Amidst the quest for inner peace, the significance of nurturing healthy relationships and connections cannot be understated. " Come Home to Yourself" illuminates the importance of authentic connections—with others and ourselves—on the path to inner peace. Before the world has a chance to tell you how your day is going to go, tell yourself how you want to feel and live this day. If it supports you, you can connect the words with your breathing, arrived with the in-breath, home with the out-breath. With tenderness and compassion, the book unveils the path to self-acceptance—a journey that encourages you to embrace your imperfections, honor your uniqueness, and nurture a deep sense of self-love. This is how and why the shadow includes both all that we determine we dislike about ourselves and all the wonderful creative potential we are blind to being gifted with.

During my time in India, I wrote in my journal, contemplated each experience, and asked the shadow to be revealed in dreams. I was also led to experiment with self-inquiry exercises. As a consequence, we try to hide what we believe is unacceptable. This pattern of behavior begins from the moment we are born. A normal aspect of growing up is that we are taught what constitutes appropriate social behavior and what does not. What we are actually doing is re-establishing these qualities and the energy inherent in them, to our psyche. Because of the power of the energy, this work is transformational. It can also be unnerving. My psychology teacher once said that Hollywood actors and actresses are among the most stressful people in the world, because they are constantly on the mirror, wishing they looked like someone else. And this isn’t just about actors and actresses, for the desire to be approved by others can become so strong that we wish we abandoned ourselves and be like the person who inspires lofty sentiments in us. Oh brother, moving from place to place does not serve you well. Wherever you go, there you will also find yourself. Your shadow is always with you.”By embarking on this inward journey, you will gain invaluable clarity, uncover hidden aspects of your authentic self, and navigate the intricate landscape of your soul, ultimately unveiling the path that leads to inner peace and self-fulfillment. Exploring Inner Peace and Emotional Well-being You may already begin to feel yourself settling into the home inside of you: the place of your strength, wisdom, and clarity. A place that is trustworthy and capable of providing you with refuge in the storm. But if not, continue to stay with awareness of your body sensations, sounds, or breathing. A sense of coming home will develop over time. It may not happen the first time you meditate, but as you become more attuned to yourself, you will find you have been at home all along.

It took me a long time to understand that, in part, this was my story too. In early 2001, after taking leave of my job and arriving at an ashram in India, I anticipated the months there would be filled with experiences of light, peace, and expansion.In addition, when we begin taking ownership of the shadow, we must also understand that this work is not about “becoming someone else,”like the notion of an “improved” version of who we think we are. With the book as your guide, you will embark on a transformative journey of inner healing, rewriting the narrative of your life, and embracing the profound serenity accompanying the journey towards inner peace. Nurturing Relationships and Connection Finally, after an episode of her screaming, purple with rage in response to the way I had handled a project, I realized it was time to take a deeper look at myself. When you belong, you are a natural part of the puzzle. You fit right in as you are. When you conform to gain acceptance, you pretty much have to slice and rearrange bits of yourself to fit into that particular puzzle.” — Kathy Shalhoub So, come home, for it’s where the journey starts. Stop thinking that your happiness will depend on anyone. Stop thinking that the world will come around and make everyone of your wish come true. No, come home! The moment you feel at home with yourself, you can start the journey towards growth and personal transformation.

what makes this book special from other self-help books is the clear, intuitive way in which sheleana writes, and the way in which it is edited. It was when I stopped searching for home within others / and lifted the foundations of home within myself / I found there were no roots more intimate / than those between a mind and body / that have decided to be whole.” — Rupi Kaur It is within this context that " Come Home to Yourself" by Deja Rae emerges as a guiding beacon, illuminating the transformative path towards self-discovery, personal growth, and the cherished destination of inner peace. However, on a subtle or not so subtle level, we might also learn from our parents or caregivers that “being creative” is unacceptable, or that expressing moderate anger or frustration is going against the norms of society. All of us go through times of transition, challenges, and difficulties. We may have faced or will face times of loss, confusion, or heartbreak, when we realize we cannot control the way our life is unfolding, whether in our personal lives or in the world around us. With mindfulness, we can learn to move through these intense, challenging times in ways that don’t add to the suffering and difficulty that are already there. We can even learn to open our hearts to the richness and wisdom these times of immense disruption can bring us. When we touch this experience of coming home, it is like we have finally arrived home after a long journey.

Want to wake up to the reality of joy surrounding you?

And I said to my body softly, ‘I want to be your friend.’ It took a long breath and replied, ‘ I have been waiting my whole life for this.’” – Nayyirah Waheed For the first time I began to recognize that this woman’s anger belonged to me, and what’s more, what I was seeing was just the tip of the iceberg. If this is our situation, it is important to have compassion for ourselves for not wanting to return home to face these places inside of us. And yet the only way we can heal them, move through them, and make our home a more cozy place is to turn toward them. As the teaching goes: “The only way out is in.” Or through.

Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” — Brené Brown In essence, we are electing to grow up and stop finding fault with everyone and everything “out there.” Tony was not selling or preaching anything; he was extending a practical spirituality based on the power of awareness to awaken us from the mind-made nightmare of fear and conflict our programming produces, thereby unveiling to our marveling eyes the kingdom of joy that we have always lived in unsuspectingly. When we try to ignore or push away strong emotions, they have a tendency to hang around uninvited in our tense shoulders, shallow breathing, and tight jaws. With this practice from Sharon Salzberg, we gently turn toward uncomfortable sensations and feelings. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but when we bring nonjudgmental awareness to difficult emo- tions, we can see how they arise, change, and go. 3. A Meditation to Remind Yourself That You Are Enough from Jenée JohnsonComing home should not be confused with feeling comfortable. No! Coming home is about the ability to fully and completely accept your self— unique, beautiful, and irreplaceable as you are. What would it profit you to work so much on building a personality that isn’t yours? Nothing! We can experience encountering this spacious and free place of our true home in unexpected moments as we spend more time tuning in to what is happening inside us and around us. One morning, when I was a novice nun, in slow walking after our early morning sitting meditation, I was very present and able to be aware of nearly every step. I began by being aware that as I was stepping with my left foot, I was at the same time stepping with my right, because my left foot could not be without my right. And vice versa. Then I saw that my arms were also contained in my feet, so I was also stepping with my arms. Then my hands, my stomach, brain, sense organs, heart, lungs. I was 100 percent with my body. So I was tasting the earth with my feet, listening to it, looking at it, feeling it, knowing it, smelling it with my feet. My heart was loving it, my lungs breathing it in and out. You being enough is not dependent upon anything, not even your own opinion of yourself. ” — Jennifer Williamson