We often look far and wide for the things that bring us less stress, more balance, and makes out life easier. Yet everything we need in the moment, as usual, already exists within us. When we find ourselves feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, depressed, exhausted or unhappy, we can tune in and activate any of these pulses to realign with our higher selves. From here, we can make more rational decisions and see more possibilities and opportunities that would otherwise be blocked from our perspective.
Breathe
Our most lifeward instinct is also our most important (and underused) tool. In any emotion or situation, you can gain an incredible amount of power and clarity by simply just stopping to take a full, deep breath. Inhale through the nose, bring it deep down to expand your belly first before your chest rises, hold the breath until you feel a slight pressure at the top, then release through your nose (belly deflates first before chest), until you feel a slight pressure at the bottom of the breath. Repeat three times. This simple exercise is how you can re-centre yourself in any moment, to bring the energy back to your own source of power. Full, vast, and rich breaths will create the same life patterns.
Become your own observer
When you feel thoughts or anxieties building up, detach from feeding the thoughts, and instead simply observe them. Emotions are like weather patterns, storms of all sorts will come and go. Everything will change for the better when you can disassociate from the habitual emotional response and let a moment of observation and clarity come through. This is why breathing helps. Beyond thoughts, take this practice into the body. Get in the habit of regularly tuning in and asking yourself: How am I feeling? How’s my breathing? How’s my posture? Where is my mind? Is my heart rate up (or down) for any reason?
Smile, and remind yourself that it does not have to be difficult
We are prisoners of our own self-limiting beliefs and of the scenarios that we remind ourselves each day. We might be playing out the solution in our heads so much that we might miss a solution. Relax. We tend to grow up thinking life is difficult, bound by our conditions or experiences. Create the space for knowing that life is always lifeward. Life wants you to survive and thrive. When you can ease up on your pressures and learn to flow towards the path of least resistance, life becomes more easy going, gentle, nourishing, loving, playful and enriching, if you allow it to be. If you feel like ease has not been your experience in the past, let that go, and be open to a new way of thinking and living. It is very simple: When you move through life, move towards the people and experiences that feel good and away from whatever does not. Don’t fight the flow, instead just trust that the reason why things happen are in support of your best, most life-ward purpose. The changes in attitude and actions that occur when you tune up your frequency into the good, loving, supporting rhythms of life will help elevate your entire existence.
Declutter
The exterior quality of life is a reflection of the interior quality of life, so chances are if the world around you feels scattered, disorganised and cluttered, it is because of how you are feeling inside. Clean, clear and move things around, get the energy flowing. Feel the freedom of moving on from what no longer serves you by giving them away without attachment. Catch and release bad habits, such as thinking negatively (mental clutter) or allowing physical clutter to pile up in and around you. Physically and mentally remove what is no longer serving your highest interest.
Take action
Much like the concept of moving clutter to move energy, stagnant thoughts and unlived desires build up and manifest into depression and fatigue. Courageously move towards things that call you, when they call you. Be flexible and playful in your actions, see hurdles and challenges as fun problem solving and agility testing. See how you can move yourself through life’s levels and fieldwork. Celebrate your action. No matter how big or small your steps forward are, keep it moving. Most importantly, when you do take action, let it be heart-filled with great passion, power and purpose. If you haven’t discovered what makes you feel fully empowered and happy, take action towards that discovery. Explore, learn and do things that make you laugh, that take your breath away, that open your mind and world up. Move through what you know and what’s comfortable with wonder and appreciation.
* The author can be contacted on Instagram @CoCre
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