Finding Your Cape – Meditations
Previous Posts in this series:
Finding Your Cape – Introduction
Finding Your Cape – Principles
Leading on from our learnings about principles. I will now share two mediations I used to discover my own principles. Inspired by the stoic mantra of Memento Mori (remember you are mortal), these meditations force us to embrace the reality of our finite existence (at least of our ego) and embrace our whole self.
If you have not done meditations like this before, then this may be uncomfortable for you.
Remember, pain equals growth!
It is only through embracing death that we become alive and unlock our whole selves…
Meditating on Death
Knowing our principles matters as it is the foundation in our understanding of the world which then drives our emotions, perception and behaviour.
Stating our principles is not an easy process, but it is one that is essential for any human that wishes to discover their authentic self and live a purposeful life.
To discover my principles, I used a couple of meditation techniques which I kept revisiting over time.
They may seem a bit macabre, but death is really the only certainty in life and Memento Mori is healthy for us.
Take your time with these exercises, by this I mean don’t try to force the insights. Practice the tombstone exercise until you feel the insights have come (this could be a few days or weeks), then move on to the death bed exercise.
I recommend performing these while you are laid in bed just before you are about to go to sleep. Doing it at this time offers the thought patterns up to your subconscious mind to process; you may well find then that the answers just come to you over the next few days. You don’t even need to try, your subconscious will just offer them up to you…
Your Tombstone
While laid in bed, lay on your back with your legs stretched out straight, bring your hands up to your chest and place them both over your heart. Lay there an relax. Close your eyes and open your mind.
Now imagine you are laid in a coffin with the lid open.
That coffin has just been lowered in to a grave. As you look up you can see all the faces of your friends and family as they weep at your death.
The lid of the coffin is placed on and you can hear earth being thrown on top.
Now imagine you are a bird sitting in a tree watching what is happening. Look at the faces of the people as they witness the grave being filled in.
Are the happy? Are they sad? Are they a mixture of both.
Watch the ceremony unfold.
Now as they place the tombstone above your grave, I want you to fly down and land on the floor in front of it.
Look up and read it…
What does it say?
Does it say what you want it to say?
Forget the life that you have lived… What would it say if it said exactly what you wanted to say?
What did you stand for?
Your Death bed
While laid in bed, lay on your back with your legs stretched out straight, bring your hands up to your chest and place them both over your heart. Lay there an relax. Close your eyes and open your mind.
Now imagine you are laid in a hospital bed. You can’t really move much as your body feels tired. You can see flowers, fruit and cards on the side table that your friends and family have left for you. As you look to the door you can just see the back of someone leaving the room… the door is swinging closed. You are all alone.
The moment of your death is drawing near and you are taking your final few breaths.
You accept your fate and a relaxed.
Allow your life to flow through your mind… reflect on what has been.
Ask yourself this:
Will my tombstone say what I want it to say?
Have I done everything possible to live an authentic and purposeful life?
If I had more life to live, would I live it differently?
Giving It Time
These exercises may take you to places in your mind that you have never been before. It can feel scary and daunting to contemplate our own death. I can say that from my own experience of doing this, once the realisations crystalise, you will feel more alive than ever.
Don’t try to force the answers, don’t try to think the answers. Trust the process and allow the answers to present themselves to you. Feel what is right before you try to put it in to words.
Don’t be afraid if the answers you find blow away everything you previously used to define yourself. Let go of the past and embrace what is new.
Allow your authentic self to emerge from this process like a phoenix from the flames.
What is next?
Give it time…
In the next post I will share insights about values. Values are underpinned by principles, so while the content is shared quickly, if you need to take time to do the work to discover your own principles then that is all good. Please feel free to crack on with the content as it is released, but take time to circle back as you work through the meditations and exercises.

Enjoy, for now.