To not listen to your intuition, would be to not acknowledge the fire, after smelling the smoke.
Self care has almost become a cliche that we loosely throw around as a means to remind ourselves or others of how to feel better in the monotonous routine of our lives. We see people post on their social media, drinking wine and wearing face masks. People post lavish smoothies they drink or post a meme of some self care tip that glorifies some action or thought relating to self care. We wildly misunderstand what self care actually is. Sure, face masks, smoothies, baths, unwinding with a drink all do something to help us escape from the mundane, but is it actually self care? Intuitively each of us recognizes a pivotal moment, in our days or weeks, where we feel overwhelmed with life’s daunting survival. Because we believe we have to accomplish everything, quickly and all at once, we ignore this intuition and grow anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed. We have forgotten how to relax completely. More often then not, I’ve encountered numerous people who claim, they don’t relax at all, or that they can never sit still and mindlessly jump from one task to another in search of fulfillment. Yet what if as soon as our intuition pointed out to us that we need to slow down we listened? And how exactly do we do this? I love a good face mask, and smoothie as much as the next time, but these really just buy time until life speeds up and captures us again. Never once from doing a face mask, did I feel better in high stress situations for more than a fleeting moment. In todays climate, we are almost shut down from ourselves completely. So how do we remedy this? There are a number of ways, of which I feel imperative to share. The first thing is to get real with who you are. During the day, to our employer, we are an employee, to our parents, a child, and to our peers a peer. At three am, or alone with yourself who are you actually?
The process to discovering this is actually simple and the first step to realistic self care. Sit with yourself completely alone, in a space you feel comfortable and safe. For some it may be a specific place in your home, others nature. The important part is, that you’re completely alone with yourself. Sit for an allotted time with yourself. Try at least fifteen minutes, so your brain has time to slow its overactive pace you’ve grown accustom to. Close your eyes and simply observe. Watch each passing thought like a cloud going by on a blank sky. Note to not attach yourself to what’s coming to your mind, simply just observe it. After some time doing this, move to your emotions. Check in with how you’re feeling,acknowledge your emotional state and become aware of feelings of discomfort and comfort. Say internally, I’m feeling anxious, or I’m feeling happy and continue the observation. This time is for yourself and you don’t have to do anything about how you’re feeling, simply observing is enough. Next, move on to your physical body. How does it feel? What pains you, what is relaxed. See what’s going on in your physical being and allow yourself to observe. Again, make a conscious effort to not attach to anything you’re witnessing, just let each observation float by. Finally, after checking in on your mental,emotional, and physical being, move to the center of your chest and just breathe here for awhile. Take the time to be quiet, realizing and letting go of all you just observed. At the very least, give yourself some time to feel expansive or relaxed while focusing on the center of your being. Whenever your time is up, resume whatever life matters you have to attend. Try and make this practice daily, or as often as you wish to, you should start to see results of rest, relaxation and overall a heightened sense of awareness. In turn your stressful days will become easier to maneuver because you’ll have a tool to return to and check in. If you wish to, take it a step further and journal what you observed. You may see overtime how the thoughts and feelings you originally observed have since past and been let go of.
Through this self observation process, naturally you’re intuitive sense, strengthens, and you’ll find how to handle your life better by a guiding force inside yourself that is thanking you for taking time to understand all of who you are. The pressures of the world are easy to get wrapped up in, yet part of this human experience is understanding how to go within to live better without. Now feeling rested from the accumulative effects of your self observation practice, reward yourself with that face mask, smoothie or glass of wine. Each moment, our true self is letting us know through our intuition what it is exactly that we need. Honor this, listen to your voice and become vigilant in how you handle yourself. In a fast paced society that often emphasizes all work and no rest, it is paramount at the very least, we take the time for inner exploration and increase our overall awareness.
Let us know how this worked for you in the comments