Connect With Your Core Self

Welcome to today's meditation. It's Jamila, and I'm so glad you're here. I used to call myself a writer. This felt true in some ways, but it was also a title I clung to because it made me feel important. Being a writer validated my best qualities. It was where I got to be creative, smart, where I got to share my insights with the world. I thought writer was who I was, I thought it was my purpose. But when I wasn't writing, which was most of the time, I felt ashamed and lost. When I released my attachment to the title of writer and looked beyond it, I saw a person who was committed to staying curious. I saw a person who was a living example of possibility, a person whose life was a mirror for other people's capacity for resilience and joy. I saw a researcher, a student of the world. But when I was desperately clinging to my title as a writer, I ignored these parts of myself. I was so zoomed in on writer that I couldn't see the deeper parts of me. There are so many parts of us that we ignore, make small, or push to the side because we're so focused on who we think we are and who we think we're supposed to be. We have to create space to get still, listen, and connect with who we are at our core. Connecting to who you are at your core, beyond your roles and identities, enables you to play with life a little more freely, without attachment to any particular version of yourself. It's so powerful to be able to answer beyond my external identities, my relationship roles, my job titles, my demographic identities, who am I? It's a really big question, and we'll break it down together, let's begin. Find a comfortable position that allows you to be alert yet relaxed. Close your eyes and start to slow down your breaths. (no audio) Let yourself settle into the present moment. Breathe into any spaces of tension using deep inhales and exhales to soften it. Take a few moments here to just be and breathe. (no audio) (no audio) (no audio) First, we'll explore who you are at the base of your being, beyond your roles and identities. I'll give you some prompts, and I want you to fill in the blank in your head. Remember to breathe as you reflect. I am a person who is committed to... I am a person who is committed to... (no audio) (no audio) I am a living example of... I am a living example of... (no audio) (no audio) On my best days, I am... On my best days, I am... (no audio) (no audio) Take a moment to sit with those. (no audio) (no audio) Take a clearing breath here, deep inhale, full exhale. (no audio) Now, I want you to think back to something you did as a kid or any...