THE SIMPLE LAWS OF SELF MASTERY (Part 1)
Are you the sort of person who is looking for answers to life’s big questions? Wanting to know how you can be happier, more successful, or just at peace? From my experience most of us are. The irony with this, is that more often than not, we find ourselves running in circles chasing, when we would be better served to stop and notice what already exists. I know this because I’ve been on that journey for some time and I wanted to share with you some simple tools I used to begin my journey many years ago. In the words from Sarah Ban Breathnach’s book “Simple Abundance”....
“The simpler we make our lives, the more abundant they become”.
One of the keys to self mastery is to practice simple abundance every day. Through doing so, you will come to realise that simple abundance does not require you to take time out or your day, but instead adds time to your day. As you learn to live with greater awareness, you will come to see that you do not need to add anything else to your to-do list but simple be present in the moments of doing what it is you already do – the difference is living consciously.... but what does this even mean?
In a nutshell, the idea of simple abundance involves gratitude, simplicity, order, harmony, beauty and joy – things we want but get so caught up in our business that we don’t see what is already before us. Below i have 4 simple steps to help you continue your journey to Self Mastery.
A word of warning though - the greatest flaw with the self improvement industry is that the term ‘Self Improvement” implies there is something wrong with you and that you need to follow certain steps to IMPROVE. The one great lesson that I know to be true is that there is nothing wrong with me or you (despite what others might say). You are perfect as you are right now. In my mind, Self Mastery is not about Self Improvement but about Self Understanding & Self Love. It is through understanding that comes self acceptance. I wish all who read this great blessings as we all move towards greater awareness and self acceptance of our hearts, minds and spirit.
The first important realisation is that you already possess all of the resources and knowledge required to commence your journey. In times of personal discovery or uncertainty, we often look to other people to gain their approval, their opinion and justification. While asking others has a place, it is not the only answer to our questions. We actually need to listen more closely to the subtleness of our heart voice, our inner voice, our intuition. This is why many mystics tell us that the answers lie within.
Now, if you are anything like me, you might respond with ...”If I had the answers in me and knew what to do I would already be doing it”.... well, that’s my point. You may think you don’t know, but this is just because you have two voices inside your head – one of the mind-voice and one of the heart-voice. Unfortunately it is often the mind-voice or ego that is much louder than the heart-voice so we can’t hear it.
The purpose of this series is to share with you tools in how to turn down the mind-voice and better hear your heart-voice, the voice that is your spirit. All that you need to do right now is take a breath, relax and be open to the messages of these pages. It is said that you cannot receive with a clenched fist so be open and curious. Imagine your heart and mind unfolding like a flower, open and ready to receive the nourishment of the sun, wind and rain. The nourishment that helps it grow, shine and radiate its beauty. Follow your own guidance with any of the words that resonate with you. Which elements make your heart sing? which make your mind expand? and which can you share with others? Let the journey of awakening your spirit begin ...
PART ONE ....
Begin your journey with awareness of the little things. Notice all the gifts that surround you to make your life easier and free flowing. Notice the sun shining and feel the warmth on your skin. Notice the rain as it washes away debris and cleanses the earth. Notice the wind how it sweeps up life and trees move with ease, patiently waiting for the wind to subside. Notice how lucky we are to have electricity, clean running water, appliances to make life easy and technology to access anything, anytime.
• Imagine how your life would be without these things?
• Have you ever been without your phone or computer, how are these things a gift in
your life? Have you been without electricity or water? How did this feel?
• When is the last time you stood in the rain and jumped in puddles just for fun?
• Start noticing the gifts that play a part in your daily practices everyday.
• Make a list of the little things you are grateful for in your life.
2. Law Of Living Life To Its Fullest
So often we are faced with opportunities to experience life and we put it off saying “one day”. What if there is no one-day, what if that one-day is today. Often it is not until tragedy strikes someone or something we love that we take stock of our choices and begin living life to our fullest potential. Why wait? “Carpe Diem .... Seize the day”. As they say, this life is not a rehearsal so live it large. Dream big, live big and take action. The world is full of experiences waiting for you to drink them up. There are no rights and wrongs, just experiences.
• Ask yourself what you would do if this were your last day on the planet? Where
would you go? How do you want to feel? Are others with you?
• When opportunity knocks try saying yes more and see where life will take you.
• Have you created a bucket list of things you want to do before you die? Make it now.
3. Law of Trusting Yourself
Often we have so much going on inside our own mind, our emotions and our life that we lose sight of trusting our own instincts, mostly because we have the same thoughts and stories circulating round and round until we become utterly confused. Trusting yourself requires you to be open enough to listen and follow your intuition to guide you. This can be as simple as noticing the knot that you get in your stomach, the frown you have on your face or the tightness you feel in your chest. Imagine this for a moment..... think of an event you enjoyed or someone you love, does your heart feel open and expanded or does it feel closed and contracted? You will probably find it is open and expanded. Now think or an event or someone you don’t like, close your eyes and see how it feels in your body. Does it expanded or contract? You may find it feels contracted with your muscles tightening and your breathing becoming shallow. It is through noticing your body contracting and expanding that you can learn to trust your intuition. Know your intuition is like a muscle, the more you use it, the more it grows and stronger it becomes. Have faith in your ability to successfully lead yourself.
• Think of 4 people you know, close your eyes and check in with how they make
you feel? Do you feel your heart expanding or contracting?
• Think about a decision you have to make, imagine the possible outcomes of this decision and notice which outcome makes your heart expand – this is a message direct from your intuition to follow your bliss, it takes courage to trust but well worth it.
4. The Law of Positive Self Talk
As an educator having worked in schools for more than 20 years, I am well aware of the harm bullying can do to others. The realisation for me however, is not the harm done by being bullied by others, but the bully that lives inside our own mind. The voice inside our head that tells us we can’t, we’re hopeless, fat, dumb, etc. It is this voice that cause much more harm than anything anyone else can say to us. The best thing you can do to better manage this is to be patient with yourself. Often we are trying so hard to get somewhere that we put so much pressure on ourselves. While stretching our comfort zone is how we grow, it is also important to not be so hard on ourselves.
• Imagine you had your best friend come to you for counsel after making a mistake
or trying to move forward. How would you speak to them? What might you say?
• Now imagine you were that best friend... Imagine you are counselling yourself
with the same compassion and understanding? Notice how the self-pressure is released.
• Try catching your negative self talk and turn it around into positive self talk as
much as possible.
This completes part ONE of our series. Please note that these tools are for you to play, explore and shape to best suit you – your needs, interests and your life. I welcome your feedback and any questions you may have. Part 2 will be here next week.
God bless
Daniela
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