Day 5 – Rising About Your Old Conditioning [Oprah and Deepak Chopra Teachings]

Getting Unstuck – Creating a Limitless Life – Oprah and Deepak Chopra 21 Day Meditation Experience

 

These are amazing notes – not transcripts –  from Deepak and Oprah’s meditation challenge, Getting Unstuck, Creating a Limitless Life, written by DoinTheGratefulDance .  I have enjoyed several of the meditation series Oprah and Deepak Chopra have shared.  I am not affiliated with them – just a grateful listener too and wanted to share these wonderful notes.    I couldn’t have done a better job!  Thanks for sharing these notes!

 

Day 5 – ” Rising About Your Old Conditioning”

 

“We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.” – John Dryden

 

Message of the Day:

Today’s meditation is about learning that our old conditioning shows up physically and as unconscious brain responses – it isn’t only mental.  It’s all about being in control of our brain and not letting our brain be in control of us.   When our brain is in control of us, we function as biological robots and our brain and old conditioning keep us “stuck”.   The answer to being in control of our brain is self-awareness and meditation helps us learn to do that.  When we become self-knowing, The Witness, we become free from the old conditioned responses of both our mind and body.  “

 

I am in charge of my brain, not the other way around”

 

Sanskrit Mantra:  

Aieem Namah (sounds like I-eem Nah Mah)
I am Nature’s creativity and intelligence

 

Oprah says….
Often we wait for change to happen TO us, and wait for acknowledgement for ourselves from external sources and expectations – other people, places and things.  Holding on to the familiar is comfortable for us.

I like this quote of Oprah’s… “What I know for sure is that everything that is happening TO you is also happening for you and I know for sure that you will have a richer and more powerful path to the life you want if you allow yourself to be open to all that is in you, far deeper and truer than what your thoughts can reveal.  You become freedom and positive momentum itself when you shift the way you feel your own essence.”

When we are living from our truest core self with a sustained sense of calm that comes with that centeredness, we are open to limitless possibilities motivated by our connection with Source to move toward what really matters, energy and power coursing within and around us.

Deepak says…

Stuckness is not only a mental state but also has a physical component – a mind-body connection.  A good analogy that Deepak uses is that our mind is the software and the physical brain the hardware.  Even though we might have the best intentions in the world – not doing things that we feel are not “really us” – eating and drinking things that are not good for us, acting in ways that we don’t like in ourselves, indulging in any bad habit, if our brains are in control rather than our aware and true selves, our words, thoughts and actions are totally predictable and we’re stuck. The hardware wont be able to respond the way we want it to.  The solution is awareness.  When we’re aware, our true selves are taking back control from the brain.

I also like this quote from Deepak…”All creativity starts and stops in the brain.  If you’re conditioned by old habits, beliefs, memories, wounds and outworn self-image, you’re being controlled by your brain instead of the other way around. Fortunately a human being cannot be completely turned into a biological robot.  Self-awareness is always an option.”

Witnessing is a vital form of self-awareness, a state of consciousness that feels like centeredness.  It’s actually living in the moment and we’re able to see ourselves clearly in every situation.  No confusion or mental clutter.  We’re not allowing robotic responses – instead we’re doing what we want to do and not what our brain has been conditioned to do.  “I am in charge of my brain – not the other way around”

Listen to some relaxing music, breathe slowly and deeply,  become more and more relaxed, and meditate for about 10 minutes using the Sanskrit mantra,

Aieem Namah  (sounds like I-eem Nah Mah)
Aieem Namah
Aieem is asociated with the creativity and knowledge of nature and activates creativity within pure awareness.   Using this mantra, we train our unconscious to create and make choices from a place of infinite possibilities.  Repeat it silently to yourself  and if distracted by  thoughts, etc, return to silently repeating it…

Continue with the  meditation for about 10 minutes and then release the mantra,.  Concentrate on the centering thought:   being fulfilled and being who Iyou want to be and repeating

“I am in charge of my brain – not the other way around”.

 

Reflections on Day 5, write about it…

• Remembering that old conditioning leads to automatic (robotic behavior), list three things I do or three ways I respond without thinking (eating when not I’m not hungry, being defensive, feeling shy, etc)

• Look ahead to how I want to behave when any of these conditions and responses happen and ask myself – why I’m doing it…do I really want and like what I’m doing…how will it make me feel about myself and then write about how it feels to be aware and choose differently rather than reacting robotically.

• Choose one of the things above and write about how I will be more aware and how I’ll handle it..am I really hungry or is there another reason I want to eat – emotional? and remember how much better I’ll feel if I act with awareness rather than old conditioning.

Oprah lessons  written by by DoinTheGratefulDance