Come Home to Yourself

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When we try to ignore or push away strong emotions, they have a tendency to hang around uninvited in our tense shoulders, shallow breathing, and tight jaws. With this practice from Sharon Salzberg, we gently turn toward uncomfortable sensations and feelings. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but when we bring nonjudgmental awareness to difficult emo- tions, we can see how they arise, change, and go. 3. A Meditation to Remind Yourself That You Are Enough from Jenée Johnson The book offers practical strategies and insights to foster meaningful relationships, establish healthy boundaries, and cultivate deep connections rooted in empathy, compassion, and understanding. By nourishing these connections, you will create a harmonious tapestry of support and love, enriching your journey toward inner peace. When we internalize these messages, we form beliefs about what is “wrong” with us and repress them so deeply they become unconscious. What we do not realize is that these aspects of who we are mustfind expression, and so we project them onto other people, organizations, or the world at large. Though simple, shadow exercises should not be underestimated. They are very, very powerful. They allow us to tap into energy that has formerly been repressed. Once released, a dynamic force is unleashed, initiating immediate changes in our consciousness and in our lives.

And I said to my body softly, ‘I want to be your friend.’ It took a long breath and replied, ‘ I have been waiting my whole life for this.’” – Nayyirah WaheedIt is within this context that " Come Home to Yourself" by Deja Rae emerges as a guiding beacon, illuminating the transformative path towards self-discovery, personal growth, and the cherished destination of inner peace.

We can experience encountering this spacious and free place of our true home in unexpected moments as we spend more time tuning in to what is happening inside us and around us. One morning, when I was a novice nun, in slow walking after our early morning sitting meditation, I was very present and able to be aware of nearly every step. I began by being aware that as I was stepping with my left foot, I was at the same time stepping with my right, because my left foot could not be without my right. And vice versa. Then I saw that my arms were also contained in my feet, so I was also stepping with my arms. Then my hands, my stomach, brain, sense organs, heart, lungs. I was 100 percent with my body. So I was tasting the earth with my feet, listening to it, looking at it, feeling it, knowing it, smelling it with my feet. My heart was loving it, my lungs breathing it in and out. My psychology teacher once said that Hollywood actors and actresses are among the most stressful people in the world, because they are constantly on the mirror, wishing they looked like someone else. And this isn’t just about actors and actresses, for the desire to be approved by others can become so strong that we wish we abandoned ourselves and be like the person who inspires lofty sentiments in us. My mentor Thich Nhat Hanh, whom his students call Thay, or “teacher” in Vietnamese, sums up his whole lifetime of teachings with one sentence: “I have arrived, I am home.” For him, the principal aim of mindfulness practice is to experience that we have already arrived, here and now. There is nowhere we need to run to or be, other than right here in the present moment. And we experience ourselves at home, no longer looking for some refuge outside of us, in some other place or time, when we touch the truth that all that we long for and search after is here inside of us. Those plans, worries, and anxieties will surely arise in our mind, but we can learn to notice them and take good care of them rather than feed them and get pulled away by them. Bringing our attention to our breath or to the sensations in our body helps us to stay on the platform of the now. The past and future are not the place where we can come home to ourselves and resource ourselves with the elements we need to move through our difficulties. We can only come home to ourselves in the present moment, in the here and now. Amidst the quest for inner peace, the significance of nurturing healthy relationships and connections cannot be understated. " Come Home to Yourself" illuminates the importance of authentic connections—with others and ourselves—on the path to inner peace.Between our inner critic and external messages about what a “good” body looks, feels, and acts like, we can be so hard on ourselves. But our bod- ies do so much for us. With this practice, we take a moment to offer gratitude for the body that will accompany us through life. Elaine Smookler guides a lighthearted and compassionate body scan to bring a spirit of curiosity and appreciation to what’s happening in our body right now. 2. Guided Meditation: Notice How Sadness, Loneliness, and Anger Show Up in Your Body from Sharon Salzberg The desire for love is wired into the very fibers of our being, but before you can create rewarding bonds with others, first you must stand wholeheartedly in self-acceptance. Becoming the One is an invitation to find your way home to yourself.