The courage we’re called upon to show is not like going into battle. It’s the courage to be who and what we really are ~ Russ Hudson
In the Breathwork process, the breath plays a major role in releasing blocks that prevent access to the heart of your essential nature. Through the breath, you are able to open the door to your true self so that you are able to integrate and live in integrity with that truth…in other words – to live an authentic life.
It means you no longer hide parts of you that have lived behind a mask of the expectations of others. It means you can be open, present and can follow what is meaningful and in alignment with your beliefs. It means you embrace change within your experience as it relates to shifts in your self-awareness and life circumstances. And it means you know yourself in a healthy, mature and grounded way, you live from your core values and your actions flow out of that knowledge and awareness.
How do you go about your life? What behaviours do you practice every day that reflect what is deeply important to you? Does honesty guide your actions? Does kindness mean you take the time to listen to others? Does accomplishing goals keep you focused and hard-working?
One of the first steps in discovering the real you that is buried under the expectations and ‘should’s’ in your life, is to become acquainted with your own values – not what the culture or society or religion suggests – but what is important to you, what speaks to your deepest inner truth. When you know and embrace what matters to you, you have a reliable ‘go-to’ resource for decision-making, and interactions with others that will always guide your life.
Try this ->
Discovering your top core values
(It doesn’t matter if you do not feel you have developed the qualities, just that you are drawn to them as important.)
Add any of your own that are not listed.
Achievement | Efficiency | Profession |
Advancement | Effectiveness | Privacy |
Adventure | Family | Quality relationships
And intimacy |
Abundance | Friendships | Stability and Security |
Caretaking/Caring | Freedom | Status / Fame |
Challenges – physical,
Emotional, mental, |
Financial abundance | Supervising others |
Connection with open and
Honest people |
Fun and Play | Free Time |
Change | Fitness/Well-being | Truth |
Community | Honesty | Vulnerability |
Competence | Independence | Wealth |
Competition | Inner harmony/peace | Wisdom |
Collaboration/work with others | Integrity | Work under pressure |
Creativity | Merit | Working alone |
Decisiveness | Order | |
Environment/nature | Perfection/Excellence | |
Ethical behaviour | Purity | |
Enthusiasm / Excitement | Power and authority |
For each of your top 5 values, discover the significance of their presence in your life by asking:
Record three ways you can embody your values in your life. How will you keep yourself accountable to work with these values every day?
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Knowing your values and incorporating them into every day assures that you will be following your own truth and not giving your actions over to childhood imprints or society’s directives.
When you are aligned with your values, life can be lived in the flow of peace and joy. You can connect with others in a genuine way and can comfortably co-exist with others even if their values differ from yours. Being connected to what matters to you provides an appreciation and higher perspective of diversity that is the mosaic of humanity’s well-being, growth, and vitality.
The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.
~ Carl Jung