Have you ever felt lost and disconnected from yourself? Perhaps you’ve reflected on a situation where your inner critic seemed to take over, or it was difficult to disengage from a familiar sense of, “this is just who I am!”
So much of Deep Living is simply noticing those times, catching ourselves in the act of black and white thinking, or falling into old patterns and reactions.
What’s the next step when we realize the story we’ve been telling ourselves for so long isn’t really true? What else is there? You might even ask, “If I’m not that, then who am I?”
This identity crisis can feel freeing, disorienting, and scary all at once. Instead of reaching out externally for answers in an attempt to shore up this lost identity, we can choose to answer the (sometimes very quiet) call to go inward.
We can inhabit our bodies, attune to sensations, breathe, ground ourselves, and practice being present to feelings and thoughts. What would it be like to open up and allow a new sense of self to arise?
The reward is a deeper, truer, more authentic connection with ourselves and our inner strength – a place that spans all situations, identity changes, and time.
Pause and Practice
Embrace your inner strength and sacred nature by accessing your full heart with this meditation, lead by Deep Living facilitator Pamela Johnson.
Adapted from Roxanne Howe-Murphy, EdD, The Dynamism of Life: Essentials of EnneaCrossings™, unpublished manuscript in progress, 2022
