Reflections on Authenticity: Connecting With Your Inner Self

There are times when we can find ourselves living a life that only goes “skin-deep.” We must not judge ourselves when this happens, but we should try and break out of it as soon as possible. We must stop living at the surface level and go deeper. This includes our reflections on authenticity and our connections with our inner self.

A Better Understanding of Your Inner Self

There is a saying that is often used in recovery that goes, “We are only as sick as our secrets.” This includes the inner self that we keep hidden from the rest of the world. However, it is not just others that we keep our inner selves from. Often, it is kept from ourselves as well.

So, what exactly is the “inner self?” The inner self is the part of ourselves that lies under the surface. It is the true “self” and/or the soul (depending on how one wishes to define it). The soul is where we harbor all of our experiences and feelings from the moment we are born. It is fair to say that it is the essence of who we are. It is our “authentic self.”

Reflections on Authenticity: Connecting With Your Inner Self

Connecting with our inner self is not always as simple as one might think. Our inner selves are often so buried by negative emotions that it can be difficult to access them. This is where meditation can be so beneficial.

Meditation allows us to quiet the mind and connect with our Higher Power so we can navigate these negative emotions confidently and comfortably. When we are being held by something greater than ourselves, we find that internal discoveries are not so scary.

Reflections on Authenticity: The Soul and How It Stores All of Our Emotions and Experiences

Discussions of the inner self have been going on for thousands of years. According to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, “As existential philosophers have long maintained, coming to a deeper realization of who one is beneath the veneer of social trappings is what imbues life with a sense of authentic purpose.” Attempting to understand the inner self is not just relegated to esoteric spheres either.

The realm of psychology and neuropsychology are also in search of the inner self. They just happen to choose to refer to the soul as the psyche or the subconscious. They also utilize tools to get past the “veneer” to discover what drives and motivates us. The difference is they utilize discussion and therapeutic discovery rather than mediation and self-discovery. Psychology also omits an essential part of connecting with our inner selves: our connection to a Higher Power of our own understanding.

Reflections on Authenticity: Surrendering Past Pain via Prayer and Mediation

The negative experiences and emotions that we uncover upon a journey toward the inner self do not merely dissipate once discovered. They must be addressed and managed.

The best way to do this is to “Let go and let God.” In the recovery realm, this is also known as “Dropping the rock.” We must surrender that which is keeping us unwell to something greater than ourselves.

Meditation can be seen as a process of subtraction rather than addition. We are removing the chaff that is weighing us down and blocking us from our inner selves and the light of the spirit. As the iconic R&B singer Sylvia Robinson once said, “Some think it’s holding on that makes one strong; sometimes it’s letting go.”

The Healing Powers of Long-Term Meditation

While connecting to our inner selves is an amazing breakthrough in itself, it does not end there. Once we connect to our inner selves via meditation, we have opened ourselves up to a life that will be replete with spiritual growth and inner peace.

Long-term mediation also offers a myriad of other life-changing benefits. The following are but a few:

• Reduces stress
• Can alleviate feelings of anxiety and depression
• Offers a newfound sense of self-awareness
• Helps create a purposeful life (a “mission-driven” life)
• Allows us to be more present
• Lowers heart rate and blood pressure
• Helps with negative sleep patterns
• Helps with communication (being “assertive”)

Meditating With Yahlight: Embracing Reality With Acceptance and Love

Some people hold a misconception toward mediation that it is a form of “checking out.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. It is all about “checking in” and connecting with the core that makes us who we are.

At Yahlight, we believe that mediation is one of the best ways to embrace reality with acceptance and love. It is about connecting with God and reframing how we view ourselves and the world around us. As the French novelist Alphonse Karr once wrote, “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” Which are we going to choose?

The inner self is often repressed or dismissed in favor of maladaptive coping techniques. We all have an inner child and must be that child’s parent and support. The self or soul stores all of our experiences and feelings from the time we are born, and that is how we can remember the past. Connecting with the inner self might be difficult because an old emotion may come up, but Christ represents unconditional love in the heart, and when we take all our past pains and surrender them to this love, they are healed and released. For more information on the benefits of prayer and meditation with Jesus, please reach out via our website.