An imprint is a belief system or a deeply embedded memory that has altered how you see yourself, someone else, or the world. When something happens to you that leaves an impression, your central nervous system creates a picture of it and keeps it stored inside you. Imagine two people walking down the street together at night. They are both in exactly the same environment and are both at exactly the same risk of danger. Yet one of them feels safe because, as a child, she got a lot of attention and reassurance and is imprinted with a feeling of security. The other doesn’t feel safe because, as a child, he was often put in precarious situations and he didn’t feel protected, so he was imprinted with a sense that life is dangerous. Maybe these two people were safe, and maybe they were in danger, but neither one of them is perceiving the present moment because they are both operating under the influence of imprints. When you respond to the right-now based on the before, you cannot ever really exist in the right-now. Imprints may be affecting how you deal (or don’t deal) with what happens to you in life, how you think about things, and how you see yourself when you look in the mirror. We are all shaped by stories from our past and labels that we’ve put on ourselves or that others have tagged us with. Imprints will always be with us; we can decrease their power by becoming aware of them. Now, my dear, think back to your earliest memories, when you were just a few years old. The memories you still hold on to are clues to your imprints. What can you remember about the things that have formed your beliefs about life and yourself? Maybe your family labeled you as “the smart one” or “the outgoing one” or “the introvert.” Maybe in school, you felt like “the loner” or “popular” or “too sensitive” or “the best violin player in school.” Maybe you thought of yourself as “clumsy” or “bookish” or “rebellious.” It could be a good imprint or perhaps a sad one. Think about it and see if you can feel the feeling you had when the imprint was made, but bring your adult awareness and the knowledge you have now to the feeling you had then. Some of these imprints may seem trivial, but they can all influence your perception of life in ways that put a layer between you and your reality in this present moment. Just hold this intention of becoming aware of your imprints in your heart and see what arises over the next few days as you open yourself to recalling these early experiences. Please try to get radically curious and maybe even journal out a few things that arise. As you explore what you believe to be true about yourself, you will begin to recognize where those beliefs originated, and you will be able to bring into clearer focus whether they are actually true or still feel true. In many cases, if not most, old imprints—especially negative ones—were never really true, or are no longer true, beyond the ways in which you have made them true in your own life because of your belief in them. Adapted from an excerpt of Burning Bright: Rituals, Reiki, and Self-Care To Heal Burnout, Anxiety, and Stress. Copyright © 2020 by Kelsey J. Patel with permission from the publisher. Patel’s work has been featured in dozens of print, online and social publications such as US Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar, GOOP, Bravo TV, The New York Times, Page Six, Reader’s Digest, Well Good, MindBodyGreen, Angeleno Magazine and more.
