Hi, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, I want to talk about taking up space. So one of the things that I think can happen when we get involved in a different contemplative practice, such as meditation or yoga, in this case, we're exploring mindfulness and meditation, there can be this emphasis on selflessness, and even like seeing through the ego, the illusion of the ego. And it can create this feeling of my sense of self should become smaller. If I am to become more selfless and more caring that I should take up less space in the world.

It's not always interpreted that way, but I do see that as a phenomenon that happens in these communities. And I want to offer a different perspective which is that learning to take up space is actually a mindfulness practice itself. This is a little complicated because there are certainly instances where we need to step back. And maybe for folks who've had it easier in the world and it's been more natural for them to step into their own space or the world has made it easier for them to be who they are. Sometimes there is this process of noticing when we're overpowering someone else and there can be a role for kind of like stepping back at times.

This doesn't mean becoming less internally powerful or sovereign, just means recognizing what's going on around us and how we can also bring other people up with us, in addition to us taking up space. So there is that role here and mindfulness practice helps us see that. But for a lot of us, we do not live fully expressed lives because we don't believe our voice is worth hearing or we fear being judged. And mindfulness practice can sometimes be a way to confirm that or to, to make it appear like that fear is more of a virtue. I don't feel like my voice is worth hearing, but I'm also selfless and I let other people's voices be heard.

Do you see how that can get twisted a bit? Where it's not actually a virtue, it's more of a fear. And. I think at the heart of, of practice, mindfulness practice and you stepping into your humanness, is also the recognition that you are as worthy as anybody else, that you have a right to be here. You have a right to your voice. And to be a sovereign being is to have a right to a perspective and to know that others have a right to their perspective about your perspective.

All of that can make things messy, but this is what it means to be individuals living among each other, in community and learning how to co-create space and to try and live in harmony as much as possible and cooperate toward collective goals while also allowing permission for individual goals. It can be messy territory, but the one thread that I invite you to explore for yourself is how do you relate to the idea of, of taking up space? Is that something that feels like a growth edge for you? Do you use your mindfulness and meditation practice to justify not taking up space? And what would it look like to flip that and use it as an opportunity to give yourself permission to take up space? A lot to consider. But give it the day and see how it unfolds for you. Thank you for your practice and let's settle in for today's meditation.