At 78, I find myself asking one of the oldest and most important questions of the human journey:
Who am I?
Not: Who have I been?
Not: Who did other people tell me I should be?
Not: What have I accomplished, or how have I been perceived?
But beneath all of that—
Who am I, really?
This question has become especially alive for me during my Masters of Wisdom and Meditation Teacher Training with davidji, where we are exploring the soul, soul alignment, meditation, ancient wisdom, and what it means to live in greater harmony with our deepest truth.
And perhaps one of the most beautiful lessons of conscious aging is discovering that self-discovery has no expiration date.
Soul Alignment and the Stories We Inherit
I did not have an easy beginning.
I grew up in a small farming community in Iowa in circumstances that were often difficult and unstable. Those early experiences shaped the way I saw myself and the world for many years.
Like so many of us, I developed ways of navigating life that once served a purpose.
Striving.
Proving.
Controlling.
Seeking approval.
Trying to become someone worthy of being seen.
Those patterns followed me into adulthood in ways I didn’t always recognize at the time.
I built a life. I had a long career. I raised a family. I accomplished things. I struggled. I learned. I began again—many times.
But beneath all the doing was a deeper journey of personal transformation and self-discovery waiting for me.
The journey home to myself.
Spiritual Growth Is Remembering Who We Are
One of the great gifts of meditation and mindfulness has been learning to recognize the difference between who I am and the conditioning I accumulated along the way.
Our conditioning is real.
Our wounds are real.
Our mistakes are real.
But they are not the entirety of who we are.
For much of my life, I thought personal growth meant becoming a better version of myself.
Now, through meditation, yoga philosophy, spiritual study, and this season of davidji meditation teacher training, I am beginning to see transformation differently.
Perhaps spiritual growth isn’t about constructing a new self at all.
Perhaps it is about gently releasing everything we learned we had to be—and rediscovering the inner wisdom that has been there all along.
That, for me, is becoming the essence of soul alignment.
The soul doesn’t need a résumé.
It doesn’t need applause.
It doesn’t need to win the argument, control the outcome, or prove its worth.
It simply knows.
Meditation, Mindfulness and Self-Compassion
As my awareness has deepened through meditation and mindfulness, memories sometimes arise of earlier versions of myself—things I said, choices I made, and ways I behaved when I simply didn’t have the consciousness I have today.
There was a time when those memories could have become evidence for self-condemnation.
Today, I am learning to meet them with self-compassion and compassionate curiosity.
That woman was learning.
She was doing the best she could with the awareness and tools available to her at the time.
And eventually she became conscious enough to choose differently.
That is personal transformation.
We cannot awaken yesterday.
But we can be awake today.
And perhaps that is one of the greatest gifts of a regular meditation practice: becoming conscious enough to recognize that this moment is where our life actually exists.
From Self-Improvement to Self-Discovery
This may be one of the most liberating lessons of this season of my life:
I don’t need another lifetime of trying to fix myself.
There will always be more to learn. I hope I remain a student until my final breath.
But lifelong learning is different from believing I am deficient.
Spiritual growth is not a lifelong renovation project in which we endlessly search for what is wrong with us.
Meditation, mindfulness, yoga philosophy, and conscious living are teaching me something much gentler—and much more powerful.
Sometimes the deepest spiritual practice is simply remembering:
Nothing essential is missing.
I can continue growing without rejecting who I am.
I can acknowledge my past without living there.
I can make amends when necessary without carrying shame forever.
I can teach without needing everyone to listen.
I can love without controlling.
I can serve without needing recognition.
I can show up wholeheartedly and release my attachment to what happens next.
This is conscious living.
And for me, this is soul alignment.
Healthy Aging Is More Than Growing Older
We hear so much today about healthy aging and longevity.
I care deeply about caring for the body—nutrition, movement, sleep, yoga, meditation, and the daily choices that support our well-being.
But I believe healthy aging is about more than extending the number of years we live.
It is also about becoming increasingly conscious during the years we are given.
Can we become more present?
More compassionate?
More curious?
More authentic?
More willing to release what no longer belongs to us?
Perhaps conscious aging is not about resisting growing older.
Perhaps it is about growing deeper.
At 78, I Am Still Becoming
At 78, I am still learning.
Still meditating.
Still studying.
Still teaching.
Still writing.
Still practicing mindfulness and conscious living.
Still discovering what soul alignment means in the ordinary moments of everyday life.
But perhaps becoming isn’t quite the right word.
Maybe I am remembering.
Remembering the self beneath the striving.
Beneath the fear.
Beneath the need for approval.
Beneath all the identities accumulated over a lifetime.
And what remains feels surprisingly simple:
Presence.
Love.
Curiosity.
Service.
Truth.
And the freedom to be fully myself.
My Masters of Wisdom and Meditation Teacher Training with davidji is giving me another opportunity to explore something I have been learning throughout my life:
The path of meditation, mindfulness, self-discovery and spiritual growth ultimately leads us inward.
Perhaps that is what soul alignment really is.
Not becoming someone extraordinary.
But finally coming home to who we have always been.
And realizing—
Nothing essential is missing.
— Sandi Greene
The Art of Living Well
Teacher • Meditation Guide • Writer
sandigreene.com
