Seek Self Awareness: Find You!

In order to experience true health, we need balance in all aspects of life (physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual). Most of us, myself included, take time to work out and train our physical bodies, but don’t always take the time to train our minds, emotions, and inner thought processes. When these are out of balance it can affect your peace of mind and happiness.

Information overload is king these days. It’s confusing to be aware of what you value and love in this life with media and internet constantly pushing images to aspire to, or pushing images of people seeking approval.

Between hypervigilance with electronic devices, the constant barrage of news stories (however insignificant), cell phones, iPads, and laptops…modalities of communication are causing a need to never-endingly check and respond to emails and messages and scroll through social media and news in an effort to stay connected and inform ourselves of what is important. Many times, the messages received through these different forms of media are not centering, informative, and helpful in any meaningful way. They are just noise.

It’s such a fast-paced world, with too much work and not enough personal time. This can leave you feeling out of touch with yourself and your goals, wishes, loves, and happiness.

How can we know how we feel personally about our lives much less know how to naviagate it? The road to peace of mind can be tricky, but there is a way to get there: Take the time to develop a routine that is JUST for you. Train your mind…just as your train your body.

What do all of the electronic devices, social media and news outlets have in common?

They all exist outside of YOU!

The deep personal answers you seek are not outside yourself most times. If you are going through a crisis or experiencing difficulties, finding the solutions to your issues is paramount to healing and resolution. Endless searching through Google and/or Social Media will not locate the true answers that lie inside of you.

All you have to do is go within…and Go Deep! It can sound scary and a little silly at the same time, but the only thing you have to discover or learn about is your own wisdom and inner calmness.

The key is to set aside a few minutes for yourself, daily if possible. If that’s not possible set aside 3 days per week.

Sit by yourself: Just you, no one else. You and all of your thoughts, emotions, wishes and dreams

Turn off all media: cell phone, iPad, laptop, desktop computer, music apps, etc.

Start Small: Try to sit still and relax in a comfortable position, upright. Notice how your body feels. Does it feel tight? Tense? How are you feeling? Do you feel anxious? Confused? Silly?

Take 3 very slow breaths and relax into your feelings and into your body. Just be there. Don’t try to solve anything. Don’t try to analyze anything. Don’t judge yourself or others. Just Be.

What do you notice? What are you happy about? What are your fears? Why are you worried? You know all of the answers to your internal questions and queries. Just relax and let your mind soften. Try to just notice how you feel, how you are breathing, and don’t judge any thoughts or emotions that come up. Instead, relax into them. If you are sad…then be SAD! Make friends with your sadness, your fear, your anxiety. They are all parts of you. Truly sit with them and do not try to change or solve them. Just sit and let it all take you over.

Try to sit for 5 minutes. When you feel restless just note it, smile about it, and move on.

I think you will find that your deep feelings are not so scary…they can give you comfort and knowing. They can even give you peace. Let them!

This may sound silly, but taking the time to truly know yourself and accept yourself is paramount to peace of mind, happiness, and contentment. If you are struggling to make sense of something this is a great exercise. If you are going through a crisis, this can be instrumental in finding a sense of center and security within yourself. If you are just wishing to expand your awareness, it can offer you great insight into yourself and how you view and interact with the world. Knowing these things can help you appreciate your life, make changes if necessary and make positive decisions. Accepting your limitations, faults, and mistakes and shaking hands with them is very empowering. It can give you clarity or understanding of how your actions affect others and the world around you. Taking responsibility for your deeds and misdeeds is central to the process of self-awareness.

When you feel calm and centered, take 3 more breaths. Give thanks to yourself for taking the time to actually be with YOU with no external distractions.

You can stop here, or go further and sit longer. Take note of the amazing multiple layers of yourself.

When you are done, try to log your thoughts in a book or journal so you can see what comes up for you as you move forward with your own personal evolution.

As you gain a higher amount of skill in working with yourself, you may notice that your calmness has increased, and your reactions to stress are lowered. By having the courage to Go Deep, you are improving your life in every way!

Hopefully you will find some value in this exercise. Wishing you great awareness on your inner journeys.

Peace!