Cory Muscara

In 2012, I spent six months in silence living as a monk, meditating 14+ hours a day. No reading, writing, or contact with the outside world. We woke up at 3am each day. Had two small meals before noon. Slept & meditated under mosquito nets. And the mattresses were so thin you could squeeze them between your fingers and feel the bone on the other side. It was the hardest experience of my life. And the most rewarding. When people hear about this, they often want to know what happens when you spend 6 months meditating in silence. They're usually expecting some trippy, transcendent, ego-death type stories. And yes, I have those. But you wanna know the biggest thing I got from my time living as a monk? I became my own best friend. Yup. It's as simple as that. And it has made EVERYTHING in my life easier. I feel like I have a constant inner companion rooting me on, reassuring me, and reminding me of what's possible. It's like an inner coziness. I'm so grateful for it. Which is why I've committed my life to helping other people experience it, too. How does it happen? Many ways. But I'll share how it happens in meditation. When you meditate, you intentionally turn toward your experience with presence & compassion. You choose to meet whatever arises with curious, loving awareness. You learn to be with, relax into, & show steadiness toward all aspects of yourself. You replace judgment with understanding. Hatred with compassion. And tension with ease. Over time, you develop a deep self-respect because you see just how messy & confusing this human experience is, and what it takes to keep showing up for it. The inner friendship grows organically. And I can't think of any greater gift we can offer ourselves in this life. To start, try this: When going through something difficult, console yourself like you would a good friend. When going through something positive, celebrate yourself like you would a good friend. When trying to accomplish something, encourage yourself like you would a good friend. I'm rooting for you. And if you want more assistance, start with my 30-Day FRESH START course. Link in my bio 🙏🏻 Big love, Cory

A note about my Teacher: Sayadaw U Pandita passed away in 2016. While I often resisted his intense style of teaching, I had the deepest respect for him, and I always knew his intensity was coming from profound compassion for the suffering of humans, and his hard-earned wisdom that there was a way out. Through his teachings, my life changed in ways I can’t describe; a sentiment echoed by thousands of others. I am forever grateful. A post like this could not possibly capture the depth and nuance of this experience, so please forgive the social media format that encourages distillation over prose. I will aim to offer more nuanced explanation and examples of these points in future posts. You can follow along @corymuscara And if this post resonated with you, please click the share icon above to add this to your story (if you think it will resonate with others) or share your thoughts on it below, especially with lessons stood out most for you🙏🏻 Big love, Cory P.S. I also send short teachings like this every day in our text community on mindfulness, life design, healing, and personal growth. They’re completely free, go out every day at 11am EST, and you can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, text the word “Growth” to 1-631-305-2874 📲

Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to someone. This is Brianna. My woman. My soul partner. My soon-to-be wife. There is so much I want to share with you about this human-- > The way she looks at flowers & puts her hands on trees as if they were lifelong friends > The precision of her intuition > How deep she makes me laugh And so much I want to share with you about how we got here-- > The magnetism that drew us together > How much we each had to grow & transform to actually receive the truth of being together > How unrelenting we were in our commitment to only be together if it were in truth > How many painful loops we went through trying to make our relationship work, following the few feet of light we could see in front of us while we navigated the dark. It's been an incredible, beautiful, and at times painful, confusing journey. I'm grateful to have lots of opportunities to share about this journey with you, and for this to be the beginning of you getting to know the person I will be building my life with, and who has impacted what you've seen of me more than anyone or anything else over the last 5+ years. To arrive where we are now, in complete truth, with all we've been through, brings me to tears. I keep asking, "Is this real? Did we ACTUALLY make it? Is it possible that I'm this lucky to get to experience this kind of love and clarity?" Yes. It’s real. But it isn't luck. It's the byproduct of being in truth. We walked through the fire to get here. Proposing to Brianna wasn't a decision. It was a receiving. It was the clearest knowing I've ever had. And it took more than 5 years for that knowing to present itself. So many times it seemed like it wasn't meant to work. And we were both willing to let go if we needed to. But we followed what was given. We stayed in sequence. We did not bypass. We surrendered. And in February, after fully letting go, the clearest knowing presented itself. Spacious. Non-forced. True. It was incredible. And here we are. Thank you to the many people who supported us along the way. You are our village. I love you, Brianna. I’m honored and blown away that I get to do life with you.

if you’re moving through some big stuff, and want more in-depth support to go all the way, the best way I can help is through for the 30-Day Course. It will give you step-by-step teachings and practices to move through the letting go and rebuilding process. You can read about the daily topics below and start watching at the link in my bio. PART 1: LETTING GO Day 1 Meeting the Mess Day 2: The Paradox of Letting Go Day 3: Descend to Transcend Day 4: The Key Ingredient to letting Go Day 5: Settling into Ease Day 6: Alchemizing Regrets Day 7: Forgiving Yourself Day 8: Forgiving Others Day 9: Releasing Expectations Day 10: Hope, Faith, & Surrender PART 2: RECONNECTING Day 11: Moving Stuck Energy Day 12: Reclaiming Your Body Day 13: Deep Acceptance Day 14: Loving Yourself Day 15: Working with Parts | Internal Family Systems Day 16: Finding The True You Day 17: Accessing Inner Calm Day 18: Your Sacred Compass Day 19: Mind vs Heart vs Soul Day 20: Standing In Your Power PART 3: LOOKING FORWARD Day 21: The Truth of Manifestation Day 22: Loving The Mystery Day 23: Ego vs Soul Desires Day 24: The Thud of Truth Day 25: Intuitive Guidance Day 26: Unlocking Possibility Day 27: Creating a Beautiful Life Day 28: Chop Wood Carry Water Day 29: Habits, Structure, Momentum Day 30: Living With an Open Heart “There are not enough words of gratitude to express to you for offering this program. I truly believe this has changed the trajectory of the rest of my life and has felt like it’s saved me in many ways. So much love and gratitude.” -Leigha “Your words pierced into the deepest parts of my heart. In my darkness, I felt so human. I don’t know where this will lead, if I’ll close back up or stay open. I just know I am immensely grateful.” -Tasnim “I am so incredibly grateful for this course. I feel a shift that I have journaled, prayed and wanted for years slowly taking place. It feels like Cory was speaking directly to me. As the tears flow and as more unwinds, I’ll be going back to these recordings and KNOW I am safe in unwrapping and touching the pain and fear I have attempted to control for years. This is life changing.” -Lori B

Whenever you're ready to begin, the 30-day course is here for you. All you need to do is show up 20-30 minutes per day. And trust the process. Get started at the link in my bio and learn more about the daily topics below. PART 1: LETTING GO Day 1 Meeting the Mess Day 2: The Paradox of Letting Go Day 3: Descend to Transcend Day 4: The Key Ingredient to letting Go Day 5: Settling into Ease Day 6: Alchemizing Regrets Day 7: Forgiving Yourself Day 8: Forgiving Others Day 9: Releasing Expectations Day 10: Hope, Faith, & Surrender PART 2: RECONNECTING Day 11: Moving Stuck Energy Day 12: Reclaiming Your Body Day 13: Deep Acceptance Day 14: Loving Yourself Day 15: Internal Family Systems Day 16: Finding The True You Day 17: Accessing Inner Calm Day 18: Your Sacred Compass Day 19: Mind vs Heart vs Soul Day 20: Standing In Your Power PART 3: LOOKING FORWARD Day 21: The Truth of Manifestation Day 22: Loving The Mystery Day 23: Ego vs Soul Desires Day 24: The Thud of Truth Day 25: Intuitive Guidance Day 26: Unlocking Possibility Day 27: Creating a Beautiful Life Day 28: Chop Wood Carry Water Day 29: Habits, Structure, Momentum Day 30: Living With an Open Heart “I am so incredibly grateful for this course. I feel a shift that I have journaled, prayed and wanted for years slowly taking place. This is life changing.” -Lori B

If you want more support on your self-love path and are ready to invest in something that isn’t designed to just cover up your feelings of emptiness, but to get to the heart of where they’re coming from, the 30-day course is ready for you. You can read about the daily topics below and start watching at the link in my bio. PART 1: LETTING GO Day 1 Meeting the Mess Day 2: The Paradox of Letting Go Day 3: Descend to Transcend Day 4: The Key Ingredient to letting Go Day 5: Settling into Ease Day 6: Alchemizing Regrets Day 7: Forgiving Yourself Day 8: Forgiving Others Day 9: Releasing Expectations Day 10: Hope, Faith, & Surrender PART 2: RECONNECTING Day 11: Moving Stuck Energy Day 12: Reclaiming Your Body Day 13: Deep Acceptance Day 14: Loving Yourself Day 15: Working with Parts | Internal Family Systems Day 16: Finding The True You Day 17: Accessing Inner Calm Day 18: Your Sacred Compass Day 19: Mind vs Heart vs Soul Day 20: Standing In Your Power PART 3: LOOKING FORWARD Day 21: The Truth of Manifestation Day 22: Loving The Mystery Day 23: Ego vs Soul Desires Day 24: The Thud of Truth Day 25: Intuitive Guidance Day 26: Unlocking Possibility Day 27: Creating a Beautiful Life Day 28: Chop Wood Carry Water Day 29: Habits, Structure, Momentum Day 30: Living With an Open Heart “There are not enough words of gratitude to express to you for offering this program. I truly believe this has changed the trajectory of the rest of my life and has felt like it’s saved me in many ways. So much love and gratitude.” -Leigha “Your words pierced into the deepest parts of my heart. In my darkness, I felt so human. I don’t know where this will lead, if I’ll close back up or stay open. I just know I am immensely grateful.” -Tasnim “I am so incredibly grateful for this course. I feel a shift that I have journaled, prayed and wanted for years slowly taking place. It feels like Cory was speaking directly to me. As the tears flow and as more unwinds, I’ll be going back to these recordings and KNOW I am safe in unwrapping and touching the pain and fear I have attempted to control for years. This is life changing.” -Lori B

Pursue stillness with curiosity. Don’t bring your “no pain, no gain” attitude to this one. Trust me, I’ve tried. All it will do is trigger your survival patterns causing you to tighten down harder or go into pseudo-peaceful states that you might perceive as growth, but are really just glorified freeze responses. Your system can’t handle all the pain you haven’t let yourself feel. You’ll black out. So enjoy the process of slowly dropping in. Meeting yourself layer by layer, not with force, but with compassionate curiosity. This is how you integrate. This is how you move forward with ALL of you, instead of one part that’s gungho on growth and a bunch of other parts that are gripping for dear life. And this is how you learn to meet and work with the discomfort that is driving your destructive patterns. The more you can meet that discomfort and fear with slowness, gentleness, and understanding, the better you’ll be able to work with it in real life. Go slow if you want to get anywhere meaningful and long-term. And if you want support cultivating this level of inner stillness, with daily teachings and guided meditations, start with the 30-day course. You can learn more at the link in my bio. Big love.

If you’re ready to go deep and do the work to create an incredible life, start with the 30-Day Challenge. It may truly be the thing that sparks an upward spiral. Thousands of people have taken the step and are having huge transformations every day. Read about the daily topics and testimonials below, and start watching today at the link in my bio: PART 1: LETTING GO Day 1 Meeting the Mess Day 2: The Paradox of Letting Go Day 3: Descend to Transcend Day 4: The Key Ingredient to letting Go Day 5: Settling into Ease Day 6: Alchemizing Regrets Day 7: Forgiving Yourself Day 8: Forgiving Others Day 9: Releasing Expectations Day 10: Hope, Faith, & Surrender PART 2: RECONNECTING Day 11: Moving Stuck Energy Day 12: Reclaiming Your Body Day 13: Deep Acceptance Day 14: Loving Yourself Day 15: Internal Family Systems Day 16: Finding The True You Day 17: Accessing Inner Calm Day 18: Your Compass Day 19: Mind vs Heart vs Soul Day 20: Standing In Your Power PART 3: LOOKING FORWARD Day 21: The Truth of Manifestation Day 22: Loving The Mystery Day 23: Ego vs Soul Desires Day 24: The Thud of Truth Day 25: Intuitive Guidance Day 26: Unlocking Possibility Day 27: Creating a Beautiful Life Day 28: Chop Wood Carry Water Day 29: Habits, Structure, Momentum Day 30: Living With an Open Heart “There are not enough words of gratitude to express to you for offering this program. I truly believe this has changed the trajectory of the rest of my life and has felt like it’s saved me in many ways.” -Leigha “Today allowed me to look back at a pattern and realize that I can release it. I no longer have to hold onto the fear that started it. It was a heart opening; a lift in my physical form.” -Pam “I am so incredibly grateful for this course. I feel a shift that I have journaled, prayed and wanted for years slowly taking place. This is life changing.” -Lori B

If you're ready, start with the 30-day course. And remember: When healing generational trauma, every layer of pain you let yourself feel is a pain that previous generations weren't able to feel, and future generations will no longer need to feel. The work you are doing is so much bigger than you. It may not be recognized by family or friends. You may not get praise. Previous generations may not understand. Future generations may take it for granted. But those in the trenches….know how big the work you’re doing is. This is a legacy unlike any other. And even if you do not have kids, your healing has an impact on the fabric of the collective consciousness, freeing up the stuck energy held through our interconnectedness, and making it easier for others to do this work (that's the most woo I'll get here). Why were you chosen? Why were you given enough wakefulness to not be able to numb? Why are you not able to turn away despite how torturous it feels? It’s hard to know. But trust it as the recognition that you have the capacity to transmute that which others have not been able to. You would not have been given access to this level of lucidity, this ability to feel so much without defaulting to the same patterns as those who came before you, if your system was not capable of meeting it in a different way. Take care of yourself. Keep listening. Put up boundaries when necessary. And trust this gift you have to stay at the threshold in ways that others were not able to. The ripple effect is massive. ✊

It’s easy to push back on this by saying, “Well, what if all of my friends have moved forward in their careers but I haven’t?” or “I’m 65, and I haven’t saved up enough money for retirement” or “I want to have kids but I’m getting older.”

Yes, all of these things could be perceived as “behind behind.” There are cultural norms, realities of age, and biological truths that inform our expectations of ourselves and our sense of being behind. But that’s exactly what I’m pushing back on in this video. It’s a limited view to take on your life and the mystery of why things unfold the way they unfold (even if you think it’s all your fault). The pain of “behind behind” carries the presupposition that you know what would ACTUALLY make everything better for you. “If only I was THERE in my life!” Well... If life is anything, it’s a series of endless examples of people thinking they know what’s going to make them happy or miserable and being very, very wrong. Sometimes, the most awful things turn out to be the most important moments in our lives. And vice versa. Trauma can lead to growth.
An exciting new job can lead to a work life you hate.
Cancer can lead to a new appreciation for life.
A new house can lead to terrible neighbors.
A break up can lead to a true love. Having kids can lead to a strained marriage. Not having kids can lead to a new spiritual path. Who the hell ACTUALLY knows where anything is leading? Instead of trying to control everything, can we move with the flow of life, seeing where it takes us, and what we can learn from it? As my wife Brianna says: “Can you trust life more than your ideas?” So, instead of measuring your life through the lens of what it “should be,” look at it for what it is, and ask, “If my path was unfolding exactly as it was supposed to, as if it were given to me by universal forces I can’t understand, what would it be trying to teach me? How has it been helping me grow? And what would be the next step it is asking me to take?”
 This will help you be in relationship to your life as it’s happening right NOW, as opposed to your ideas of how it should be. Tag someone who needs to hear this 🙏🏻

If you’re ready to go deep and do the work to create an incredible life, start with the 30-Day Challenge. People are having huge transformations every day in the program. You can read about the daily topics & testimonials at below and start watching the link in my bio. PART 1: LETTING GO Day 1 Meeting the Mess Day 2: The Paradox of Letting Go Day 3: Descend to Transcend Day 4: The Key Ingredient to letting Go Day 5: Settling into Ease Day 6: Alchemizing Regrets Day 7: Forgiving Yourself Day 8: Forgiving Others Day 9: Releasing Expectations Day 10: Hope, Faith, & Surrender PART 2: RECONNECTING Day 11: Moving Stuck Energy Day 12: Reclaiming Your Body Day 13: Deep Acceptance Day 14: Loving Yourself Day 15: Internal Family Systems Day 16: Finding The True You Day 17: Accessing Inner Calm Day 18: Your Compass Day 19: Mind vs Heart vs Soul Day 20: Standing In Your Power PART 3: LOOKING FORWARD Day 21: The Truth of Manifestation Day 22: Loving The Mystery Day 23: Ego vs Soul Desires Day 24: The Thud of Truth Day 25: Intuitive Guidance Day 26: Unlocking Possibility Day 27: Creating a Beautiful Life Day 28: Chop Wood Carry Water Day 29: Habits, Structure, Momentum Day 30: Living With an Open Heart “There are not enough words of gratitude to express to you for offering this program. I truly believe this has changed the trajectory of the rest of my life and has felt like it’s saved me in many ways.” -Leigha “Your words pierced into the deepest parts of my heart. In my darkness, I felt so human. I don’t know where this will lead, if I’ll close back up or stay open. I just know I am immensely grateful.” -Tasnim “Today allowed me to look back at a repetitive pattern and realize that I can release it. I no longer have to hold onto the fear that started it. I felt what you call the Thud. For me it was a heart opening, a lightening, a lift in my physical form. And now I feel energized!” -Pamela (comment from Day 24) “I am so incredibly grateful for this course. I feel a shift that I have journaled, prayed and wanted for years slowly taking place. This is life changing.” -Lori B

If you’re ready to stop running from yourself, and to actually create an inner world that feels peaceful to dwell within in, join the 30-day course. The meditations you will do in this program are very different than meditations you’ve done before. I created them to fill in all the gaps that my meditation training left for me. You can learn more and sign up at the link in my bio, and can read about the daily topics below. PART 1: LETTING GO Day 1 Meeting the Mess Day 2: The Paradox of Letting Go Day 3: Descend to Transcend Day 4: The Key Ingredient to letting Go Day 5: Settling into Ease Day 6: Alchemizing Regrets Day 7: Forgiving Yourself Day 8: Forgiving Others Day 9: Releasing Expectations Day 10: Hope, Faith, & Surrender PART 2: RECONNECTING Day 11: Moving Stuck Energy Day 12: Reclaiming Your Body Day 13: Deep Acceptance Day 14: Loving Yourself Day 15: Internal Family Systems Day 16: Finding The True You Day 17: Accessing Inner Calm Day 18: Your Sacred Compass Day 19: Mind vs Heart vs Soul Day 20: Standing In Your Power PART 3: LOOKING FORWARD Day 21: The Truth of Manifestation Day 22: Loving The Mystery Day 23: Ego vs Soul Desires Day 24: The Thud of Truth Day 25: Intuitive Guidance Day 26: Unlocking Possibility Day 27: Creating a Beautiful Life Day 28: Chop Wood Carry Water Day 29: Habits, Structure, Momentum Day 30: Living With an Open Heart “I am so incredibly grateful for this course. I feel a shift that I have journaled, prayed and wanted for years slowly taking place. This is life changing.” -Lori B