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Be Authentic (and What That Really Means)

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Hey, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, we're going to talk about authenticity. So I've always had some trouble with the idea of authenticity. I'm sure you've heard people say, just be yourself or all you need to do is be authentic. It's coming from a good place.

And I do appreciate what it's pointing to, but my issue with it has been what exactly does it mean to be authentic. And more specifically, authentic to whom? Because when you really start to look at it, we have many different parts that create who we are, parts that are joyful, sad, empowered, self-critical, tired, energized. And these parts have the potential to express themselves nearly in any given moment. There's not just one authentic part or at least not one that I've found yet. So for instance, if I'm feeling down, maybe something happened a few weeks ago and I'm just not feeling myself.

What would it mean to be authentic in that moment? Does it mean that I, I feel myself being down? Do I allow myself to stay on the couch? Do I let myself feel sad? Maybe. What if I also am looking to be optimistic? What if I want to explore what this means to me and reach, reframe my perspective around it? Does that mean I'm being inauthentic to the experience that's arising. Who knows? Some would argue that there's a higher self that we need to be authentic to. And I do agree that there's a part of us that's not our thoughts, not our emotions, not our sensations. We might say it's awareness itself and that can help us sort of explore how do we want to be in this moment.

But in general, I think this is an ongoing exploration in each moment of what it means to be authentic. So my suggestion is to play around with being authentic to the version of yourself you feel most inspired to embody in any given moment. Sometimes that may be a version of you that is empowered and excited. Other times it may be a version of you that feels sad or down, and just wants space to feel that. I think both of those are beautiful.

And I think living authentically is a moment to moment exploration, a constantly evolving experience. So go easy on yourself and enjoy the journey. We'll talk more about this in the meditation. Thank you for your practice. And I'll talk to you soon.

Take care.

Cory Muscara

4.6

Be Authentic (and What That Really Means)

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Duration

Your default time is based on your progress and is changed automatically as you practice.

Hey, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, we're going to talk about authenticity. So I've always had some trouble with the idea of authenticity. I'm sure you've heard people say, just be yourself or all you need to do is be authentic. It's coming from a good place.

And I do appreciate what it's pointing to, but my issue with it has been what exactly does it mean to be authentic. And more specifically, authentic to whom? Because when you really start to look at it, we have many different parts that create who we are, parts that are joyful, sad, empowered, self-critical, tired, energized. And these parts have the potential to express themselves nearly in any given moment. There's not just one authentic part or at least not one that I've found yet. So for instance, if I'm feeling down, maybe something happened a few weeks ago and I'm just not feeling myself.

What would it mean to be authentic in that moment? Does it mean that I, I feel myself being down? Do I allow myself to stay on the couch? Do I let myself feel sad? Maybe. What if I also am looking to be optimistic? What if I want to explore what this means to me and reach, reframe my perspective around it? Does that mean I'm being inauthentic to the experience that's arising. Who knows? Some would argue that there's a higher self that we need to be authentic to. And I do agree that there's a part of us that's not our thoughts, not our emotions, not our sensations. We might say it's awareness itself and that can help us sort of explore how do we want to be in this moment.

But in general, I think this is an ongoing exploration in each moment of what it means to be authentic. So my suggestion is to play around with being authentic to the version of yourself you feel most inspired to embody in any given moment. Sometimes that may be a version of you that is empowered and excited. Other times it may be a version of you that feels sad or down, and just wants space to feel that. I think both of those are beautiful.

And I think living authentically is a moment to moment exploration, a constantly evolving experience. So go easy on yourself and enjoy the journey. We'll talk more about this in the meditation. Thank you for your practice. And I'll talk to you soon.

Take care.

Cory Muscara

4.6

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