This is a simple but profound meditation that I use with my clients when I perceive that they are caught up in the story of their lives and have lost their way. It is helpful for coming back to your true self and orienting yourself from a more centered place.

You could look at yourself like an observer in a fun house. You have an intention. "I think I will go have some fun and see what's in the fun house." So you go inside and find a room full of wavy mirrors. There is enough information in the mirrors that you can recognize yourself. But, the images are distorted enough that you don't take them to seriously. And so you allow yourself to play with them and explore.

If you had never seen funhouse mirrors before, you might be disturbed by the images. You might look at the one with the skinny elongated head and the wide and wavy torso and short little legs and say, "Oh my! That's who I am?!" But, because you went into the funhouse with the intention of having fun, you don't get attached to the images, so you allow yourself to play with them.

When you do the "I am" meditation, you are recognizing that you are the observer in the funhouse. The people and circumstances in your life are only the distorted reflections of who you are. They are not the reality of who you are. You can ask yourself, "What is my intention for being here?" Is it to have fun, to connect with your joy, to experience more loving?

Begin by bringing your attention to the experience of being breathed. Allow yourself to receive of your breath and to release it completely.

Then bring your attention to your heart center. You can tap on your chest a few times or place a hand there to help you touch in with that center.

Say the words, "I AM." Notice what you experience when you say those words. say them a few times. "I am..... I am..... I am."

How do you experience yourself as those words emanate from your breath?

Be aware that in this state of consciousness, there is no thought, no history, no emotions, there are no reference points. There is only the I am.

In this consciousness, there is no-thing. There is only the eternal one.