Are you growing judgment, impatience, and frustration?
Have you ever felt like there is a life (or a version of you) trying to emerge through you…yet you just keep hitting roadblock, after roadblock, after roadblock?
As long as I can remember I’ve felt that…even as a teenager doing my best to escape reality, I can remember sensing a ‘bigger’ version of me that was always present, even when I wasn’t.
Most of the time I felt like a victim of my emotions. Some days were great and some days were really, really dark. I became a poet and a cutter by the age of 12 - both forms of release from the pressure of being human, yet one was expression while the other was repression.
It took many years for me to understand that - to understand that both ‘practices’ were growing me into a version of myself that was either someone aligned with my truth, my values, and what I say I want for myself and the world, while the other was growing me into a version of my deepest fears of myself and the world.
When I wrote poetry I was practicing expression through being vulnerable, honest, creative, and accepting of myself.
When I cut myself I was practicing repression through being guarded, secretive, shaming, and judgmental of myself.
Upon reflection, the outcome of each practice did bring a sense of relief, yet expression expanded me, while repression contracted me.
It wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I was introduced to the power of mindfulness - to the expansion of my consciousness through awareness practices that are rooted in kindness. Since I have been working in the mindfulness and leadership field for more than a decade now, you can imagine the impact it had on my life. This is certainly no ‘woo hoo,’ if you got time for it kinda magic.
I recently came across a wonderful Tedx called The Power of Mindfulness: what you practice grows stronger by Shauna Shapiro.
In her short, yet powerful 13-minute talk she shares a story about her stay at a monastery as a young woman. She, like most of us, was struggling with being present. At this point, she began to really judge herself, telling herself that she was a fake and that something was wrong with her and that she was terrible at being present and wondering why she was even there. She then shared that she started judging everyone else too, even the monks.
Fortunately, she vulnerably shared her struggle with one of the monks and here is what he said…
"Oh dear, you’re not practicing mindfulness - you’re practicing judgment, impatience, frustration. And what you practice grows stronger."
What you practice grows stronger.
Those 5 words stayed with Shauna forever and became foundational in her work as a clinical psychologist, researcher, and professor who now bridges neuroscience and ancient wisdom to demonstrate how mindfulness can help us make positive changes in our brains and our lives.
While I am not a clinical psychologist, I have spent the past fifteen years of my life steeped in mystical, spiritual, and psychological study, practice, and teaching. For me, I have discovered the profound impact mindfulness can have on our leadership. Leadership is not just our profession, but it is who we are being in the world in all the meaningful roles we play (friend, partner, parent, daughter, son, community member, teacher, manager, artist, entrepreneur, business owner, etc.).
So the question for you to ponder is, What do you want to grow?
Is your life expressing that truth/desire or is it growing your fears instead? Are you cultivating a garden of judgment, impatience, and frustration or one of curiosity, kindness, and fulfillment?
Years ago I developed a 10-minute mindset and meditation practice to help align you in resonance with your higher self. It’s an intentional practice to grow you more into the version of yourself you were meant to be. Over the past couple of months, it has been updated…so I guess you can say it’s NEW and IMPROVED! I hope you enjoy it.
The New and Improved Magic Mindset Meditation
