Over the years, I have learned to pay close attention to how I feel throughout my day and in various life situations. I discovered that in order to have a well-functioning mind, body and soul, I needed to put the utmost care into myself. If I don’t give it the attention that it deserves, it keeps nudging me persistently as a reminder to“Please Take care of Me”. I truly believe it is the most important job we have during this lifetime. We must feed our minds empowering thoughts and beliefs, treat our bodies with love and respect, and ignite the light in our soul in order to illuminate our path.
So, “How do you want to feel”? This is not a one-size-fits-all answer, but rather a wildly individualized one that needs to be uncovered. Yes, it takes time, patience, and awareness to put together the bits and pieces to design your own well-being.
Photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash
Here is an example from my own life that might help quick-start your self-discovery journey in this area.
I’m someone who requires a lot of time for relaxing, recharging and reflecting. As an introvert, Highly Sensitive Person and an Empath, I tend to drain my battery rather quickly. If I’m not careful, I could be running on empty before I even start my day. Time to myself is of the utmost importance, as well as making sure I structure my day in a thriving way. My daily routine ensures a flow to save and spend my energy on the important things in life.
Therefore, I divide my day into sections – Morning, Afternoon and Evening.
This ensures a realistic expectation of how I want to feel throughout the course of the day. We could even define how we wish to feel in certain situations or around certain people, as not everything is as clear-cut as this trio of time blocks. Nobody feels energized or calm all day long, that’s why it helps to compartmentalize and do the activities that help you evoke the desired feeling.
It took me a while to put all the pieces together but now, I have developed a routine that starts my morning calm, grounded and mentally clear. My afternoon is filled with activities that recharge and energize. And this flows into my evening of connection and reflection. Of course, life happens in between and might even throw us some curveballs, but these “feeling anchors” are fantastic reminders to course correct and bring us back to how we want to feel!
Any-who, in order to put this all to work it sometimes needs to be experimented with by trial and error. For example, I wanted to feel energized in the morning and thought a 30-min run would do the trick. Actually, the opposite happened. I lost all my energy and found out in the process that I am more of a late afternoon exercise person. Now, I dry brush and take a cold shower in the morning to energize my body and mind. I feel awake, have a clear mind and am ready to start my work fully present and flowing with creative juices. (There is so much more to my morning routine, but that’s a whole other post).
No doubt it can be a lot of work to tailor an individual plan to your body’s needs, wants and desires. There is so much to uncover in the areas of body, mind, and spirit. Nevertheless, it is well worth the time and effort we put into ourselves to become empowered with knowledge and thrive with experience. All of this leaves us so much wiser than before. Our bodies thank us in return, tenfold!!
What are your thoughts around this concept?