3 Powerful Techniques to Overcome Imposter Syndrome & Teach Mindfulness with Confidence

I think most people are afraid to teach mindfulness and meditation. In a time where the world needs it more than ever. In a time where most people are suffering from trauma and overwhelm and burna. When people are distracted by their screens and really suffering from the chaos of life. People need mindfulness more than ever right now. And yet, so many people who've tasted the fruits of mindfulness are afraid to teach it. They're afraid to share these gifts of presence and care with others. The irony of the situation. More and more people are practicing mindfulness, and yet the vast majority of us are afraid to share it with others. And one of the reasons why, maybe the main reason why we're afraid to teach mindfulness is because we're afraid of being judged. Who are you to teach mindfulness? You're not mindful 100% of the time. You're not as good as the famous mindfulness teachers out there. You're just you. Who are you to help me be present? And a lot of would-be mindfulness teachers have this imposter syndrome. Yeah, like who am I to teach mindfulness? I'm not mindful 100% of the time. When I first started to want to teach mindfulness as part of my career, I had imposter syndrome too. I was afraid of a lot of people judging me. You know, my teachers, my loved ones, my friends, strangers, everybody. I was afraid of everyone's judgment. Partly because I was judging myself for not being good enough. And so I want to share with you three practices that really helped me to overcome imposter syndrome and this fear of judgment that I had. And then I want to share a brief practice with you, about five minutes, that will help give you a felt sense for what I'm about to share. And I would love to hear what you think, whether any of these three practices might be helpful to you in your life, so that you can help others be more present and self-compassionate and resilient, so that you can be more confident in sharing mindfulness and meditation. Is to bring mindfulness to the fear itself. And I know for some of you, this might be the last thing you'd want to do. Might be pressing stop or clicking this um screen to get away from what I'm about to say, which is totally understandable. But the practice is to actually sense into how the fear feels bit by bit with a little bit of courage, to open to what these sensations are like in the body. When I have these thoughts of being judged, when I have these thoughts of imposter syndrome, what happens physiologically in my head, my shoulders, my chest, and my belly? What can I feel? Does it feel dense, contracted, scary? Am I judging these sensations to be good or bad, right or wrong? Some of you will be judging it to be good. Some of you will be judging it to be bad. But when we bring mindfulness, this gentle awareness of however we feel, we notice that these sensations change over time. And if we stay with it long enough, with this gentle awareness, that these sensations will dissipate. It doesn't mean that we'll never feel afraid ever again, or that the imposter syndrome was healed just like that. But rather we see that it's not all of who we are, that these are simply aspects of our moment-to-moment experience, and that they change. And that if we allow them to be here without judgment, they don't take hold over us as much as they used to. We're no longer paralyzed by the fear. And we're able to move and think more clearly and reconnect with ourselves and our motivations for wanting to teach mindfulness and meditation to help others. Which brings me to the second practice or technique, which is to remember the people who we want to help, to remember that they're going through tough times, or that they have these challenges, these stressors, to remember how they're suffering, remember like they haven't quite reached their goals, but to sense into their suffering or their challenges and to connect with them from the heart. As the essence of all good mindfulness and meditation teachings is a sense of compassion. Can I empathize with the people who I want to support? Can I connect with them at the heart level? And can I want to wish to help alleviate some of their stress or suffering by offering them these kind invitations to be present with themselves with this gentle awareness. So the first technique was to open to the fear without judging it. The second technique is to remember your sense of compassion for the people who you want to teach mindfulness to. And the third technique now is to reflect that mindfulness is very simple. That if you've been practicing even just for a little while, you know enough to be able to help them. So if people are struggling, and if you know one or two or more simple mindfulness practices that can help them, then who are you not to help them? Who are you to withhold these mindfulness practices from others that you know can probably help them? And who are other people from preventing you from helping others who are struggling? Who are others to judge you for actually making a difference in people's lives? Teaching mindfulness is not complicated, it's not rocket science, it's not Buddhism, it's not enlightenment, you don't need to be perfect to teach mindfulness, you don't need to have been a monk for a long time or to be mindful a hundred percent of the time. All you need is to invite people to notice their moment-to-moment experience without judgment, to encourage courage for people to notice their experience with this gentle awareness. And so if you practice mindfulness of breathing, mindfulness of walking, self-compassion practice, then you know some of the basic fundamental techniques that you can share with others so that they can be mindful. So, who are you not to teach mindfulness? Who are you not to help others? So, those are the three uh techniques that I'd like to offer you. I've been teaching people how to teach mindfulness for about 10 years or so, helping people to teach mindfulness in professional settings, in healthcare, education, business, and even the U.S. government. And I have more tools and techniques that I'd like to share with you, more trainings. I offer a mindfulness meditation teacher certification in which you can get certified to teach mindfulness with confidence and credibility in about 80 hours of self-paced practice and study. So if having credentials under your name can be helpful for you in sharing mindfulness with others as part of your career, um, then I'd like to invite you to our program. Uh, you can check out the link in the description below. But if you have this sense of compassion to actually want to help others, and if you've been practicing mindfulness for a little while, I'd be honored to welcome you to the program so that you can make a bigger impact and also further your career as a certified mindfulness and meditation teacher. So, um, thank you for listening. Thank you for wanting to help others, and I look forward to seeing you in the program. Thank you very much.