The Moving Meditation Called LIFE
Ten years ago, I went to a ten-day silent meditation retreat called Vipassana as taught by S.N. Goenka. What I learned was simple, excruciating, and mind-blowing—literally. While I recommend you do this retreat, it’s not realistic for the majority of us to go away for ten days with no contact with the outside world…but, these are the lessons that stuck for me, for a decade (so far), which is why I’m sending them your way in hopes they blow your mind open for your week ahead ☺.
YOU ARE FREE TO BE
& the world doesn’t need you to check your email every hour, or even every day.
You train people to have expectations by how often you respond, or not.
What happens if you take a day to respond to something? Will the world end?
Set a time each day to check email and social, then shut it off. You can do it!
YOU ARE WANTED, BUT NOT ALWAYS NEEDED
Your kids/family/friends/staff don’t actually need you to always be there.
That feeling of obligation you feel doesn’t always have to be there. Unless you’re nursing or in the middle of a crisis, your presence isn’t usually as required as you may think. Both fabulous and a little poignant. Start observing what is habit and what is true need in your relationships to connect more deeply.
RE-ENVISION SUCCESS AS A DAILY PRACTICE
Your ideas of success are just that: Ideas of success, not necessarily real—so why not reinvent them everyday?
Turns out, underneath it all, I thought being needed and busy all the time was success.
As soon as I realized I wasn’t needed all that much (and wasn’t all that “important”) and didn’t need to be “busy” to be present, alive, and happy, my world split open—in a good way!
When you’re able to reinvent success on a daily basis, you enjoy constant growth!
NAME, KNOW, LET GO
If you name it, observe it, and move on, you become liberated from “it.”
In Vipassana, you observe a sensation and then let it go. This is priceless in daily life for those of us overthinkers, sensitives, and empaths. Naming your emotions and beliefs that stunt you sets you free..
Example: “Overthinking.” Observe, move on. “Judging.” Observe, move on. “Fearing.” Observe, move on.
What I learned through Vipassana, and the continued practice of it in daily life, is that if you name something that is bothering you, it will go away. So, this week, I’d love for you to practice this and let me know how it goes! Here’s your Intergalactic Assignment ☺.
I hope this is helpful for your real life, as we don’t have time for fluff these days now do we? If you found it useful, let me know on the blog, social or here ☺. I can’t wait to hear how it works for you if you choose to do the practice this week.
This is my last week in Bali and I’ll be back in the States next week. I’ll probably write about re-entry…because, isn’t everything about reentry? Sending you love, and Vipassana-level insight for this week to come.
With Love, in Detail,
