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“So the single most vital step on your journey toward enlightenment is this:
learn to disidentify from your mind. This means that you no longer take the content of your mind all that seriously, as your sense of self does not depend on it.” ~Eckhart Tolle
Whether you call it “breaking the habit of being yourself” as Dr. Joe Dispenza says or “disidentifying from your mind”, as Eckhart Tolle writes, perhaps the greatest challenge of being human is letting our Spirit be our Guide and not our Gremlin. Accumulated years of self-defeating thoughts and self-limiting beliefs, (sometimes called the voice of our Gremlin), can appear to scramble the original design of who and what we really are: a magnificent Soul literally filled with unlimited creative potential.
These self-defeating thoughts can be persistent, and if we give them enough power, can send us into a downward spiral. It is exponentially freeing to rewire, cancel, and clear out our old beliefs so who and what we really are can shine through. Here is a simple exercise to help.
When you find your Gremlin in the driver’s seat dominating and controlling your thoughts:
1) Become familiar with the voice of your inner critic. Acknowledge it. Notice what phrases it tends to use. Notice its tone of voice. Become familiar with its self-defeating and self-limiting thoughts and words. Set an intention to be aware of its voice the moment it arises or within a short period of time of when you first “hear” it.
2) Once you get familiar with its language, acknowledge it by saying something like: “Oh, here you are again” or “I know who you are and you are the voice of my small self. The one who thinks it’s in control.” Don’t resist it. Just say: “Hello, it’s you again.”
3) Then allow yourself to drop down into a slow, deep, smooth, gentle belly breath. Let your awareness expand as you do this. Remind yourself that you are a spiritual being living in a physical body and are so much more than the small, fear-based voice that thinks it’s in control. Breathe into this awareness. Let it expand.
4) Invite your Spirit/Soul to move into the driver’s seat by replacing the self-defeating and self-limiting words with a compassionate whisper to yourself, (or even shout it out!) It could be something like: “I can do this. I have all the support I need.” Transform the words of judgment into kindness and support.
5) Increase your positive self-talk on a continuous basis. This is YOUR KEY step to transforming the balance of power from your gremlin to your Spirit/Soul! At every opportunity you have, shower yourself with love, kindness and encouragement. Congratulate yourself for even minor successes. The more you shower yourself with love, the less power your gremlin has. So for example, while even passing a mirror, blow yourself a kiss. Standing in line at the grocery store, invite the inner dialogue to be one of inner support. For example: “What an amazing job I did at work today.”
6) Set an intention to allow yourself to dive deeply into this practice. Practice it often. Eventually you begin to disidentify with your Gremlin. It no longer has the power it once had over you. Soon you will be living more in the creative space located in between those self-defeating thoughts. This creative space will expand each time you practice.
Will those self-defeating, bothersome thoughts come back again? Probably. But if you compassionately repeat this process with consistent devotion to yourself, those self-limiting beliefs and thoughts begin to dissipate. Slowly and surely, our small self - the Gremlin – begins to step back and our Spirit steps forward. As Eckhart Tolle explains: “Every time you create a gap in the stream of mind, the light of your consciousness grows stronger. One day you may catch yourself smiling at the voice in your head, as you would smile at the antics of a child.”
Is it really be possible that we could smile at the fiercest critic known to us, our own inner Gremlin? Yes it is. Try adding this 7th step: Just as a parent unconditionally loves their child, try showering love on your Gremlin. When I did this, I was surprised at how my Gremlin was utterly taken aback by my response of love. After recovering from the initial shock, she began to soften up. She is currently shapeshifting into what I’m not sure, but there are hints of a loving ally emerging!
Eventually, we no longer identify with the Gremlin within. We’ve rewired our thought processes and expanded our frequency so our Spirit gets to be our full-time Guide. And when our Soul is calling the shots and directing the movie that is unfolding before us, watch out! Be prepared to step into the field of your own dreams!