Do you sometimes feel like a prisoner of your own mind?
Most people think freedom is the ability to come and go as one pleases and to possess unlimited resources.
The truth is freedom is an inside job that goes far beyond satisfying the pleasure centers of the brain.
Even in the darkest of circumstances it is possible to find that profoundly deep place of personal freedom.
Man’s Search for Meaning written in 1946 by neurologist and psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl chronicled his experiences as an inmate in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.
From that experience emerged Frankl’s psychotherapeutic method called logotherapy, which involves identifying a purpose in life which one feels positively about, and then immersing oneself in visualizing that outcome.
Discovering what is most meaningful to us, according to Viktor Frankl is the most primary and powerful motivating and driving forces that we possess as human beings.
It is also one of the keys to inner freedom.
True freedom goes beyond the stories of daily life, beyond the illusions of the world and into a dimension of stillness…into an experience of the true self.
Freedom means that whenever you choose, it is possible to travel freely between the drama of life and the stillness of your own soulful identity.
Even a brief meditation practice opens the doorway to this kind of inner freedom. It is within that space we are poised to see the limitless potential that lies within.
Such a meditation practice can consist of sitting in a comfortable position while watching the rise and fall of each breath for two to five minutes. When distractions arise [which they will] gently and kindly bring your awareness back to the breath. It often helps to say the “in” with each inhalation and “out” with each exhalation. Those two words and actions are the points of focus.
During this short meditation practice everything is done in the service of bringing your attention back to the breath “one breath in” and “one breath out.”
Doing this practice once or twice daily unleashes the potential for you to act more courageously in the face of vulnerability. Freedom comes when we choose to take action in spite of fear. It’s about wishing for something, going for it and making it possible.
We rise and meet fear head on despite contradictory emotions.
Freedom is also about realizing that the options in life are limited only by our imagination. The ability to seize the moment and live fully in the moment and in our power already lies within us.
Getting ‘comfortable’ with being ‘uncomfortable’ comes with practice. While we can train our brains to do this to some extent—it may never come with ease.
The willingness to do what is uncomfortable comes from the knowledge base that we are more capable then we may sometimes feel. Sometimes this means exposing our authentic selves or being willing to try and fail, or to being willing to take a stand.
Once we tap into the source within minds and hearts that holds personal truth and meaning—we are free. No one can ever take away what lives and thrives within our core being.
What comes to mind when you know you’re tapping into your courage and not allowing anyone to stand in the way of your experience of personal freedom?
