aprildianeWe start the journey toward improving our quality of life through self-care by becoming more conscious and present with where we are today. The only way to get where you want to be is to be fully present with the lessons of today. So what are some things we are looking for when we are observing?
You want to observe your thoughts, your feelings, and your beliefs. It is also helpful to observe your breath and if there is any areas in your body you may be holding tension.
Thoughts:
Thoughts are like signals we receive from experiences we’ve had, conversations we’ve heard, things we’ve seen in real life or on television. When getting into observation mode through stillness, just allow the thoughts to pass by like clouds in the sky at first.
When a thought arises and you become aware of the thought this is you seeing the thoughts separate from yourself – this is you observing the thought. The ability to observe a thought is a powerful skill that helps you choose how you will respond to the thought if at all. Some thoughts are not meant to be visited some are just meant to pass you by like a cloud in the sky.
Observing your thoughts and bringing your attention back to your breath can be used as a focusing or relaxation tool.
Feelings
Our Self-Care Revolution requires that we tune into our feelings. If we have not been attentive to our self-care then chances are we have been abandoning our feelings. Feelings are connected to our internal guidance system known as our intuition. Our intuition is meant to help us discern which choices are in alignment with our goals and which choices may not be in alignment with our goal of improving our quality of life through self-care.
In order to honor our feelings we have to acknowledge and know they are there.
Honoring our feelings can require that we build practices around learning to set healthy boundaries with people and with our self discipline. Honoring our feelings requires that we show ourselves compassion.
Beliefs:
Through stillness we can observe what we belief to be true about ourselves, our abilities, the world, and people around us. Our beliefs are important because they can inspire the choices we make.
The Body
Our body stores memories of our experiences – especially the experiences we don’t take time to process. Using stillness and the power of the breath we improve the communication between the mind and the body. This simple yet challenging process is the gateway to experiencing a better quality of life through self-care.
