Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about taking off our armor. So what do I mean when I say taking off our armor? What I mean is allowing ourselves to open to vulnerability, to tenderness, to expressing our true authenticity. So even though we often try to protect ourselves from it, vulnerability is not something to be afraid of. It actually reflects the depths of our humanity.

And it's very gentle in nature, very humbling in essence, and it deepens our intimacy and connection with the life within us and all around us. It, of course, totally transforms the way we relate to other people, adding new possibilities of richness, closeness, and love in our relationships. So vulnerability is also actually an inevitable part of our journey into mindfulness, at one point or another. In everyday life, we tend to build up so many layers of armor, so many layers of protection and defense against the world. Sometimes it takes the form of pretending that there's nothing wrong, when there is.

Sometimes it's refusing to look with courage and gentleness at our own flaws and mistakes. Sometimes it's pushing down our own tender feelings like sadness or fear. Sometimes it takes the form of not asking for help when we actually really need support. Sometimes it's showing a kind of mask or persona to the world in order to be accepted or fit in. So when we begin to train in awareness, we begin to kind of peel back these layers of defense very slowly.

And bit by bit, we gradually take the masks off to reveal a more authentic, undefended and openhearted version of ourselves. So we kind of learn to allow ourselves to have flaws and still feel whole and worthy. We learn to honor our tender feelings and we start to uncover a vulnerability that connects us to our common humanity, our shared journey with every other person on the planet. So if you ever find yourself in tears as you meditate, if you ever start to open to tender places inside that you haven't experienced before, or if you begin to see your own flaws or wounds, just having the confidence that you're not doing something wrong. All of these are really good signs that you're waking up to your deeper nature and letting go of the armor.

So my invitation to both today in your meditation, and as you go about daily life, is to see if you can drop a little bit more of your armor, even if it's just a little bit. So you might choose to acknowledge compassionately some feelings you were pushing down. Maybe you need to ask for help and admit vulnerability. Or it could be taking off the mask you show to the world in some way and showing up with a little more authenticity, honesty, and wholeheartedness. When you do that, just having the confidence that you're opening to new levels of presence, connection, and ease in your life.

Go gently with this practice today. And as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. And now let's settle in for today's meditation.