CST - This Is Life
Open your mind to the present moment. Realize that everything is alive and that you cannot fully control anything.
Hi friend!
Purpose
The This Is Life meditation technique is designed to help you move down the continuum of the Central Story Model through the following axes:
The instructions provided here, like all CST instructions, are not meant to guide or influence any decisions you make in your life. Please refrain from using what you learn here to make or justify any life choices. The sole purpose of this meditation technique is to help you experience more spaciousness, lightness, unification, peace, fulfillment, defusion from the Central Story (“I am …….. and I need …….. to be happy”), freedom, flow, acceptance, silence, and presence1.
Active Ingredients
The active ingredients in this meditation are:
Open your mind to the present moment,
Realize that everything is alive, and,
Realize that you cannot fully control anything.
Explore how you can best bring about and maintain these active ingredients. I will describe a few ways of doing this but please consider the following description as a set of suggestions and not a rigid protocol. As long as you generate and maintain the active ingredients I’ve just mentioned, you will be successful with this This Is Life CST technique. I believe in you! 🔥
Description
Sit in a quiet place with your back straight, your whole body relaxed, your mouth closed, and a gentle smile on your lips and eyes2.
Keep your mind open and light3.
Then mentally tell yourself, “This is life”4.
Dwell in the realization that everything is alive and that you cannot fully control anything.
Allow your mind to open and lighten a little more.
Then calmly say to yourself, “This is life”.
Dwell in the realization that everything is alive and that you cannot fully control anything.
Allow your mind to open and lighten even more.
Then calmly say to yourself, “This is life”.
Dwell in the realization that everything is alive and that you cannot fully control anything.
Allow your mind to open and lighten even more than that.
Then calmly say to yourself, “This is life”.
Dwell in the realization that everything is alive and that you cannot fully control anything.
Allow your mind to be so wide open that it includes even your meditation itself.
Then calmly say to yourself, “This is life”5.
Dwell in the realization that everything is alive and that you cannot fully control anything, including consciousness.
Troubleshooting
If practicing this This Is Life meditation technique is not helping you move down the continuum of the Central Story Model, read the instructions again carefully, and try practicing it again.
Then, if you are still having difficulties, try any of the following (in no particular order):
Your meditation is not going as you wish? It’s because your meditation is alive, unpredictable, and not within your full control. Look at your meditation and calmly tell yourself, “This is life”.
Combine this technique with any other CST technique that works for you.
Describe your problem in the comments section at the bottom of this page so I can try to help.
If, after experimenting with all of these tips, this This Is Life technique still does not help you move down the continuum of the Central Story Model, put this technique aside for a while (knowing you can always give it another try later) and practice another technique that works.
🙏💛
For more information on what these mean, read my introduction to the Central Story Model.
Stretch the corner of your lips and eyes softly so that your smile is almost imperceptible from the outside but you can still feel it, and maintain it throughout the meditation.
Do not contract your attention and try to control the content of your experience, as this would prove counterproductive. Instead, maintain an open, free-flowing attention throughout the meditation.
“This is life” means that yes, everything is alive. Yes, everything is in a state of flux. Yes, everything is full of energy. Yes, everything is unpredictable. Yes, everything is imperfect. Yes, you cannot fully control anything. And yes, you can be open to it all.
See that your state of consciousness is also alive, in a state of flux, unpredictable. You don’t meditate to make the imperfect perfect. You meditate to open to the imperfect so that you can experience life from a place of fulfillment, freedom, and flow.