Vitality Track
Do you remember the feelings of excitement, connectedness, wonder, curiosity and believing you could do anything you set your mind to? Perhaps you haven’t felt much of this at all, though there is a longing and a knowing somewhere deep within you that tells you there is so much more to this life. That there is so much more to YOU.
Unearthing the Authentic Self
"What a long time it can take to become the person one has always been. How often in the process we mask ourselves in faces that are not our own? How much dissolving and shaking of ego must we endure before we discover our deep identity — the true self within every human being that is the seed of living an authentic life?"
"What about rather than telling your life what you intend to do with it, you listen for what it intends to do with you? Instead of telling your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, how about letting your life tell you what truths you naturally embody, what values you naturally and wholly represent?"
"The true self seeks not pathology but wholeness. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am. I must listen for the truths and values at the heart of my own identity, not the standards by which I must live — but the standards by which I cannot help but live if I am living my own life.”
~Parker J. Palmer, "Let Your Life Speak: Listening For The Voice of Vocation."
Mindfulness: A Pathway to Authenticity
Mindfulness practices can be learned in therapy wherein you would develop a relationship with presence [present moment awareness] for the purpose of experiencing a deeper sense of you. The body and mind often connect through these practices and begin to operate together in natural harmony. Inner battling, self-hatred, shame, and doubt are embraced and released by an integrated self.
From here, openness and eagerness can be felt producing an embodied sense of hope, balancing a depressed or anxious mind, and soothing and restoring the physical body.
Gentle mindfulness, relational and somatic practices incorporated in therapy work together unearthing wholeness wherein a person can more clearly see, feel and dream a path before them. It does not require work of finding a new path, rather it is courageously opening one’s eyes to notice the path has been with them all along; There is no other path so ready to be with them as they take each step forward. Wholeness often opens channels to creative intelligence. Organic ideas leading to a deeper sense of purpose can emerge. You may catch a glimpse of your signature presence in the world. A glimpse that could spark a lifelong voyage of deepening connection with yourself and the world around you.
Mindfulness in Nature
“The soul speaks its truth only under quiet, inviting, and trustworthy conditions.
The soul is like a wild animal — tough, resilient, savvy, self-sufficient, and yet exceedingly shy. If we want to see a wild animal, the last thing we should do is to go crashing through the woods, shouting for the creature to come out. But if we are willing to walk quietly into the woods and sit silently for an hour or two at the base of a tree, the creature we are waiting for may well emerge, and out of the corner of an eye we will catch a glimpse of the precious wildness we seek.”
——Excerpts from “Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation” by Parker J. Palmer