Can you believe it’s already the last month of the year? December 2019 is here!? How are you feeling? Are you focused on your day-to-day (full of to-do lists, appointments, and lots of plans) survival? A tad overwhelmed?
‘Overwhelm’, can creep into my vibe, so insidiously, silent like a ninja in stealth mode. With all the hustle, bustle, & celebrating, it’s easy to get thrown off my spot and distracted. While dwelling in my deepest self during yoga, going thru energetic flows on the mat, the solution to the ‘overwhelm’ is to GO INWARD. When we GO INWARD it is the path to move forward. Confidence, strength, acceptance, discovery are all achieved when we GO INWARD.
What Does It Mean To GO INWARD?
Inward definition: 1. on or towards the inside: 2. inside your mind and not expressed to other people.
I’d like to invite you to join me on a journey… to the center of the earth… jk… to the center of you. To GO INWARD. To seek out, define what you need to let go of from 2019 & what seeds you will plant and grow for 2020.
Try to prime your mind, by thinking about all the obstacles you have faced over the last year...
As you reflect and GO INWARD remember it is your own thoughts that shape how you feel the next day and in the future. You’re in charge of everything. You have the power to change the script and the only way to do this is to journey into yourself, GO INWARD.
“A man who as a physical being is always turned toward the outside, thinking that his happiness lies outside him, finally turns inward and discovers that the source is within him.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Do you meditate? Maybe you want to however just can't figure out where to start. Maybe you tried it and decided I absolutely can not do this. Please be patient, the payoff is HUGE, even just 2 minutes a day to meditate can make an impact!
Meditation achieves mastery over the mind’s roaming tendencies. When you focus on quieting mental chatter in order to calm yourself and GO INWARD. A great reason to mediate is because it directly correlates to real life and helps you out! When you’re in a real life scenario all of the meditative practice in being calm aids you and you’re able to be calm under pressure.
Meditation is not easy. It has taken me time to explore and achieve a daily practice. It is a journey. One part of it. Go easy on yourself and start with a guide by installing the app Insight Timer (Free).
Do 1 five minute guided meditation with Insight Timer for 5 days in a row.
Yoga and meditation go hand in hand. If you are someone who has trouble meditating, then yoga is for you. Think of a yoga class as scheduled self-care time to GO INWARD. Much like meditation, yoga quiets the mind and restores peace and calm inside.
Yoga is a moving meditation which is easier for a lot of us - sitting completely still is harder than it looks! The movement of yoga allows you to get lost in yourself and journey ever farther inward. I see you rolling your eyes, I would not waste your time! Yoga is one path to clarity, to answers, to freedom.
Any moment where you are in the moment, is meditation. Use yoga as an outlet to GO INWARD.
A SIDE NOTE: No excuses here. Yoga is for everyone. EVERY. ONE. Don’t be intimidated to join a class because you’ve never done yoga before. No one is looking at you, everyone is in their own practice. Growing is learning and trying new experiences.
Take 1 yoga class this month, share your experience with me!
When you write down your thoughts, you can make sense of chaotic events or decisions with greater ease. Journaling is a healing and deeply nourishing self-care practice. It will strengthen your relationship with yourself, and help you to become more self-aware.
When I say journaling, I don’t mean keeping a “dear diary, this is what happened today” logbook (which is totally cool to do by the way). What I mean is asking those tough thought provoking questions of yourself and then writing down the answers. When you see them in black and white, without noise or distortion, you’re able to gain perspective.
We are forever evolving, changing beings. If you’re interested in finding deeper clarity around who you truly are, what you want and what is most important to you, start journaling.
For 5 consecutive days, set a time for 5-10 minutes and write on a fresh page. If you get stuck, come up with a Two Word Story for that day or the next.
Overtasked, overworked, overwhelmed. It’s hard to remember anything else, let alone to be grateful when you’re just struggling to keep up with the relentless pace of life. Being aware and finding gratitude in those tangible things that you can see, allowing your awareness to experience the feelings of gratitude for what you have right now, are great ways to connect to the core internal self and GO INWARD.
When you don’t have gratitude for what you CURRENTLY have IN THIS MOMENT, you’re setting yourself up for a very difficult and frustrating existence. If all you can think about is what you’re lacking or don’t have, you’ll never have enough of whatever you need.
So take control of your happiness, grab onto gratitude and GO INWARD. Get a clean sheet of paper. Sit quietly and make a list. Try a Magnitude Gratitude List, every Sunday. It is something I make time for every week. It’s pre-planned time for me to GO INWARD and think about the week that is to come. I ask myself, “what is coming up this week that I’m grateful for”?
You don’t have to have a week packed with inspiring appointments or epic adventures to be grateful. The sweetest part of gratitude is that you usually find it in the simple things you do.
Each item on the Gratitude Magnitude List for the week, I think about a Two Word Story for each of those things on my list, so that I can hold onto that positive mindset with a mantra. Two words are simple, refreshing and finding those two words per item is a lil secret tip way to GO INWARD.
Here are a few examples of what I’m grateful for in the coming week and the Two Word Story that goes along with them:
Every Sunday, when I finish my list, I take a quick photo and share it to Instagram where others can TURN INWARD, too and join in the Gratitude Magnitude.
Pick one Sunday in December. Add an alert reminder in your calendar. Make a Magnitude Gratitude List for your upcoming week! When you’re done, share the good vibes with the community. Post a pic of your list, tag me (@aliasobel_twowordstory) and hashtag #GratitudeMagnitude #TwoWordStory
Most of us don’t like to spend time alone. We like to distract ourselves. We’d rather watch tv, scroll through our Facebook feeds, meet people, or go out to do things, ANYTHING basically, other than taking the time and effort to TURN INWARD.
It’s hard and uncomfortable to sit with ourselves sometimes. It’s much easier to ignore connecting with our experience if it’s giving us discomfort and to turn outward in search of solace. The truth is, the only thing that will comfort you, the only way to find it, is to TURN INWARD. Take the conscious and deliberate time to look within for the answers and explore our feelings. Change that today. Do not fear any emotions that may come up, embrace them as part of your beauty, as they are part of yourSELF.
The irony of being human is that all external events, everything in the world, aside from you, is something that must be interpreted, understood, and experienced INTERNALLY to make sense of life. Embrace this and being the never-ending journey to SELF this December.
I can promise you, based on my own journey inward that when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. To get to wherever you want to be or go, the shortest, yet more difficult path, to find your way to that destination or state of being, can only be found when you GO INWARD.
“Run from what's comfortable. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.” ― Rumi
Take the leap. Make the plunge. Dive in. To YOU. Start 2020 prepared AF!
xoxo,
ALIA