IRest Practice 4: Affirming Your Heartfelt Mission

Your heartfelt mission is the energy of life within you that gives rise to and sustains your inner felt sense of purpose, meaning, and value. It's the life force that's energizing every cell in your body and sustaining every breath you take, that gives you the energy to meet every challenge you face in life.

Your heartfelt mission is what motivates you to get out of bed each morning. As you live your life's mission, you feel in harmony with your place in the world. You might also call it your heartfelt path, heartfelt energy, heartfelt desire, or heartfelt purpose. Whatever you call it, it's the feeling within yourself that's moving you forward.

Practice 4: Affirming Your Heartfelt Mission from the iRest Program for Healing PTSD: A Proven Effective Approach to Using Yoga Nidra Meditation & Deep Relaxation Techniques to Overcome Trauma. Written by Richard C. Miller, PhD. Recorded by Erin Finck, TCTSY-F, RYT 500, Level 1 iRest Teacher

Journal Prompt

Transcript

In your journal, Write down your answers to the following questions. Your answers will help you design your heartfelt mission. What are my core values? If I were truly living them, Experiencing meaning, Purpose, And value in my life, What would these core values be? What are the underlying themes of my life? If I were fully living them, Feeling totally engaged in my life, What would these themes be? After you write down the words that make up your core values and life themes, Take time to sense how each word or phrase rings true in your body and mind. Then, Arrange them in order of their importance to you. Circle one, Two, Or three of the words that feel most important to you. Then, Write them as a statement that represents your heartfelt mission. Finally, Repeat this statement several times to embed it in your memory. Here are some examples of the heartfelt mission that others before you have discovered. I am a vital, Potent, And creative force. I feel my underlying health and wholeness in every moment. I trust life and am at peace with what each moment brings. My will and the will of life are one and the same. My thoughts, Words, And actions agree and align with one another. I am deeply connected to myself, To others, And to life. As you consider your positive heartfelt mission, Write down any negative opposites that arise in your mind. You will learn in detail how to work with these negative opposites in the future. For now, Just note them in writing. During your practice of I-Rest, As well as throughout your day, Affirm your heartfelt mission by saying and feeling it as a statement of fact that you take to be true about yourself and life.