Steps to Begin Living Consciously
Are you ready to take some steps to begin living consciously? Are you ready to increase your awareness of your actions and why you behave the way you do?
Moving out of our known comfort zone is, well, uncomfortable. Grounding your mind, body, and spirit is a helpful way to bridge the discomfort.
Step One: Ground Your Mind, Body, and Spirit.
To start, find somewhere quiet and comfortable to sit and be still.
- Have your feet firmly planted on the ground. Your knees should be bent and your head, neck, and shoulders Allow your hands to rest gently in your lap, maybe perhaps with palms up to signal openness.
- If this is comfortable for you, you can close your eyes, or you can gaze gently at a focal point, maybe a candle.
- Take a deep breath and then slowly exhale. Take two more deep, cleansing breaths.
- Notice the impact three intentional breaths have had on your mind, body, and spirit.
I invite you to do a breathing “visualization” exercise.
- Continue your deep breathing, feeling grounded in your seat.
- Breathe through your nose and visualize calmness coming into your body.
- As you inhale calmness, do a body scan beginning with the top of your head. Do you notice any tension or “swirl?” Visualize any tension or unsettledness leaving your body on the exhale.
- On the next inhale, bring awareness to your forehead. What do you notice? Is there anything that needs to be released with the exhale?
- Continue to breathe deeply and notice your jaw. Breathe into that space. Seek to release any tension.
- Slowly do this breathing “body scan” by noticing each part of your body and breathing calmly into it. Take your time to move down your throat, shoulders, chest, arms, hands, fingers, torso, pelvis, legs, and feet.
- As your breath flows with calmness to your feet, see them firmly planted on the ground, almost as if roots flow out of your feet into the rich soil beneath.
- End with natural breathing and noticing the easy flow in your mind, body, and spirit.
Now you are ready to move into increased awareness.
Mindfulness allows us to become aware of all the thoughts we carry. We can choose to see them for what they are: our thoughts and not our essence.
As we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings, we can be curious and aware that they exist.
- We often live in our heads without acknowledging the physical reactions we have in our bodies.
- We have access to all this information, yet often we have been conditioned to stay in our well-worn patterns of thinking.
Our core thoughts and beliefs will often come into our thinking and decisions without full realization. Being blind to these influences can affect our lives and the lives of others around us.
Over time, as we see our mindsets influencing our actions, we learn to claim our power and lessen destructive thoughts and situations.
Step Two: Raise Awareness Around Your Beliefs
To understand the core beliefs you hold deeply, we will reflect on messages you heard in your childhood. They may have been said directly or inferred, or your child-mind may have made them up to explain your experiences (l believed I was unworthy because no one came to my aid when I was being abused).
I invite you to consider the following word stems.
- On your inhaling breath, breathe in the first word/words offered.
- On your exhale, see what words naturally come out.
- Allow your inner voice to speak so you can wake up to unhealthy thoughts.
Breathe in, I must…
Breathe out… whatever words come in response to the prompt.
Continue reflecting on the phrase until no more thoughts or beliefs surface.
For me it was:
- I must…be concerned for others above myself.
- I must…protect others at all costs.
- I must…have it all together.
- ……
Now move on to the next word stem.
Breathe in, NEVER…
Breathe out… _____________________________________________________
For me it was:
- Never…be lazy or idle.
- Never…rely on anyone.
Breathe in, ALWAYS…
Breathe out… _____________________________________________________
For me it was:
- Always…be above reproach.
- Always…be there for others.
- Always…stay small, be quiet, and don’t stand out.
Sit with your response to these prompts.
- Allow your body to respond to the statements. What do you notice? Any specific feelings?
- What insights were gained from identifying these beliefs/thoughts?
- Summarize the key learnings from this exercise.
Note: If tension, discomfort, or even nausea comes during this exercise, breathe deeply into that space in your body.
If these steps to examine your deeply rooted limiting beliefs began to open you up to new possibilities, I would love to share a free tool to further examine your limiting beliefs. To receive it, contact me at tambry@survivorstothrivers.com. I also welcome the opportunity to work with you to claim your exciting next chapter by transforming unhealthy patterns into life-giving ones that manifest your thriver self.
I leave you with a quote from my book, Awakening the Light: A Survivors to Thrivers Going-Forward Story which shares my healing journey and provides exercises for readers to claim theirs.
“We all have been wounded in some way. What we do with the woundedness defines us. If we learn and grow from our wounds, they can motivate us to claim our Going-Forward Story.”
Here’s to Living Consciously! Tambry
Talk To Tambry
I am glad you have taken the time to engage with this blog. Sometimes it is helpful to process new insights that emerge. If you would appreciate brief time with a someone who understands, our Talk to Tambry offering is for you. For 30 minutes, you can receive support from Tambry who is a certified life coach, spiritual director and a survivor who has been on the journey as well. This is offered at a reduced rate of $50.
