep inhale.
Deep inhale.
Deep exhale.
That right there was an open awareness technique where we really try to tap into everything going in the present moment.
There's no way to do that wrong.
It's just about sitting back and experiencing what is.
And now I want you to do and play around with a little exploration.
I always like including some form of contemplation where I ask some questions and we just let our natural intuition kick in and bring us some answers.
So right now,
I want you to imagine a moment in your life when you felt fully alive,
Proud,
Or at peace.
What was happening?
Who were you with?
What qualities or principles were present in that moment?
Now,
Think of a time when you felt misaligned,
Uneasy,
Or disconnected from yourself.
What was missing?
What value wasn't being honored?
Picture the person that you want to be,
The version of yourself that feels most true and fully alive.
What are the qualities,
Principles,
Or values guiding them?
Now,
Imagine carrying these values with you like a compass,
Guiding your choices and actions each day.
How does it feel to move through your life with this clarity,
This purpose,
This feeling of being with yourself?
Finally,
I want you to choose one of these values,
And I want you to visualize yourself acting on this value in your life right now.
Think about your life today.
What small step could you take to honor it,
Even in a simple way?
When we're clear on our core values,
They act as guardrails that allow us to make choices with ease,
To find clarity in the darkest and most difficult of moments,
And to realign ourselves when we feel like we've lost our way.
I hope that this moment of time you've spent with yourself has helped re-center you,
And is moving you closer to living in alignment with the person you know that you could be.
I want to end this meditation just as we began it,
With three collective breaths together.
Mouth closed,
Take a deep inhale,
Fill up.
Hold at the top for a count of five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Mouth closed,
Exhale.
Fill up.
Hold for six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale.
Last breath,
Fill up.
And hold for a count of seven,
Eight,
Nine,
10.
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale,
Side out.
Begin to gently and slowly come back to your space.
Maybe begin by wiggling your fingers and your toes.
Maybe looking to the left,
Looking to the right,
Rolling your head,
Shrugging your shoulders,
If that feels good.
And the most important thing I want you to remember is,
You have the answers with you right now.
So many times we look externally to try and find these solutions,
When going inward is gonna provide us with the best advice.
Just remember,
I love you,
You're great,
You're exceptional,
And I hope to meditate with you tomorrow.
