I never had an interest in spirituality or probably I didnt get a chance to experience them. But recently, I accidentaly stumbled upon this masterpiece which I felt had a profound impact on me, it talks about how we see ourselves and do we understand ourselves completely.
I always liked the soundscapes, the ones that surround us and immerse us into the blissful world of nature whether it is sound of a rain, oceans or water, classics or noise, earth, wind or fire and so on. I was searching for some apps for my iPhone for quiet listening and found Calm to be a perfect companion and much closer to what I expected.
Calm is an awesome app, apart from the soundscapes, it has several mindfulness tools that includes meditation, stress and anxiety management, and has useful dailies, sleep stories etc. It has a vast collection of these tools and is really of high quality. You just pay an affordable subscription, and given the benefits, it is worth to have this and I never had or have any regret, whatsoever.
I was listening to a meditation piece called ‘Destroyer’ by Jeff Warren, https://jeffwarren.org/ who talks about toxic shame, a clinical term that describes an internalized and often unconsious belief at who you are as a person is not good enough. In an era of social media, all the messages coming through the feeds, not smart enough, not successful enough, not sexy enough, not mindful enough etc., it is this attitude that penetrates and begins to shape the already insecure mind, which something he calls, guess what, the Destroyer.
I mean, it is you and it is who you are. We all have difficulties in our lives and that is quite human, especially in profound and overwhelming situations, when a physical deformity or a life-shattering moment pushes you to shame, when you think you are done, broken, not capable, not fit and there is no place for you. Dont let the shame overcome you, create a moment of solitude to sit and face yourself of what you are, feel your whole being, years to respect, honour and care for. Let it be a moment of radical acceptance, to sit poised in the middle of your life, not pushing away the sounds or sensations, nor hold on to experiences that you think it could make your life easier, instead just let open and allow everything to be here. Feel the integrity of this, the bravery.
Feel your body, feel the life in it, tingling, the weight of it, the shape of it from head to toe, and love your body just as it is. Feel your mind, this mind, entrusted to you, years to respect, honour and care for, the life in it, its shape and weight, awareness of your thoughts, your passions and opinions, all your hard-earned learning, love your mind just as it is. Feel your whole being, as you experience this sense of your whole being, directly touching the mystery and even wonder how any of this is even possible. You are part of reality, somehow aware of itself. You are in the middle of experiencing something amazing that had ever happened in all of existence. Love your whole mysterious existence, just as it is.
He says shame is the destroyer and is a psychological auto-immune disease trying to eat itself. It is the mind trying to eat itself. No shame can touch the unshakeable dignity and majesty of who you already are. Your birth is perfect, your radiant awareness and being in this exact moment.
You destroy the destroyer by loving who you are.
How to guide and share practices in community, Jeff Warren, CEC Community Practice Activation Kit 2.0.