In in the world we live in, we’re encouraged not to listen to ourselves. We’re encouraged not to listen to our own thoughts, to deny our feelings, to ignore the messages and wisdom of our bodies. We are encouraged to listen to someone or some institutional or corporate entity outside of ourselves, including the media, which holds a level of influence over us. It presumes to know us better than we know ourselves, and wants to shape us into something that will serve their mission. We live in this sort of influence from the time we are born until the time we die.
One of the consequences of this orientation to outer directedness, is over time it disconnects us from our own inner wisdom and our own true Voice. The Voice that knows best who we are and what our unique mission is in life.
It’s troubling really. That we can go through life not really knowing who we are and not living the life we were meant to live, but can instead live a life that someone else or something else thinks we should. What does this say about the level of empathy and compassion we have for each other in our world? But I digress.
The good news is things can change. They can change whenever we decide we don’t want it to be this way. It can change when we realize we want to take back our own mind and cultivate our own life. It starts with our willingness to begin the journey to getting connected to our self.
But how do we get connected again if we don’t know how?
Well, it doesn’t have to be complicated. This in fact is a myth. Of course you can make it complicated if you prefer, but it doesn’t have to be this way. All it takes is willingness and some of your time to connect with yourself again in a conscious way.
There once was a time when I was living life on a tread mill. Stressed out, doing life every minute of every day, from 6am to 10 pm. I was full of anxiety, sadness and confusion. I thought I had it all together, but was so very wrong.
Even spiritual practice was a lot of work for me. I thought I had to work hard and push hard to see results. The funny thing was I didn’t even know what results I was looking for. But I still thought I had to work hard to get to some mysterious “there”.
Then one day I found myself in the presence of a very wise yogini who taught me a little bit goes a long way toward progressing along the path. That less is actually more. That I didn’t need to push and try hard and be so diligent. That all I had to do was stop, and listen.
Stop and listen to those inner promptings to slow down, and be still. Radical, isn’t it?
This simple teaching gave me back my power. It helped me to let go of the idea that spiritual practice had to be complex, and by extension that getting connected to myself had to be complex, because connection and spirituality, are, well, connected. 😉
It gave me a new respect for myself as well. And it helped me to take myself and my inner wisdom, seriously.
What do you do next when you feel prompted from within to stop and listen?
