Lay your story to rest

"When we drop down below our stories, we are led back to the mystery of here and now."

—Jack Kornfield "The Wise Heart"

Recently I had the honor of conducting a daylong Mindfulness and Meditation Retreat at the beautiful Tierra Rejada farm in Moorpark.

The ultimate purpose of my retreats is to offer tools and techniques to attendees that will assist them in aligning their minds and their bodies in the present moment, where the mystery and magic of life is waiting for them to open to the "presence" (also known as God, Spirit, Life, etc.).

I believe that our minds are so obsessed with the future and the past that the "stories" we tell effectively keep us stuck in those times, and therefore we totally miss the power of presence available only in the now.

We become so addicted to the story that even when we are not orally telling our story, the tape still runs incessantly in our mind.

The stories most of us tell that keep us from being in the present moment are generally about something that happened in the past that generated much drama or pain, or something that may or may not, could or could not happen in the future.

Some of our stories are so old and we have told them so passionately so many times that they have actually taken on a life of their own, defining who we are. Some are more recent.

What they all have in common is the energy of resentment, sadness, disappointment, regret, victimhood, judgment or fear.

This is not to say that some of our stories are not sincerely legitimate and worthy of telling, once. Well, okay, maybe twice. But the question has to be, does continuing to tell the story, to ourselves or to others, help us keep ourselves in the moment and find the peace that awaits us there?

At the beginning of the retreat I placed a small box in front of the group and shared a brief guided meditation on release. I then invited attendees to write on a piece of paper whatever story or issue they may have brought with them that day that would keep them from being fully present at the retreat.

Then, as a ritual, I invited them to mindfully place the paper in the box, which I referred to as the Great Box of Release. However, I did not tell them what we would do with the box.

At the end of a full day of mindfulness practices designed to open us all to "presence," I told the attendees that the box was really a miniature coffin; I requested they join me at a freshly plowed field in which I had previously dug a hole.

I then performed a brief memorial service for all of the stories and affirmations of release placed in the box. I reminded everyone that what they had each placed in the box was really the energy of their story and the intention to let it go, knowing that it was something that helped bring them to this moment in their life.

Once we release pent-up energy we make space for some new form of energy to flow into our experience based on our current state of consciousness. As I concluded, I invited the attendees, if they wished, to take the shovel and help bury the box.

There were some tears and some joy in the process, but mostly there was a very strong sense of that sacred peace that reveals itself so effortlessly when we surrender to being present in the moment, in the Presence of Life.

How about you? Do you feel a calling to drop down below your stories that no longer serve you in a healthy way so you might be led back to the mystery and magic of here and now, where the peace that passes all understanding patiently awaits your return?

If so, all you need is a piece of paper declaring your intention, a small box, a shovel and a bit of dirt. I say go for it. Claim your peace.

Dennis Merritt Jones is a local spiritual mentor, keynote speaker and author of the book "The Art of Being: 101 Ways to Practice Purpose in Your Life." Contact him at www.DennisMerrittJones.com.