Have you ever stopped to wonder if you're trapped in the past? 

What does that even mean anyway?

It's much more subtle than we think, and many of us are trapped in the past without realizing it.

How can we find out if we're living in another time frame?

First, it's important to understand that being trapped in the past means we have not updated our emotional timing.

And this state of mind can have many implications.

It can go to a range of memories that is beyond the focus of this blog post because it involves the possibility of being trapped in the memories of our ancestors (to understand how this works, click here).

There are two other "symptoms" that indicate you may be living in the past without even realizing it, and this is what we'll focus on today.

The first and maybe a most groundbreaking indication that I've observed empirically with my research and database I've been building for years is that

many of us think with the minds of our ancestors.

For a long time, I never realized I was doing this until I became a full-time consciousness and soul healing practitioner and started observing myself more carefully. 

Second,

we make decisions based on the outdated value systems of our ancestors.

One of my personal stories that illustrate this is: 

When I was 24 years old I thought I was too old to be single. (!!!)

That was in 2003 - and not the 1800's. So thinking I was too old to be single at age 24 is a little weird, right? I thought it was my own original thinking though, and got married to my first husband that year - not for that only reason, but it was one of the reasons for sure.

It took me almost a decade to understand and realize I was thinking with the minds of my ancestors on that one.

I felt I urgently needed to get married so I could adjust to social expectations - of the 1900's!

This "current" of inherited thinking was more powerful than my individual truth, and at the time I did not know the difference between individual truth and the collective family /social/cultural unconscious mind (to understand more about levels of consciousness, click here).

So I got married to my first husband.

And lo & behold, less than 3 years later, I got divorced  :-(

And all this happened because I did not have the habit to connect to my true self at the time.

I was on emotional autopilot.

Spiritually, I did have my practices, but I prayed way more than I meditated. And since

when we pray we talk, and when we meditate we listen,

I definitely did not have this "time awareness" consciousness, did not know I was thinking with the mind of my ancestors, and I especially did not know

life has zero tolerance for lies, illusions, and for fooling ourselves.

Sooner or later, unstable structures will fall to the ground.

So if you're thinking with the minds of your ancestors, even without realizing, and if value systems that don't make you happy are dictating your actions and life, meditate about it and realize

you have choices.

To start demolishing confusion, lies, illusions and outdated ancestral thinking, here are some practical things you can do.

Number 1, take 10 minutes of your time with this question in your mind:

Am I thinking with the mind of my ancestors? Am I living according to values and standards that are not updated to today's day and age?

Remember this is the 21st century ;-)

We must allow ourselves to be in the present moment, and

the only way to break away from subconscious behavior is through self-awareness,

which comes when you know yourself and take the time to meditate every day.

Meditation and self-connection should literally be like taking a shower.

We clean ourselves every day. Why not take the time to connect to self every day?

If you do this, your life will improve immensely. You can be sure of it.

And the second thing that can help you realize you may be living in the past, or even trapped in the past, is what the Toltecs call "The Past Room".

In the Toltec vision, there are many "rooms" in our unconscious minds, and there is a "Room of the Past" where most of humanity is trapped in.

This includes being trapped in your own individual experience, maybe being nostalgic of childhood, adolescence or college, when you thought you were happy, and now you're just surviving and going with the flow.

If you have that mentality, you're trapped in the past, because

there's no better moment to be alive than the present moment.

So if you're nostalgic, or maybe you still behave as you did in the past because you miss "being happy" in a specific period of your life, take a deep breath, do some soul-searching, and journal about it.

Write it down.

You'll get more clarity and release attachments if you consistently journal your experience.

If you do this, you'll start updating our emotional timing, and you'll realize that living in the past equals wasting the most precious thing you have in your life, which is the present moment.

Meditate on this, and comment your experience below! We always grow when we share ourselves with like-minded people.

If you feel someone you love will benefit from this knowledge, share it! Let's increase our community and create more connections together!

Thank you so much for the presence here, and I'll see you soon!

Love always, 

Paola.