Releasing the mask
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Erica: [00:00:00] Today’s episode is about dropping the armor you’ve been wearing for too long—the mask you’ve used to survive. Together, we’ll peel it back and find the strength in showing up as your real, unfiltered self.
Welcome back to your sanctuary. Notice how the sounds around you begin to fade. Like the world is slowly dimming its lights. Take a slow breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth like you're letting something go.
Feel your body settle, shoulders dropping, jaw unclenching, hand softening. You've been performing, smiling when you want to cry, showing up strong when you felt anything, but you learned to wear a mask, not in a vanity, but out of necessity. Maybe you first put it on as a child, [00:01:00] maybe it grew heavier as you move through the world.
But the problem with wearing a mask for too long is that you forget what your real face feels like. You start to wonder, who am I really? Underneath it all? Let's take it off together.
You became what the world needed before you ever asked what you needed. You wore the helper mask, the achiever mask, the I've got it all together mask. Sometimes you even wore the unbothered mask pretending nothing could touch you, even when your heart was breaking inside.
You overperformed for safety.
Over function for love, over explained, just to be understood. You learn to scan the room for what was [00:02:00] expected and became an expert at shapeshifting to survive. But you were never meant to be a performance.
You not your mask. You're exhausted because you're living outside of yourself, and I promise you.
The real you underneath it all is so much softer, so much more magnetic, so much more powerful than any version you've ever had to prove. Imagine what it would feel like to move through the world with your real face. No armor, no script, just you. That's not weakness. That's your greatest strength.
So here's your invitation.
Close your eyes for a moment. Picture yourself in front of a mirror. Maybe it's the mirror in your living room or the hallway as you come home.[00:03:00]
Now imagine gently reaching up and peeling off the mask. Feel what it's like to breathe without the weight of expectation. Feel your shoulders drop. Your chest soften. Notice the sensation on your skin. Cool air, maybe a tingle, maybe relief. Say to yourself, I release who I've had to be so I can become who I really am, .
Hmm. Inhale that truth. Exhale out the pressure.
Notice if there's a part of you that wants to reach for the mask again, that's okay. Let yourself feel the vulnerability, the newness, the [00:04:00] possibility. You don't need the mask anymore. You never really did.
Let's seal this with a somatic reset.
Sit up, stand tall and shake out your hands.
Feel the energy leaving your fingertips. Roll your shoulders back and then forward. Stick out your tongue. Make a silly sound if you need to. Unmask the energy.
Now, let your hands rest in your lap, palms open. Feel the air on your skin. Notice the steady beat of your heart.
Let your breath become a little deeper, a [00:05:00] little slower.
And whisper to yourself, I am safe to be seen.
Let that truth echo through your whole system.
Hmm. Imagine yourself moving through your day at home, at work with loved ones .
Bringing just a little more of your real self to each moment you're home now.
You've taken a brave step today. Every time you drop the mask, you [00:06:00] return to yourself. You're not performing anymore, you're remembering, and that is enough. As you move through the rest of your day. Notice when you reach for the mask out of habit. Let it be a gentle reminder, not a reason for shame. You can always return here.
You can always return to you. Take one last deep breath in and exhale.
Thank yourself for the courage to be real. See you in your sanctuary tomorrow.
Every time you let go of the mask, you return to your truest self—and that is enough. I’ll see you tomorrow, right here in your sanctuary.
