This morning, I rolled out of bed reminding myself of my new self-care routine. But first, I had to clear a few mental road blocks: don’t look at emails, don’t look at Facebook, don’t stop to make a coffee first….
I tied my shoes, opened my treasure chest of essential oils, reached for a new bottle of ylang-ylang and mixed it with a drop of tangerine oil – ahhh… liquid sunshine. Like a painter and using my hand as a palette, I used my finger to rub some oil on my forehead (for focus), over my heart (to open to love) and on my belly (to center myself within). I stopped, rubbed both hands together, inhaled deeply into them and said: “All is well. All is well. All is well…” I stepped outside, smiled and started on my morning walk. “All is well” I repeated, as I smelled the nearby lavender plant…. watched a squirrel scurry…. felt the wind blow through me…. and felt the fallen leaves crunch under my feet…
Oh my – the challenges of changing our internal, conditioned, defaults of behavior patterns and beliefs. One of my default beliefs that I am working on changing is that “there is much depending on me, I need to show up and hit the ground running to make sure I get it all done right and don’t disappoint anyone!”. I am actively changing my beliefs and behaviors away from stress to calm. This is not easy work given all the societal messages and deeply engrained subconscious conditioning dating back to childhood, but I am using my affirmations, mindfulness, intention and conscious actions to meet it with loving resolve.
Once I start the day this way, I find it is easier to have this inner dialog on my way to work: I am happy and have a fulfilling life. Life is kind and fair. All hardships are opportunities to learn. I am deeply grateful for this life – all of it! What I am bringing to the table is enough and good. I trust others to also show up and together we will make it through. Love and collaboration are great gifts we give each other. I can release old patterns of perfectionistic expectation. Life is good. I am good enough. All is well.
What are your old conditioned patterns/beliefs/thoughts? Are they healthy and benefitting you? Are they consistent with who you are now? Are you still running outdated beliefs as your “operating system”?
What is your inner dialog? Is it neutral, kind and fair, especially to you? Is it positive and self-compassionate?
What would you like to practice, experience and claim for yourself instead?
Most importantly, what are your daily affirmations? Don’t have any? Try these out and find more on our Pinterest page .
Learn more about the author of this post: Lisa Catania, MSW, LCSW