From our earliest age we get exposed to so much information from how to behave to who we should be. By the time we’re middle-aged we’re so far from our true selves we would barely recognise a friend describing who we are.

In 1955 a large Buddha statue was being moved from an outbuilding with a simple tin roof to its new spot in Viharn building where a temple was built to house the statue. Although accounts of the day differ slightly one thing is very clear that during the move the pulley ropes slipped or broke and the statue fell hard to the ground breaking off part of the clay, exposing a gold surface underneath the outer layer.

After all the plaster and clay was removed it revealed the world’s largest solid gold statue with a weight of 5.5 tonnes. It had been covered up approximately 200 years before the destruction of Ayutthaya kingdom by Burmese invaders in 1767 where it laid in plain sight without attracting much attention.

This story reminds me of what happens when we grow up, the clay represents everything that is thrown at us in life and the golden statue represents who we are inside.

Every time we get insulted, hurt or fail at something we shrink the statue and build up the clay. We need to reverse the process.

Let’s begin a simple meditation to restore your true self.

Download MP3 ’12 Minute Meditation to restore True Self’

Beginner level

• Make yourself comfortable sitting in an upright position.
• Begin by becoming aware of your breath.
• After 30 seconds also take a deep breath, breathe out slowly.
• Repeat a few times.
• Become aware of any sounds that come and go.
• The same with any thoughts or feelings, let them come and go.
• If you find your mind wondering just come back to your breathing.
• After 4 to 5 minutes recognise you are still the person in your head but move your awareness to your heart.
• Recognise in your heart the small glowing light that is left over from when you had all the confidence, love, freedom, courage and compassion you may have had as a child.
• Recognise your true self.
• When you breathe out and relax imagine that glowing light grows a little bit more each time.
• Every so often the light will become brighter and filling more of your body.
• Until eventually you are that light, every part of your body is filled with your true self.
• Slowly open your eyes.

If you do this twice a day you will start to wash away the clay that you have built up over the years, you start to spread and show confidence in who you really are and not who society has made you.

Doing 15 minutes or more is ideal, but this can be done any time during the day to regrow your true self even if it is just for a couple minutes.

Let me know how you feel after the first time and then again after a couple weeks in the comments below.