Set Aside and Open Up

Photo credit: Zohre Nemati

I was recently introduced to the Set Aside Prayer (a practice regularly used in the 12-step program) by a close friend and mentor this past week. I have to admit, I am not one that really "prays" very often. I have my own relationship with what I see as a "higher power", and praying to the universe, nature, however I see it, isn't something I generally lean towards as a practice. Yet, something struck me about it and I decided to give it a try. It's a way to just let go of whatever I am holding on to so I can truly open up to what is real and in front of me. 

The Set Aside Prayer (Original)

God, Please help me set aside

everything I think I know

about myself, my disease,

the 12 steps, and especially You;

So I may have an open mind

and a new experience

of all these things.

Please let me see the truth.

As much as I appreciate the original prayer, I knew in order for it to work for me, with who I am, what I believe, and how I view the word God I wanted to meld the prayer into my own. So I made it basic.

Let me set aside.... (fill in with: whatever is holding me back or creating a belief system)

Repeat as many times as need. 

Simple. That's all it needs to be.

This prayer is something I plan to suggest to clients when wrapped up in whats holding them back. I work with people daily to help them shift their personal beliefs and to release barriers holding them back from truly making the impact they desire in the world. I am seriously blessed to get to witness these individuals make huge, yet subtle shifts in their perspectives and their lives. And surprise, surprise -- I get to do the same work with myself (with the help of my coach, friends, & partner). I have a lot of my own limiting beliefs that sneak into play and hold me back. So for the past week and moving forward I am playing with this prayer, to let go of what is holding me, be it "good" or "bad", and see what comes from really being open without any preconceived notions. 

So, I share with you my prayer from the first day I practiced, it could be the same each day or different depending on my current barriers and views. Not all that I set aside is necessarily holding me back, some are huge successes in my life, and being in experiment with letting it all go -- thats where the magic of possibility really lies. We are all human, each having our own sneaky gremlin voices (inner-critic) chiming in... here is a view into some of mine -- both gremlins and my higher self. 

Let me...

Set aside what I think my business should be

Set aside that I have to make a difference, a great impact

Set aside being a coach

Set aside wanting to heal the planet

Set aside my success

Set aside being an entrepreneur

Set aside self-doubt

Set aside having to find clients that really want to make an impact in the world

Set aside having to figure it all out

Set aside being an outdoor/adventure enthusiast

Set aside having to save the world

Set aside all my fears of being a business owner/ entrepreneur

Set aside pragmatic/ logistical Lindsay

Set aside what I create isn’t useful/helpful/worthy

Set aside having to make it perfect 

Set aside the details

.... and the list goes on.

Brining a voice to all the thoughts, beliefs, and barriers made it possible for me to get super clear on the project I was working on. It made me even more confident in who I am, what my business is, and what I want to bring to the world.

My journal entry on Ora Māia's work with clients, after I first practiced this prayer was:

I want to make your heart beat harder and faster, to remember what it feels like to be alive, to see how you can break through personal boundaries and achieve what it is that you want to achieve. I want your heart to light up with that crazy warm feeling, in a simple state of disbelief that you actually just did “that” – whatever that “that” may be. To live in a state of freedom, curiosity, and exploration of life. To never be dormant, but to erupt in the full you. As a professional, an individual, and as a unit within the whole.

I help people feel alive, to thrive in who they are and to adventure beyond their greatest beliefs.

Again, simple and the truth. I was clouded by all of those voices and stories within my mind that I couldn't clearly see or remember what my purpose was. 

Give it a go. Let me know what it does for you.