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<v Speaker 1>Us studious. Welcome to the Stillness Journal. I'm Maya, and

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<v Speaker 1>today I want to invite you into a quiet conversation

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<v Speaker 1>with a part of you that already knows you. Know

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<v Speaker 1>that feeling, the one that arrives before the thought, the

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<v Speaker 1>soft pool in your chest when something is right, the

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<v Speaker 1>tightening in your stomach when something is not. We have

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<v Speaker 1>been trained to override it, to reason our way through,

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<v Speaker 1>to ask for permission from outside. But there is a

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<v Speaker 1>knowing underneath all of that reasoning. It does not need proof,

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<v Speaker 1>It does not need to be loud. It is patient.

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<v Speaker 1>It has been with you your whole life. Take a

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<v Speaker 1>moment to settle in. Let your body find a place

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<v Speaker 1>of rest, Let your hands be soft, let your eyes

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<v Speaker 1>be gentle or close. And as we begin, I want

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<v Speaker 1>you to do something simple. I want you to bring

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<v Speaker 1>your attention to your chest, not to your thoughts about

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<v Speaker 1>your chest, to the actual physical feeling of being here,

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<v Speaker 1>the rise and fall, the quiet rhythm, the warmth or

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<v Speaker 1>coolness that is there right now. This is the place

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<v Speaker 1>where the heart speaks, not the heart that pumps blood,

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<v Speaker 1>the other heart, the one that is sometimes called the

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<v Speaker 1>inner teacher, the one that has been quietly whispering to

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<v Speaker 1>you through every season of your life. You have heard

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<v Speaker 1>this voice before. Maybe you heard it as a child,

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<v Speaker 1>before anyone told you to doubt what you found. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>you hear it now in the moments just before sleep,

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<v Speaker 1>when the world is finally quiet enough to listen. It

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<v Speaker 1>does not speak in sentences. It speaks in feelings, in yeses,

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<v Speaker 1>and knows that arrive in your body before your mind

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<v Speaker 1>can name them thirty seconds. There is a kind of

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<v Speaker 1>knowing that does not come from study. It comes from presence.

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<v Speaker 1>It comes from being still long enough than the noise setters,

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<v Speaker 1>and what is left is what was always there. The

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<v Speaker 1>ancients called this listening to the still small voice. Modern

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<v Speaker 1>psychology might call it interroception, the felt sense of what

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<v Speaker 1>is true. But the name does not matter. What matters

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<v Speaker 1>is that you learn to trust it. The trouble is,

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<v Speaker 1>we live in a world that rewards the loud voice,

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<v Speaker 1>the voice that argues, the voice that performs, the voice

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<v Speaker 1>that turns everything into a debate to be one, and

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<v Speaker 1>so the quiet one gets pushed to the back. We

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<v Speaker 1>learn to second guests. We learn to ask ten people

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<v Speaker 1>their view. We learn to gather evidence before we allow

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<v Speaker 1>ourselves to feel. But here is what I want you

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<v Speaker 1>to consider. Every important decision you have ever made that

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<v Speaker 1>you still feel at peace with, there was a moment

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<v Speaker 1>where you already knew, before the spreadsheet, before the conversation,

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<v Speaker 1>before the research, there was a quiet yes or a

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<v Speaker 1>quite no, and then everything else either confirmed it or

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<v Speaker 1>you argued yourself out of it. I noticed this often

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<v Speaker 1>the people who chose the partner they are still with

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<v Speaker 1>there was a moment before any of the reasons where

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<v Speaker 1>they simply knew. The people who left a job that

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<v Speaker 1>was killing them slowly, there was a moment before any

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<v Speaker 1>of the logic where they knew it was time. The

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<v Speaker 1>people who forgave someone or did not, there was a

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<v Speaker 1>moment where the body told them what was true, and

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<v Speaker 1>they either listened or they did not. The wisdom is

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<v Speaker 1>not in the reasoning. The wisdom is in the listening.

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<v Speaker 1>And the listening is not something you do with your ears.

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<v Speaker 1>It is something you do with your whole body, with

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<v Speaker 1>your breath, with your chest, with the quiet place inside

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<v Speaker 1>you that knows before you do so. Today I want

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<v Speaker 1>us to practice something simple. I want us to practice listening,

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<v Speaker 1>not listening to me, to the part of you that

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<v Speaker 1>already knows what is true for you. We will do

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<v Speaker 1>this by paying attention to the body, because the body

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<v Speaker 1>has not learned to lie the way the mind has.

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<v Speaker 1>Bring your attention again to your chest. Notice what is there?

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<v Speaker 1>Notice the quality of the bread, Notice the temperature, Notice

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<v Speaker 1>any tightness or openness. There is no right answer, There

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<v Speaker 1>is only what is and what is this information? Now,

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<v Speaker 1>bring to mind a small decision you are facing, nothing

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<v Speaker 1>too big. Maybe it is what to have for dinner.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it is whether to send a message. Maybe it

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<v Speaker 1>is a small choice about your day. Hold it in

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<v Speaker 1>your awareness, without trying to solve it. Just hold it now.

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<v Speaker 1>Notice what happens in your body. Do you feel a

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<v Speaker 1>leaning toward, a pulling away, a neutrality. The body is

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<v Speaker 1>giving you information, not as a rule, not as a command,

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<v Speaker 1>just as a signal. You do not have to obey it,

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<v Speaker 1>but it is worth hearing. This is what inner wisdom

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<v Speaker 1>feels like in practice. It is not dramatic. It does

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<v Speaker 1>not come with thunder. It is small, It is quiet.

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<v Speaker 1>It is the kind of knowing that gets louder the

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<v Speaker 1>more you listen, and it gets quieter the more you

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<v Speaker 1>ignore it. So the practice is to listen again and

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<v Speaker 1>again to keep the channel open. The mind will try

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<v Speaker 1>to come in. The mind will say, but what about this?

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<v Speaker 1>And what about that? And what if I am wrong?

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<v Speaker 1>The mind is doing its job. The mind is trying

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<v Speaker 1>to protect you. Let it do its job, but do

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<v Speaker 1>not confuse its voice for the deeper one. The deeper

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<v Speaker 1>one does not argue. It simply is. I find this

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<v Speaker 1>to be one of the most important distinctions we can make.

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<v Speaker 1>The mind is a wonderful tool. The mind helps us

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<v Speaker 1>navigate the world. The mind helps us plan and remember

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<v Speaker 1>and solve. But the mind is not the source of wisdom.

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<v Speaker 1>The mind is a tool for using wisdom. The source

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<v Speaker 1>of wisdom is quieter and older, and more patient than

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<v Speaker 1>any thought. There is a beautiful teaching that says, when

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<v Speaker 1>you do not know what to do, do nothing until

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<v Speaker 1>you do know, not as a way of avoiding, as

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<v Speaker 1>a way of listening. When the action is not yet clear,

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<v Speaker 1>It is because the inner teacher has not yet spoken.

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<v Speaker 1>And the inner teacher is not slow, It is precise.

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<v Speaker 1>It waits until it has something to say that is

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<v Speaker 1>worth saying. So much of our suffering comes from acting

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<v Speaker 1>before we have heard. We send the message we wish

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<v Speaker 1>we had not sent. We say yes, we wish we

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<v Speaker 1>had said no to. We commit to the thing we

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<v Speaker 1>had a quiet know about from the beginning, not because

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<v Speaker 1>we are bad at decisions, because we have not been

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<v Speaker 1>taught to listen, because we have been taught that knowing

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<v Speaker 1>comes from the head, when it actually comes from the

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<v Speaker 1>whole body. I want to offer you a practice for

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<v Speaker 1>the day's ahead. Three times a day, in a moment

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<v Speaker 1>of quiet, ask your body what is true for me

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<v Speaker 1>right now, Not what should be true, what is true?

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<v Speaker 1>And notice what arrives a feeling, a word, a sensation.

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<v Speaker 1>It does not have to be eloquent, It just has

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<v Speaker 1>to be honest. You might try it in the morning,

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<v Speaker 1>before the day has taken over, just a few minutes

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<v Speaker 1>sitting with the question. You might try it at lunch,

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<v Speaker 1>when the morning has settled and you can hear yourself again.

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<v Speaker 1>You might try it at night, when the day is

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<v Speaker 1>done and the quiet returns. Three times, three small listenings.

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<v Speaker 1>That is all it takes to begin. Over time, you

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<v Speaker 1>will find that this channel gets clearer, The quiet voice

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<v Speaker 1>gets a little louder, the knowing gets a little quicker,

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<v Speaker 1>not because you are doing anything special, but because you

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<v Speaker 1>are no longer drowning it out. You are no longer

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<v Speaker 1>replacing it with the noise of everyone else's opinion. You

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<v Speaker 1>are letting it speak. This is not a small thing.

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<v Speaker 1>To trust your own knowing in a world that wants

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<v Speaker 1>you to outsource your knowing is a radical act. It

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<v Speaker 1>is a quiet rebellion. It is the way you come

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<v Speaker 1>home to yourself, and coming home to yourself is the

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<v Speaker 1>only foundation from which a life can be built that

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<v Speaker 1>actually fits. We live in an age of infinite advice.

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<v Speaker 1>There is a podcast for every question, a book for

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<v Speaker 1>every problem, a guru for every doubt, and all of

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<v Speaker 1>that can be useful, but none of it can replace

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<v Speaker 1>to knowing du lis in sayu. None of it can

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<v Speaker 1>be more honest with you than you are with yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>The outer voices can illuminate, but they cannot substitute the

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<v Speaker 1>inner knowing is the only one that knows your particular path,

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<v Speaker 1>your particular timing, your particular way of being in the world.

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<v Speaker 1>You are not here to be a copy of someone

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<v Speaker 1>else's path. You are not here to live out someone

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<v Speaker 1>else's map. You are here to listen and to follow

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<v Speaker 1>what you hear, even when it is inconvenient, even when

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<v Speaker 1>it does not make sense to anyone else. Even when

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<v Speaker 1>the mind is screaming that you are being foolish, the

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<v Speaker 1>heart knows trust it. I know this is easier said

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<v Speaker 1>than done. I know there are days when the heart

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<v Speaker 1>feels silent, when the body feels numb, when the noise

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<v Speaker 1>is so loud that you cannot soar through things, let

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<v Speaker 1>alone feel. On those days, the practice is simply to

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<v Speaker 1>come back, to not give up, to know that the

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<v Speaker 1>silence is not absence. It is the inner teacher waiting

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<v Speaker 1>for you to be still enough to hear. And till

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<v Speaker 1>the days when the heart does speak. When you feel

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<v Speaker 1>the pull or the push, the yest or the no

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<v Speaker 1>pay attention, write it down. If you need to tell

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<v Speaker 1>someone you trust, take one small step in the direction

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<v Speaker 1>of what you heard. You do not have to leap,

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<v Speaker 1>You only have to move. The heart, once heard, will

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<v Speaker 1>speak again and again until you have a whole inner

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<v Speaker 1>library of knowing and you can navigate from that place.

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<v Speaker 1>This is what it means to live from the inside out,

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<v Speaker 1>not to ignore the world, not to reject advice, but

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<v Speaker 1>to filter everything through the wisdom that is yours alone.

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<v Speaker 1>To make your choices from the quiet place and let

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<v Speaker 1>the loud world inform them, but not determine them. Let

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<v Speaker 1>us rest here for a moment. Bring your attention back

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<v Speaker 1>to the breath, to the chest, to the place where

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<v Speaker 1>the heart speaks. Let the practice settle. You do not

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<v Speaker 1>have to remember anything, You do not have to do anything.

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<v Speaker 1>You only have to know that this channel exists and

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<v Speaker 1>that you can return to it whenever you need, when

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<v Speaker 1>you are ready. Gently open your eyes, wiggle your fingers,

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<v Speaker 1>feel the surface beneath you, take a sip of water

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<v Speaker 1>if you have it, and as you move back into

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<v Speaker 1>your day, carry this with you. The knowing is here,

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<v Speaker 1>It has always been here, and the more you trust it,

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<v Speaker 1>the louder it becomes. The next time you face a decision,

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<v Speaker 1>big or small, before you ask anyone else, ask your self.

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<v Speaker 1>Notice what arrives. Notice the body, Notice the breath, Notice

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<v Speaker 1>the quiet yes or quiet no. That is your wisdom speaking,

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<v Speaker 1>That is your inner teacher. That is the part of

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<v Speaker 1>you that has been with you your whole life and

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<v Speaker 1>will be with you for the whole life to come.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for being here, Thank you for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>thank you for choosing, even for these few minutes, to

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<v Speaker 1>be still enough to hear what your own heart has

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<v Speaker 1>been trying to say. Until next time, be gentle with yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>The wisdom you are looking for is not out there.

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<v Speaker 1>It has been in here all along. One minute,