How to Come Inside Yourself

"Peace comes into the heart like the morning sun spreading across the ocean. It is the ocean of compassion."
--Stephen Levine

How do you come inside yourself (see Come Inside and See Clearly)?  Inside is where you have access to your connection to Creator Source, which makes it a wonderful place to be!  But you (and everyone else) have been externally focused for so long that you may wonder how to reverse that external focus and rediscover your Source connection. 

There are various ways to do it, and none is better than any other.  An easy way to begin is to start paying attention to your breathing.  Your breath connects you to the spiritual realms.  Sit quietly and become aware of the physical feeling of air moving in and out of your body.  This is the basis for Mindfulness Meditation. 

Focusing on the physical sensation of the breath will begin to quiet the brain and bring you inward.  There are people for whom focusing on the breath is their primary spiritual practice.  Doing just this for as little as 10 or 15 minutes a day can bring great rewards.

Another way to come inside yourself is to being your attention in behind your eyes, as if your eyes were windows and “you” are behind the windows.   Alternatively, bring your attention to the middle of your brain.  Spend some time in this nice, still spot and let your thoughts relax for awhile.  You may find it easy to be aware of your breathing at the same time.

Now that you’re inside yourself, you can bring your attention to your Sacred Heart.  This is above the physical heart, in the center of the chest in the breast bone area. 

Spend a few minutes in the Sacred Heart.  Then, if you like, you can become aware of the spot in the center of the brain at the same time.  Close your eyes and try this right now.

Now imagine that there is a column of Light that connects the Sacred Heart and the middle of the brain.  Imagine that it extends downward from the Sacred Heart to your seat and upward from the center of the brain to the top of the head.  Another way of coming inside yourself is to pull your attention into that column. 

Spend a little bit of time in that column of Light, and then imagine the column extending further downward into the center of the earth and further upward into the Heart of Source. 

You now have an image or a feeling for your connection with both Source and a nice grounding connection with the Earth.  You may find that you automatically are breathing fuller and more freely and noticing your breath more easily.

Yet another way to come inside yourself is to bring your attention into your whole body.  In his book, The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle gives an exercise for getting in touch with what he calls the "inner body."  This wonderful exercise is described in Managing Your Energy.  Please go there now and try this wonderful exercise.

An alternative way to access your inner body is to imagine all the trillions of cells in your body as having very tiny light bulbs inside them.  Start with your head and with your intention (or your imaginary magic wand), give the direction to the light bulbs to turn on.

Pretend that you can feel the energy that the light bulbs emit, perhaps a gentle sense of warmth.  Then move down your body, turning them on part by part, and feeling the energy in each part.

Then let your attention sweep down your entire body, feeling the warmth or the energy sensation of the light bulbs.  And now feel (or pretend that you feel) your entire body being completely lit up and glowing.

A third way to access your inner body is to imagine that your skin is a very light weight suit of armour, and you are inside it looking out through the eye holes.  Feel the "you" inside.  As before, start with one part of the body and move down.  Or start at the feet and move up, if you prefer.

Choose the method of coming inside that you resonate with the most and practice it daily for 10-15 minutes, longer if you want.  You may combine 2 or more methods or invent your own. There is no one right way.

Inside yourself is where your Core Self resides, as it is called in Internal Family Systems Therapy (see Internal Family Systems).  This is your true Self, the real you.  It is where you start to remember your inner connection with Source.  There is vitality here, wisdom, and joy.

Practice accessing the real you inside, your Core Self.  You can live your life from this place.  From there you are more centered, more balanced, more grounded, and less affected by discordant energies around you.  Living inside yourself improves your immune system and promotes relaxation and better sleep. 

From inside you can access inspiration and understanding that you have thought you had to get from some external source.  If you spend enough time there, you will realize you are part of a stream of Living Energy.  You will realize you are a part of Source.