It is not always easy to listen to your inner voice, especially when the outside is getting louder and louder. And yet, it is becoming more and more important for all of us to strengthen our trust in our connection to ourselves, because this connection has a lot to say to us.

„The most important relationship in your life is the relationship with yourself" – and yet much of our lives is about being in relationships with others. Friends, family, job, hobbies – we have a lot to do! Expectations, obligations and responsibilities in everyday life don't always make it easy for us to keep a balance between our own needs and those we perceive on the outside. No wonder that you often forget the most important person in the process – yourself!

Why staying in touch with yourself is so important

If you are constantly oriented towards the outside, you lose contact with your own self. To that inner voice that lives in all of us. Logical, because the more you look for answers outside of yourself, the more you become dependent on others. You find it difficult to make your own decisions, you feel unbalanced, but you can't quite put your finger on where this feeling comes from, while you are much more concerned with pleasing everyone else, just not yourself! In bad cases, neglecting ourselves can lead to pent-up emotions, stress, exhaustion or even depressive moods.

Our connection to ourselves is the basis for our connection to others! If you cannot accept yourself, you cannot be open in connection with others. On the one hand you will always want to hide a part of yourself from others, and on the other hand you will always look for things in others that actually only you can give yourself – self trust and that you know best what is "right" for you and your life.

How meditation helps you

There are many ways to strengthen this connection to yourself. One of the best known and probably most researched methods is meditation. You are probably aware of the usual benefits of a regular meditation practice. Less stress, more compassion for ourselves and others, increased focus and attention, creativity, better sleep are just the beginning of what meditation can do for you. In addition, studies have shown that meditation improves self-awareness and has a positive effect on emotional intelligence.

For example, there is the so-called Self-Inquiry Meditation. In this type of meditation, you ask yourself the question: "Who am I?" You begin to calm down yourself and your thoughts and come into stillness. In that moment of stillness, you ask yourself, "Who am I?" Imagine that your thoughts are like a lake; when your thoughts are calm, the surface is smooth. The question "Who am I?" then is like a stone that you throw into the water, making small waves. You observe these waves until they have subsided and the lake has a completely smooth surface again. Then you start again.

So this meditation is not so much about getting a final answer to your question – that's not what any form of mediation is about. It's about observing yourself and your thoughts without condemning or judging them. So you learn to bear with yourself and your thoughts and realise that you are not your thoughts! You are you!