Creating your inner home.
Soaking up the stillness of the new day that I was gifted, I focused on this intention during my morning meditation. What popped up was a yearning to cultivate a true home within myself. In the process of healing my autoimmune disorder, I’ve noticed that I give into my thoughts, overreact and hand over my power unnecessarily. I let my ego run the show instead of my true soul self. And truth is, my soul was aching for a place to stay since it had been homeless for quite some time through convenience, sheer laziness, and intended neglect. It’s so easy to compartmentalize our feelings and let it fester than it is to face them head-on without contempt or judgment. Yet, right now my soul was letting me know that it is time to slow down and acknowledge the state of my emotional wellbeing and know that is was indeed safe to be in my own body.
For years, I’ve felt internally unsheltered. Perhaps it had been a maladaptive consumption of the negative stimuli (that embedded in my subconscious) or automatic social programming that drove me to feel this way, but I’m here to remind you that is our responsibility and duty to bring ourselves out of this place of destruction and into transcendence by starting with creating your inner home.
I equate building our inner home with emotional stability that you can depend on at any time. It is the loving space that holds your breath, your hopes and dreams, when shit hits the fan, when you feel lost or heartbroken--it’s a place that you can always return to no matter what. I truly wish emotional intelligence was taught in schools because I believe it to be such a transformative mindset for our generation and time. When we take the time to rest and separate the noise, we can then reflect and filter what matters to us and where our priorities lie. Experts estimate humans to have the capacity to think on average of 60,000-80,000 thoughts per day, distilling that down to per hour, that’s roughly 25,000-30,000 thoughts.
That’s a lot of thoughts if you ask me.
So, there’s no way that all of them are productive thoughts. What you focus on grows, so choose wisely and choose ones that feed your fire.
Below are the ways I’ve been building my home:
Meditation
You’ve heard it everywhere, and it’s definitely for a good reason. Because it works! Meditation comes in all different forms, so the key is to find one that works for you and your lifestyle. You might be thinking of the traditional sit on your tush in lotus position humming your life away, but it can also be in active forms like walking meditation or Kundalini Yoga. Meditation is not about forcing yourself to sit in silence or ignoring your reactive mind, but it’s more about observing and letting go of what doesn’t serve you. Within my practice, I like to envision it like a flowing river with multiple streams. I let my mind wander, letting the thoughts that arise like leaves floating on top of the river bed drift away. The key is noticing without holding onto judgment and letting it be for what it is--just a thought. Start with 5 minutes a day and let it grow!
Breathwork
This has been a huge catalyst for my healing process with emotional trauma and states of overwhelm. Prana, which means “breath” in Sanskrit, is the life energy that we possess. It is the primary energy that keeps our body and soul alive. Therefore, when we feel fatigued and drained we need to recharge through oxygenating our system through deep belly breathing. Don’t be alarmed if your body starts to tingle or you start crying, it’s simply an emotional release from your body. Here are links to my favorite guided practices.
Mindfulness
Gaps of pure peace are so yummy! As much as you love your phone and being “connected” try disconnecting from it and do your daily tasks without it. For example, eat your meal without your phone or listening to anything. Let yourself experience the vibrant flavors of your food, allowing it to dance away on your tastebuds and give thanks for having access to it. Let your ears rest and soak up the hum of artificial light, chirping of birds, the whooshing sound of an airplane. Give way to the present moment and let it guide you.
All of these practices work in tandem to give you power over how you choose your time and energy on what matters most in your life. It is meant to give you clarity and focus, love and light to everyday life, and I hope that this message resonates with you today as it has been a tremendous help in my growth and process.
Blessings to you as always!