Reduce Yourself to Zero Practice

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Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I must reduce myself to zero.”

The first time I heard those words, I felt such a deep resonance that I knew I’d never forget them and it wasn’t long before I found myself sharing them with others too.

I love the powerful simplicity that transmits a timeless message and instantly draws me into a deeper space of being.

My Interpretation

My interpretation is this; the self you reduce to zero is the everyday self or ego that’s ruled by your ordinary conditioned mind.

This is the part of you that’s been taught to perceive yourself and the world according to the values of your family, education and culture which may or may not reflect what feels truly important to you.

It’s also the source of your anxieties and fears, your positive and negative habits, and ALL forms of creative resistance including procrastination and the voice of your inner critic!

Clear the Way

That’s why Conscious Writing teaches you to recognize your everyday self for what it truly is and consciously align with your true self which is naturally free from all the conditioned baggage.

Reducing your everyday self to zero clears the way for the light of your deepest inner truth to shine through who you are and what you think, say and do.

Naturally this includes all forms of creative self-expression and means that the application of this short phrase is a wonderful foundation for Conscious Writing and all aspects of Conscious Living.

Authentic Self-Expression

This may be simple but it’s certainly not easy.

Your everyday self clearly has a vested interest in blocking you from taking any action because it doesn’t want to be reduced to zero and lose the control it has over you!

However, the more you’re able to notice the deceptive distraction and follow through anyway, the greater your opportunity for truly authentic self-expression in your personal and professional life.

Reduce Yourself to Zero Practice

Inspired by Gandhi’s words, I developed a practice that at the very least will create a refreshing degree of internal space for you (I wrote about the value of that in a previous post, see here).

In time this practice will reduce the impact of your ordinary mind and set you free to experience the joy of being and doing what you’re truly here to be and do.

Dive In

Claim (yes, “claim” as you probably won’t simply “find”!) some time for yourself when you won’t be disturbed; this can be anything from 5 minutes to an hour or more.

Choose a safe and comfortable location, and have your journal nearby as you may feel inspired to write afterwards.

Then simply follow the steps below:

1. STOP – bring yourself to a complete stop; physically, emotionally and mentally, and immerse yourself in stillness.
   • Stillness is a quality of your true nature which is why it eventually feels like coming home to yourself.
   • Focus on the breath flowing into and out of your body. Don’t just think about it; feel the sensation and anchor your awareness to that
   • This timeless practice will gradually settle your chattering  ordinary mind into stillness.

2. EMPTY – now focus on emptying your mind of thoughts by letting the thoughts that arise simply pass through your mind rather than losing yourself in their content.
   • Each time your mind wanders, simply return your focus to witnessing the thoughts passing through your mind and just dissolving.
   • This is what happens when you don’t feed your thoughts with your attention – they self-liberate.

3. LISTEN – now turn your attention to listening… Expand your range of listening as if you’re stretching to hear a distant mountain stream in an alert yet relaxed way.
   • Notice the most distant sounds you can hear…
   • Then expand your awareness beyond those sounds…
   • Now notice the background hum of silence.

4. IMMERSE – now act as if you can dissolve yourself into the silence; melt into the silence and merge with this original source of all sound.
   • In reality there is no separation; this process simply guides you to experience that for yourself.
   • Just melt into the silence…

5. SURRENDER – finally, let go of everything at every level as much as you can right now.
   • Surrender everything and absorb yourself in simply being.
   • Open your heart and accept everything just as it is, including yourself…
   • Simply surrender… and abide in the awareness of pure presence.

Advance Warning

Your everyday self is likely to dismiss this practice as something you just don’t have time for. Or it may focus on parts of the practice that look unfamiliar to you and tell you that it’s not your kind of thing.

If so, pause for a moment and ask yourself if that really is the case or if there might be another agenda fuelling the nudge for you to walk away?

Re-read the paragraphs under the heading “Authentic Self-Expression” and then decide if this feels like something you’re willing to explore!

Do let me know how you get on and share your reaction below. All comments are welcome.