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*Dear elephant reader: if you’re single & looking for mindful dating or conscious love, try out our lovely partner, MeetMindful.

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“When you follow your bliss…doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else.” ~ Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell’s words are brilliant, but you cannot find your purpose.

It’s not out there.

Your purpose has been with you all along. It’s deep inside you.

Here are five unconventional reminders to help you unlock the potential inside of you.

They stem from ancient wisdom and modern science and they all have one thing in common—it’s not so much about what’s outside of you, but how to unlock what’s already inside of you.

1. Past-Life Regressions

After graduating from Yale, Dr. Brian Weiss began his psychotherapy practice. By using hypnosis to help his patients unlock repressed memories, he found that his patients began speaking about realities that were very different from the present one they lived in.

Under hypnosis, patients would speak about being a different gender or race along with the odd ability to speak languages that the present-day patient did not know. They even spoke in detail about past-life trauma, which Dr. Weiss argues has helped many patients overcome present-life trauma.

While all of this can quickly be brushed off as non-scientific nonsense, modern-day connections with the Internet allow patients who practice past-life regressions to actually research and look up the visions they have while under hypnosis.

In certain examples, the language that they would speak under hypnosis would actually be an ancient language. Buildings and structures that a patient may envision would actually exist in present time. Some patients have even contacted present-day family members and shared intimate family secrets after experiencing a past-life as their ancestor.

Dr. Weiss explains that experiencing past-life regressions allows a person to understand the lessons they learned in their past lives. And through these lessons, a person can deepen their understanding of what they are meant to learn right here, right now, in the present life.

2. Meditation

Yes. Meditation. It’s not just for grounding and calming but it’s also for centering and understanding who you are as a being.

It’s for digging deep into your inner psyche.

A daily meditation practice helps us recognize their thought patterns. We learn to identify what is serving them, what is clearly not and how to live more in the present. After establishing a steady practice, practitioners take the lessons learned in meditation into their daily lives.

Side effects include having less water-cooler conversations and more meaningful dialogue along with living your life on purpose. The conversations you choose to have and the actions you choose to take will be more intentional.

As Pema Chodron reminds us, “Meditation is a work in progress, a process of uncovering our natural openness, uncovering our natural intelligence and warmth.”

3. Ayahuasca

Deep in the heart of the Amazon lies a spirit vine that has caught the attention of medical researchers, shamans and spiritual seekers for centuries.

Known affectionately as plant medicine, ayahuasca has been known to take participants on a deep introspective experience.

Through this psychedelic discovery, many have claimed ayahuasca to be exponentially more effective than traditional psychotherapy. Michael Sanders, author of Ayahuasca: An Executive’s Enlightenment, says that many Westerners have called Ayahuasca, “30 years of psychotherapy in a cup.”

One seed of advice. Be very careful and research where you choose to have an ayahuasca experience, says Jeffrey Slayter, founder of The Grand Initiative which takes high-level influencers on an ayahuasca experience to deepen their understanding of the self, unleash dormant creativity and further connect one to the planet.

Here is a list of resources to find a safe facility for ayahuasca, says Jeffrey Slayter.

4. Gene Keys

Richard Rudd, author of Gene Keys, dives deep into ancient wisdom to help people discover the hidden purpose that lies in our DNA.

Rudd explains that the Gene Keys help to “shed light on your deepest potential by helping you to embrace your shadows and recognize your gifts.” You learn your strengths, your weaknesses and learn how to effectively harness your ability to live extraordinarily.

Through this heightened level of awareness, a person can confidently walk down their independent path. So often we just need to get out of our own way and Rudd provides one avenue to unleash our creative potential.

5. Pursuing a Quest

Chris Guillebeau explains that a quest is not so much an external discovery, but rather an internal heroic journey.

In his book, The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life, Guillebeau shares the stories of people he has met on his personal quest of traveling to every country in the world. All the stories entail the journey one takes on their personal quest: the hardships, the breakthroughs and the lessons one learns when they embark on their heroic journey.

Many questers start out seeking an external answer, but what many find out, however, is that their quest for their holy grail (so to speak) has taught them more about themselves than anything else.

Through a quest, you face your deepest fears and realize that you are capable of far more than you can imagine.

The truth is, now that you can learn anything, you can be anything you want to be. It’s a beautiful time to be alive and a perfect time for you to walk your own heroic path.

Of course, there are more ways one could deepen their purpose, and in case these unconventional ways don’t fancy your interest, try this one:

Complete this sentence as many times as you can.

My purpose is ________.

Write as many sentences as possible and tweak the words. When you cry or feel a deep surge of fear that says “You can’t do that!”—that’s when you found your current purpose.

Like always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please leave them as a comment below or reach out to me by email at [email protected].

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Relephant:

8 Steps That Help You Find Your Life Purpose.

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Author: Mark Guay

Editor: Caitlin Oriel

Image: Taylor Nicole/Unsplash and new 1IIlumniati/Flickr