Powerful Pause Meditation: Inner Leader

If you're feeling like you need to take some time out to pause and reset, then this meditation is for you.

 
When we’re faced with challenges, stress or uncomfortable situations, our saboteur or inner critic can be activated. The saboteur or inner critic’s purpose is to ensure our survival by keeping us safe, but we may find ourselves falling into old, often unconscious, self-sabotaging behaviours. Sometimes doubt, anxiety, worries or fear can creep in, preventing us from moving towards what we really want.

Your Inner Leader is the part of you that is wise, compassionate, has clarity and always honours your truth. They are the chooser within who knows how to make those life affirming choices which lead you to the fullest experience of your life.

This visualisation can be a helpful antidote to the saboteur or inner critic because it is designed to reconnect you to the true essence of who you are. 

12 minute listen. We recommend listening to this meditation with headphones on.

Listen to other meditations in the Powerful Pause series.

Meditation Transcript

Bea Grist, Health and Wellbeing Manager:

Welcome to this guided inner journey to meet your inner leader, or your Sage Self.

This can be really helpful if you’re trying to tap into that part of you that is wise, compassionate, it’s the part of you that knows. It knows what you want, has clarity, is decisive. And we call this your Sage Self or your Inner Leader.

This part of you is an expression of who you are now and also who you are becoming. This part of you always honours your truth, the original you. The true essence of who you are. They are the chooser within you who knows how to make those life affirming choices and they lead you to the fullest experience of your life.

There are no rules about your Sage Self or Inner Leader being masculine or feminine, human or animal, so they may not have a physical form, and that’s okay.

The key attributes of your Sage Self are self-acceptance and self-authority. Self-acceptance is the being aspect of your Sage Self.

Your Sage Self loves you completely and unconditionally and no matter what happens, holds you with empathy, curiosity and creativity. Self-authority is the active expression of your Sage Self. They access all the wisdom that ever was and know that ultimately everything turns out just fine. They believe in you completely and know what is needed and how best to move forward into action. They know we don't always have a say over our circumstances but it is the story we create from what happens in our lives that matters and it that story belongs to us alone.

Your sage self has always been there, since you were born and is with you still, always there to guide you. It’s sometimes that your brilliance gets covered over with the mud of judgments, expectations and unconscious habits.

So, let’s begin this guided inner journey.

This is an invitation to stand, if you’re able to. But of course you can stay seated if you prefer. Just do whatever you need to do to be comfortable.

Let’s take a deep breath and just turn your attention inward. Allow your eyes to drift gently closed and take another deep breath.

Another breath as you come present to yourself in this moment. Inhaling deeply and as you exhale feel your feet planted firmly on the floor and just imagine that you have some roots growing deep into the earth.

Just breathing freely now and place a hand on your heart. See if you can feel your heartbeat as the powerful muscle pumps life-giving blood to every cell of your body.

Now imagine the essence of your heart - the empathy, curiosity and tenderness for the world that lives there.

Let your heart fill with all the empathy, tenderness and curiosity within you.

Now spread this essence around to all parts of you - what are your unique strengths and abilities, the ones you really want to celebrate? Spread this essence around these qualities like warm butter on toast.

Now noticed the things you judge about yourself. The fears, the imperfections, the judgements.

Spread empathy and curiosity to those parts as well. Let the essence of your heart, that empathy and curiosity seep into those parts of you the way honey seeps into your favourite cake.

Fill your whole being, all parts of you, the shining wholeness and the broken pieces. All this self-acceptance.

Know that all of this is a part of you and belongs. All of it is needed for the fullest expression of your humanity.

This is the resonance of self-acceptance, finding empathy and curiosity for all parts of yourself… the light and the dark.

Now put your hand on your gut or your tummy. Feel the power and the wisdom there. Feel the drive to create and the fire of your dream and the impact you want to have in the world.

Feel your commitment to be the author of your life. Now spread that power and wisdom of self-authority to all parts of you. From head to toe so your feet want to move and your fingers want to stretch.

Notice from this place of self-authority, of creativity, choice and action… What do you care about? What matters enough to you that you will take a stand for it? That you will take responsibility?

Now in your imagination, take a step back and look at your Sage Self. What do they look like?

Again, there are no rules about form or identity. Just look with curiosity.

What do you sense as you look at your Sage Self?

How does your Sage Self move?

How do they sound?

Now, staying connected to your Sage Self, use your imagination to look over the varied landscape of your life and know that this landscape belongs to you and no one else.

From this vantage point you can see everything… the past, the present, even into the future.

Whether it’s clear or fuzzy doesn’t matter, it’s all there for you to discover in time.

Look around. Whatever you see, imagine or sense is exactly as it should be.

Know that you are the author of your own life story.

What do you want to contribute? How do you want to make a difference in your world? How do you want to express you dream, your values? How do you want to have impact?

This is the resonance of self-authority.

Staying connected to your Sage Self, just find a place to in your imagination to sit together where you can see this landscape and have a conversation.

Ask the following questions and listen carefully to the answers:

What is important for me to know about my true self?

What do you want for me?

And now just bringing your attention back to your heart… accepting it, all of it… and the challenges and the easy places in you life’s journey.

The lightness and the joy, but also the darkness and the difficulties.

Expand your heart to accept all of it.

Take a moment to express gratitude for the empathy, curiosity and power of your Sage Self and as you do this, notice becoming one with your Safe Self.

Because is it the true you, the original you.

Now, take a deep breath, breathing in this experience, knowing you will remember what you need to remember.

Another breath, stretch and just move your body a little. And finally let your eyes drift open.

Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash