Who Am I?

What stories do you tell about yourself? We all have labels we’re comfortable with telling folks at parties: our name… our pronouns … our careers. But is that who we are?

This week, we’re delving a bit into our gut intuitions about ourselves. In your journaling, take ten minutes (don’t forget to set the timer!) to think about your values. If being a parent is a core identifier for you, that’s wonderful, but let’s go deeper…

1. Define the label – what is your definition of that term?
2. Why did you define it that way? Other people would probably say something different about the same term — what does your own definition teach you?
3. How does that align with your deeper values? Does it sometimes create conflict?

If you journal more than once… continue to explore those labels as many times as it’s useful, but if you’re ready to move on, start to write freely about what comes up when you ask…

1. “How am I different from the grown up I imagined at age five? Fifteen? Twenty? How am I the same?”
2. “If I released the label _____, what would happen? How would my life be impacted?” If you wish to delve really deep: choose a label that is very close to your heart: your role as a parent/spouse or a cause/affiliation/religion you hold dear. How would it actually change you if you no longer had that label?

If you have completed the journal prompts above, then simply let yourself write for ten minutes without any rules or restrictions. Consider the prompts, your previous journal entries this week, and just let your pen go!

Many thanks to The Mercedes Club, Hell’s Kitchen, NY, for letting me record these yoga flows in their gorgeous yoga studio.

If you prefer to meditate on your own, unguided: Become aware of and appreciate how we breathe — all day every day (and night) — without any effort on our part.