Day 273/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
As I reflect on my journey towards self-mastery the tools that have supported me have revealed the mysteries of my experiences, my reactions and my responses to the world on a daily basis.
Self-mastery is about mastering my experiences of the world, living and breathing in the flow of life force energy, so that I can live life fully and wholly.
Two simple tools have connected me to the things that matter to me even though I had forgotten them for such a long time.
They have resolved the mystery of relationships and anchored me in my self-worth.
They have enabled me to step aside from my emotional reactions to reveal the hurt and trauma that lies beneath them. In this way I have healed so much of my passed.
Every undertaking requires the right tools and the journey towards self-mastery requires the tools of curiosity and the ability to feel into every experience in an embodied way. That is to say, to feel the experience in your body.
When I connect my response with the feelings in my body I have the whole picture. The reaction of my body tells me if this experience is similar to a previous experience, one that I have I enjoyed or one that made me feel fearful.
Becoming increasingly curious about the reaction of my body helps me to understand how my body wants to respond, and that response is always going to be some version of fight, flight, fold or submit, freeze or move towards and seek connection.
You can use your body as a barometer for your experiences. Your body holds the story of all of your previous experiences, the joyful, the adverse and the traumatic. It is also a vessel for many of your ancestor's experiences.
If you are truly committed to the journey towards self-mastery, nurture the tools of curiosity and feeling. Be curious about everything and feel into everything. There are no limits.
Call for help if you need it.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.