Allison Potter
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Ah good old “imposter syndrome”– I am well acquainted with this as well. Also, a great example of how we can feed off of each other’s energy in your experience. Thank you for sharing.
I felt calm and safe giving meditation instruction. It was my second time trying and it felt more centered with less expectation and more presence.
I’ve listened to daily Susan recordings hundreds of times at this point so I think that helped get an outline in my bones while still being able to not feel as if it was a script.
Ask me again after we do it again though and it may be a different story 😆I rather enjoy incorporating the three steps of making offerings, requesting blessings, and dedicating the merit. There’s something about it that makes it more intentional, ceremonial even. It breaks up the monotony of it for me. It also allows me time to check in with myself. How am I feeling right in this very moment? I offer that. What do I feel like I need in support in this moment or in this journey? I request blessings. And then after practice, if it felt good or “bad”, offer it up– teaching me compassion for self and others. When I heard Susan discuss this a couple of years ago, I have tried to do it ever since.
I have been on a journey of searching for “god” for as long as I can remember. I have explored many traditions. Sometimes I go back to God as Jesus, even if I do not necessarily believe everything about the Christianly complex–it is still a part of me.
Sometimes I request blessings from my “highest self”. It differs from each day, but I usually try to request blessings in order to become the best version of me. I am also trying to learn self-compassion and self-esteem, and I find that it helps me to not hope and request to be anyone else.These have been two topics that are prevalent in my life as I enter midlife.
As a child, eternalism wasn’t really pushed upon me, but I always had a curiosity and would be curious to the point of attending church with friends and their families. In my twenties after a couple of traumatic events, I reverted more over to nihilism.
I have found myself floating in the middle of each, swaying closer to one or the other at different points.
Currently, I am searching for meaning but have not found it.
I read and study but know these answers must come from within. And so I wait.To support discovery, you must:
hold boundaries, guide without giving direct advice/answers, create a safe space, hold space without enmeshment.
I have learned the greatest teachers do not provide answers or concrete direction. Rather, they provide information and encourage the student to find the answers within.Hi all-
My name is Alli Potter. I live in south florida.
I am looking forward to this journey with all of you.Tracey-
I could really relate to your story. I have tears in my eyes as I write this. I just wanted you to know that reading your words touched me deeply and make me feel less alone.
Thank you,
AlliWhat a beautiful essay, Susan. It was exactly what I needed to hear at this point in my journey.
Your words describe where I am, “When I practiced opening myself to my own suffering and the suffering of others, at a certain point it would become unbearable and all I could do was cry.” I find myself shying away from people’s emotions and isolating due to a recent trauma because I feel as if my heart was broken wide open, and hearing of others pain is too much. I find myself crying all the time. I never used to cry– in fact, I have gone years without.Your other words describe where I’d like to shift my thinking, “they gained something from their tears. They learned something from them. They weren’t reduced to a weakened condition; they were made stronger by their tears and were left with a greater capacity for love, not less.”
What a powerful thought.Hi Kate-
This sounds like a very similar experience I had within the walls of my own 12-step group.
“Through heartbreak, I found companionship.” Your words have awoken something inside me that wants to seek out why I have been isolating away from different types of companionship.
Here’s to being “a more truthful version” of who we are.
Thank you for your share.I discovered Susan via that book. I could relate deeply to your post, David. Thank you for sharing. I for sure feel more than I ever have after a broken heart experience. It is both beautiful and sad at the same time.
My yoga teacher only calls BKS Iyengar by “Mr. Iyengar”, and it makes me chuckle.
Nice to see a fellow yogi and 12 stepper!Hi David-
I absolutely love your addition of the song before you practice.
In the type of yoga I do, we have a chant before we practice and I find it centers me and feels like an offering in a way. I am going to try something similar before I meditate.
Thanks for your openness in sharing.I enjoyed your essay, Karen.
This spoke to me: “it seems to me that the painful experiences have imparted the most information to me throughout my human life.”
I also love how answers can arrive like yours did in your essay. I have a suspicion that is why Susan assigns them :).
