Rediscover Joy in Yourself Now

(gentle music) Headspace Studios. Hi. Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Monday. I'm so glad you're here. So, as a meditation teacher, it's rare that I have the opportunity to be guided by another teacher, especially in person, but I have been prioritizing it because it is an important part of my practice to be in practice with others. So a few weeks ago, I attended a one hour class at a local meditation studio with a teacher that I've spoken about on Radio Headspace before. If Buddha Maya Angelou and Tina Turner were one person, it would be her. She's the embodiment of cool, wise wisdom, if that's a thing. Anyways, back to the class. So she was giving her talk while furiously pulling out all the different devices that she had written her notes on. It started with a laptop, then an iPad, another iPad, a few notebooks, and her phone. As she was doing this, she said lightheartedly to the class, "This is just who I am and this is how my mind works." Talk about self-acceptance and action. But what really stood out to me was when she tripped up on a few words, she apologized to the group and lightly kissed her shoulder as a sign or offering of forgiveness. And this is what I wanted to talk about in today's episode, finding the joy in being who you are. This teacher reminded me of this. She wasn't trying to be someone she was not. Most times we think of meditation teachers as composed, rigid, and stoic. And that one hour class, Sidney Reese, the teacher, had shown us in real time the joy that can be found in being exactly who you are. When we're able to take a step back from criticizing, judging and over-analyzing who we are, we can remember and reconnect to the joy found in being ourselves. It's freeing, yet empowering to find joy in our quirks and uniqueness. Now, the nature of the thinking mind can make us forget just how wonderful we truly are. When we're lost in thoughts of expectations or comparison, we lose sight of this. I love this parable that speaks to finding the joy within. So, once upon a time, there was a poor man visiting his wealthy friend who decided to treat him to dinner and some drinks. The poor man became intoxicated and fell asleep. Before leaving on urgent business, the wealthy man sowed a priceless jewel into his friend's robe. Not knowing this, the poor man wandered from one land to the next, struggling to make ends meet and feeling content anytime he had a little money. One day they reunited. Shocked to see how broke he still was, his wealthy friend showed him the priceless jewel sewn in his robe, bringing great joy to the poor man. Now, we may not have that rich friend that can sew a jewel into our coat pocket, but we do all have access...