Back to: Day 17 – Reflection

Take out your paper with your fears on it.

It’s important to understand the nature of our existence. It is within human nature to age, to fail, to grow apart from your loved ones. It is within our nature to die one day – and we cannot control when or how that happens. When you accept these facts of life, you’re no longer controlled by fear. It allows you to truly live in the present.

Look at the fears you wrote down, and think. What is the root behind my fear? Some common ones are: aging, falling ill, dying, failure, and loss. This will require some really deep introspection, so take your time.

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Once you’ve finished, create your own mantra for each of your fears, in this formula: Breathing in, I know I am of the nature of ____; breathing out, I know I cannot escape ____.” For example, for a fear of aging, I might say, “Breathing in, I know it is in my nature to grow old. Breathing out, I know I cannot escape growing old.”

Once you’ve created your mantras, sit and breathe with each of them for several minutes. Do this until you feel the truth of your mantra sinking in. I’ve linked a playlist you can put on in the background, if you choose to. There’s no time frame for this one – listen to your body, you will feel when the mantra has sunk in.