Perfect Week, Day 3: True Self

Welcome to Day 3 of Perfect Week Course. In this episode you will learn how to reconnect with your true self through the exploration of stillness. In the short intro you will discover how scientist searched for the mind inside of the human brain and what they found. In the meditation part you’ll have a chance to see that we are indeed more than physical matter.

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Tomek from Synergy Lab Sydney.

Welcome to day 3 of Perfect Week,

7 part program designed to support your everyday well-being.

In day 1 we reconnected with the inner source of energy.

In day 2 we looked at the works of the inner critic.

Today we embrace our uniqueness,

Looking under the surface of all the identifications that so frequently are the source of our unhappiness.

Who am I?

Arguably the most important question of all.

Ancient philosophers,

Long before the modern era,

Urged us to know thyself in order to discover the true meaning of our existence.

Modern science followed this question and spent the better part of the century studying human body,

Searching for the place where conscience originates from.

Cutting edge technologies were used to scan our brain only to discover that the self is nowhere to be found.

What's even more interesting,

Scientists discovered that every molecule in our body is replaced every 7 years.

There is not a single part of our physical body that stays the same.

May look the same,

But certainly is not composed of the same material.

Robert Monroe,

A pioneer in the investigation of human consciousness,

Begins his explorations with an affirmation.

I am more than my physical body,

Because I am more than this physical matter.

If not the physical body,

Who am I?

If our identity is not confined to the brain,

Where is it?

What about our thoughts,

Emotions and feelings?

Perhaps the answer lies there.

An ordinary person has around 20,

000 thoughts every day.

95% of those thoughts are repetitive,

The same as yesterday and the day before.

What or who does produce those thoughts?

These are all good questions and many of them still wait to be answered.

Today I invite you to take a different approach,

Less intellectual and more intuitive.

I invite you to explore how silence and stillness lay the foundation for the discovery of the true self.

There are only four rules here,

Four Rs if you will.

First,

Resist no thoughts.

Second,

Retain no thoughts.

Third,

React to no thoughts.

And fourth,

Return to your breath.

Let's begin the practice.

Begin by taking a comfortable position in your chair.

Using a dignified posture,

Like a king or a queen,

With your back straight but not rigid,

Looking forward.

Your feet comfortably resting on the floor.

Your palms open,

Facing up or down in your lap.

Allow your eyes to close.

Mentally tune in into your surroundings.

Gently scan for any sounds,

Anything that may come to your attention.

Recognize that you are safe,

Secure and protected in this space.

There is nothing that you need to do or no other place you'd rather be.

For the next 15 minutes or so,

This is your place of self exploration.

To bring initial relaxation to your body,

Start by taking a couple of deeper breaths.

Breathing in through your nose,

Holding your breath just for a moment and exhaling through your mouth as if you try to blow a candle.

In,

Hold and out.

In,

Hold and out through your mouth.

In,

Hold and out.

Breathe normally and relax.

Deep conscious breathing always helps to disengage sympathetic part of your nervous system and engage parasympathetic nervous system responsible for rest and digest.

Now we will establish an anchor to which you will be able to return every time you feel distracted or you drift away.

In this practice,

Your breath will serve as an anchor.

As you breathe in and breathe out,

Recognize in which part of your body you can feel your breath the best.

Perhaps it's tip of your nose or you can feel your breath through rise and fall of your chest or expansion and contraction of your belly.

It is possible that you feel your breath through your entire body and that's absolutely fine.

It is not important which part of your body you choose to observe your breath.

Once you made your choice,

Stick to it and do not change it during the practice.

Now as you follow your breath,

Give yourself some time to establish a firm connection with your breathing.

Tune in and stay with your breath.

There is no need to change your breathing in any way.

You simply follow its natural rhythm.

Remember to be very gentle in this practice.

As you establish a connection with your breath,

Bring to mind four rules that you will follow in this meditation.

First,

Resist no thoughts.

Allow your thoughts to come as they please,

Simply acknowledging every time a thought or a sensation or a sound,

Any other distraction comes to your awareness.

React to no thoughts.

There is no need to push the thoughts away.

Simply acknowledge them.

Retain no thoughts.

Then as the last rule,

Return to your breath.

Remember your breath is the safe place to which you can always return.

Place where you anchor your awareness,

Where you feel safe,

Secure and protected.

Regardless of how many times you will get distracted,

You can always start anew.

You can start fresh and return to your breath.

Resist no thoughts.

React to no thoughts.

Retain no thoughts.

And return also gently to your breath.

As you continue breathing,

You may see that you actually do react to many thoughts.

And that's absolutely okay.

As you move along,

You become more and more gentle.

Your returns are softer and softer.

You may notice that you need to return less and less frequently.

My voice will serve you as a reminder that every time you drift away,

You can gently return.

And as you settle down in this practice,

You may notice that the distractions become less and less frequent.

You may even experience moments of stillness between one breath and another.

Resist no thoughts.

React to no thoughts.

Retain no thoughts.

And return also gently to your breath.

As the meditation continues,

You may notice a sense of softness that surrounds the stillness between the breaths.

The returns are gentler and the periods of stillness longer.

Every journey begins with one step.

To begin this practice,

You need just one breath.

It is not important how many times you get lost in your thoughts or how many times you've been distracted.

It is important how many times you decided to return to your breath.

Now,

To conclude this meditation period,

Shift your attention from your breath.

Switch to your body.

Switch on your internal senses.

And scan for any sensation.

And as you come back to your senses,

Ground yourself and center in your awareness.

Recognize that you sit on a chair.

Recognize sensations in your hands.

And as you do it,

Also gently move your fingers.

Now,

Also slowly and gently move your toes.

In the same manner,

Also slowly and gently turn your head to the left and to the right.

And in your own time,

Whenever you're ready,

Open your eyes.

And this is the end of this meditation period.

For those of you who wish to reconnect with your true self throughout the day,

Use this simple practice.

Whenever you find yourself in a stressful situation,

Need a break or simply remember to stop what you're doing for a moment.

Take a deeper breath through your nose.

Hold it for just a moment.

And as you exhale through your mouth,

Tune in to the stillness of this act for a couple of seconds.

Observe and reflect how this simple exercise changes your perception.

If needed,

You may repeat it a couple of times and then move on with your day.

Thank you very much for joining me in this episode.

Perfect Week will return with Day 4.

For now,

I wish you a wonderful day.

This is Tomek from Synergy Lab,

Sydney.

Thank you for listening.

Reviews

Your meditations are my favorite. Your voice is so soothing And lovely. Thank you so much for being there every day when I Meditate!

This was the third meditation of this Perfect Week course and as yesterday and the day before it completely gets me to go inward. Whether it’s your voice or the relaxing way you talk, it’s like a magic tool that I want to keep coming back to. 25 minutes seems so short with your meditations… thank you 🙏

I am waking early each day thus week so that i have time to do this course. I feel so calm afterwards, I hope you to have a wonderful day Tomek.

A beautiful breathing anchor meditation. I loved the four R's, resist, retain, react, and return.

🙏 Thank you 🙏
I was melting in softness - your voice, Tomek, always carries me away. ✨🫶
Thank you 🙏

Breathe, resist no thought, breathe, react not, breathe, retain no thought, return to breath. Thank you 🙏

returning to the breath
nothing more
nothing
less🙏

RRRR resist no thought, react to no thought, retain no thought, return to the breath. Awesome! I'll remember that always

I keep returning to these meditations 🧘🏼‍♀️ they’re by far my absolute favourite on this app 🙏🏼

The sense of satisfaction from every lesson has been immeasurable. It is hard to find a perfect comment for each one! All I can say is that the 4 R’s have been a simply rewarding answer to my ever restless wandering mind! I am ever so grateful for the knowledge that you have imparted🙏

Thank you for your guidance. It's always so relaxing and comforting
🙏🏻

Simply beautiful and I felt anchored with my breathing and my conscious state was strong. I was so relaxed and peaceful. An awesome in the present space to start my day 😇

Thank you, Tomek 🙏🏻✨♥️

Can never hear this message enough. Thanks for posting

Thank you Tomek!

I always wake up to this meditations. Thanks a lot

I felt very grounded and peaceful by the end of this meditation. It will definitely be a repeat

Excellent reminder of the basics and relevant contextualization of our practice and its motivations. A big thank you from Belgium , so far and so close 🙏

This was an amazing experience the intro and the practice itself. Tomek is such a talented meditation teacher!🌟

I kept drifting off today, but my breath and your words brought me back. Thank you.

Incredible and effective meditation