When we get caught up in old stories we can lose the ability for change. Mindfulness practices can increase our self awareness of these stories and replace self defeating thoughts with self compassionate ones.
This article outlines an easy but powerful technique for changing your stories.
To feel unworthy is to suffer. It feels like you’re flawed and must conceal your faultiness from others or risk being shunned. But concealing, pretending, and holding yourself apart from others tends to make you feel alienated and then interpret these feelings as proof that you’re flawed. This is a vicious cycle of self-doubts and self-judgments that separates you from others and prevents you from feeling whole and complete. Though you may be stuck in this self-concept, it’s far more arbitrary and malleable than you may think… It may be your story, but it isn’t you.
Allowing, witnessing, acknowledging, releasing, and easing up are primary skills in meditation practice and will also serve you well in the unfolding moments of your life—at work, at home, with friends, and in everything you do, particularly when you notice that your self-talk has become critical and unkind. The AWARE practice can become a way of life that helps you grow a little freer each time you practice it.
This article was adapted from the book Living with Your Heart Wide Open by Bob Stahl and Steve Flowers.
How to Free Yourself from Your Personal Stories | Read more at Mindful
