Mindfulness + Observation = Awareness

Mindfulness is a skill that we have within us. Like many skills, we need to nurture and cultivate them so they can continue to improve bringing more value to our life. Where does one begin to cultivate mindfulness?

First, we have Observation + No Judgement = Mindfulness. After a period of observation without judgement that skill becomes a part of who we are. Did we slip and forget to not judge? Did we act or react without observing the situation? Totally cool, just take a breathe or five until we can slide back into our vibe of mindfulness.

Once you have this established practice of mindful observation without judgement in your life an automatic awareness is built into your life. Fantastic right! Now what? So you have been observing without judgement and that has made you more aware of what is happening in your life with habits, relationships, and the actions and reactions of yourself and others.

This awareness is where we begin to make mindful choices. Choices can be scary, especially in the times that it feels as though we have no good choices. However, being aware that we have a choice to continue as we are without making any changes or make a change that is mindful of our true self is honest self awareness.

Honesty with ourselves though mindfulness can and will bring massive change to your life. This change starts with internal awareness of yourself, your life moments and the actions and reactions that you give. The honesty begins when we are not only aware of the action or reaction that we are giving to a present moment, but when we begin to act or react in a way that is aware and authentic to who we are and what we want and need.

This can be done with loving kindness because we are first observing, then acting or reacting without judgement. Removing judgement from our moments allows us to make space for awareness of the emotions that we are feeling and sharing with our actions and reactions. Sharing anger becomes intentional and not reflexive. Expressing joy becomes a choice instead of suppressing your light.

How can you live in mindfulness today?

What mindful observations have you made about yourself or any one situation today?

Are these observations in alignment with your loving kindness or not?

I hope these prompts aid you in your path of mindfulness.
Irisa

Mindfulness & Words

Just for today, pause before you say your words. Take one small moment to reflect on the words that are in your mind.

• Do these words feel heavy or light?
• What emotions do the words convey?
• Are these words making you feel good about yourself?
• If these words were said to you, how would you feel?

This exercise in mindfulness can change so much in your life. Words are the most powerful thing we have at our disposal. Our words convey emotion, truth, reality, perception and so much more.

Each of us has said something and instantly regretted it. If you had taken a moment to speak, would you have uttered those words or changed the way you said what you needed to say?

Words shape the world around us. Our children believe and internalize what they see and hear. What they hear you say to them, about them, shapes their perception of their self. This perception further shapes their self image and relationships with their self and others.

Your relationships are shaped by both words and actions. Do your words and actions match? Are you in alignment with your thoughts and expressions?

Taking a mindful moment before speaking to check in with yourself and see if what you are saying and what you are feeling match can change everything. If you are saying yes to a commitment, but your body and mind are screaming no through feelings such as anxiety, tension, irritability, etc. Then why are you saying yes?

Use these clues to find truth in your life. If each of us used mindful moments to connect with ourselves and consider how our words and actions do or do not match, the world would be a better place. We can start making profound changes with little moments.

Honest with ourself is the most profound change we can make. Understanding that we really do have choices and freedoms is profound. Matching our words to our actions is the best gift we can give ourselves and our society.

For one hour, I want you to practice mindful moments in speaking. This could be the most terrifying, exhilarating, freeing experience of your life. Be completely honest with yourself if your words and emotions line up.

If they do, great keep doing this and making sure you are living your most authentic self, but take the check in one step further. What are you conveying into the world? Is it anger and hatred or loving kindness and compassion? What do you want to convey with your words and actions? Hope or Despair? Change or compliance?

If your words and actions don’t match up ask yourself why you are not allowing that to happen? Change your filter and ask yourself why you do this? Why do you keep your words and your actions from matching? Journal. Meditate. Take a run. Do what you need to and dig into your truth. Discover the core reason you do not do this. Once you know the reason, then you can take the next step into making the change to bring your words and actions into alignment with yourself.

With Mindfulness & Words,
Irisa

Mindfulness for Personal Awareness

Good Morning Beautiful People,

Today, I would like to discuss with you personal awareness. In my opinion this beautiful tool is essential to mindfulness, clearing energy blocks and being in tune with the Universe to create the life you adore.

First I want you to take a long, slow deep breathe in your nose, then a long slow exhale out of your nose … again breathe slowly and deeply, then exhale slowly and deeply … once more a long, slow deep breathe in your nose, then, then a long slow exhale through your nose.

Now, gently observe yourself. Ask: Dear body, how are you feeling? Be receptive to the answer and simply note it. No digging, reasoning or judging. Ask: Dear mind, how are you feeling? Again, we simply want to know and acknowledge the answer. Nothing more at this time. Ask: Dear Self, how are you feeling? No judgement, no logic, just know the answer and acknowledge it.

You have checked in with your body, mind and spirit … yourself. You have taken a moment to be aware of yourself and where you are at this moment. This is huge. When is the last time you offered yourself the gift of personal awareness?

We sit with our loved ones when they are having difficulties and offer them judgement-free loving kindness. Also, if you don’t think that you sit with loving kindness and awareness for others; when is the last time you said “well, they are just going through a rough time, this isn’t what they are really like …” or something akin to that? Give yourself the same loving kindness and personal awareness you give everyone else. Be the person you are to everyone else to YOU! Stop putting yourself last!

As I have been digging deeper into mindfulness, I had a huge realization with my own personal awareness last week (which was absolutely awful). It was the beginning of elementary school, severe humidity, total body joint pain flair and a migraine that lasted 4 days. I haven’t felt this awful in a very long time. Normally, I am the queen of ignoring my personal pain to push through and get things done.

This week, instead of simply pushing through, I gave myself the space to do mindfulness and sat with personal awareness. How? First, I decided that my family could either pitch in and do some of the simple chores or it wouldn’t get done. I practiced total honesty with them about how I was feeling and what I needed.

Here is what I received: the 8 & 6 year old did some extra picking up without argument and they gave me lots of love and cuddles. My partner, when he wasn’t working, helped with some of the bigger stuff. This was a gift because I could physically rest to heal and it was a gift to them, because I was honest and upfront with how I was feeling and what I needed they could pitch in to help me. This kept me from being upset and moody with them and all of us were happier.

While resting, I observed my body, my mood, my frustration, my temperament and I simply made notes in my journal on what I was feeling and thinking each time something of notice occurred. After a few days of this I looked at what I had written and noticed a pattern of what was bothering me.

By sitting with my self awareness I noticed thoughts and feelings manifesting that were not beneficial to me. This period of observation without judgement or wallowing allowed me to really know some things that were causing conflict and energy blocks within my life. Now that I have awareness on these things, I can move forward and resolve the conflicts and eliminate the energy blocks so that I can continue to move forward with my personal growth in alignment with the Universe and creating a life that I adore.

There is an importance to using the skill of mindfulness to help you be self aware. The tricky part is to observe the self, not wallow or judge. Observation allows you to simply be. Think of it as people watching, except for yourself.

If you find yourself constantly thinking about a situation or individual you may be wallowing. If you find yourself coming to rigid conclusions about an individual or situation, ask yourself Am I judging? Using the simple breathe exercise in the beginning of the article and bring yourself back to a place of mindfulness.

This self awareness through mindfulness allows you to sit, know and understand where you are in your life and what is really affecting you. By doing this you can make better decisions for yourself and your life that allow you to clear energy blocks and be in alignment with your true self. Know thyself and you can create a life you adore.

Be proud of the work and time you are spending on yourself. You deserve it! I would love to hear how mindfulness for personal awareness helps you.
In love,
Irisa

Turn Problems Into Hope

Thoughts matter. What was the first thought you had today? Did you stress over money? Rejoice in the fact you were alive? Weep that another day had begun? Feel gratitude for your family?

I woke up with the most amazing feeling of love. I couldn’t wait to get up and share my love with the world. To share my love with everyone I know. To share my love with you. This was incredible and a long journey to get here.

Normally, I am a giant ball of stress. I make the mistake many do and try and carry the stress for my family so they can enjoy life more. How dumb is that? How can my family enjoy me if I am a giant ball of stress? I certainly am not a joy to be around when I feel this way. I am short tempered and focused on problems not fun.

It is so difficult to shift from worry, stress, anxiety, and problems to love, peace, gratitude and abundance. If you are like me you have heard live in love, practice loving kindness, only positive parenting and probably felt this was unattainable or worse yet that there was something wrong with you because you could not do this.

It is so hard to keep your cool when you are worried about how to pay the mortgage or if you have a job. Stress makes you short-sighted and short-tempered. If getting angry is second nature, then you know feeling awful for that anger follows and suddenly you are in a loop.

Emotions happen for a reason. Breathe. You are human. Stop and forgive yourself. Now breathe again. Do you want to turn life in a different direction? Do you want to find a way to live the life you dream of? Have a life you adore?

I swear it can happen. Even if you don’t know how you are going to put food on the table this week, it can happen. Each one of us has blocks to manifesting a life of abundance. Right now, if you cannot imagine your mind focusing on anything but your problems then we start with the problem acknowledgement exercise.

Problem Acknowledgement Exercise
Get a pen and paper. The back of an envelope, your journal, a napkin, anything will work. List all of the things stressing you out. No matter how big or small. No matter how personal. Especially if that voice says: this really shouldn’t bother me, absolutely list it.

Okay, you have your list. Acknowledge that is an achievement. How do you feel? Feeling overwhelmed? Feeling better for putting it all in one place? Feeling nauseous? Feeling angry? Whatever you are feeling is what you are feeling in this moment, it is not what you have to feel forever.

Take a deep breathe in your nose and a slow exhale through your mouth. Every time you feel resistance or want to give up. Breathe. Breathe until you find your resolve to move forward. You can do this!

Take a look at each item on your list. Look without honesty and judgement. How this happens only matters from the perspective of not repeating mistakes. Blame, criticism and negative-self talk will do nothing to assist you in changing things.

Focus with a clear mind, breathe if you become emotional. Breathe until you are calm and clear minded. See without judgement. If judgement begins, then breathe. Breathe until you are once again clear minded.

Is this something that is an actual problem for you or something someone in your life has told you is a problem for you. Notice I say for you? That is because we often take other peoples issues and make them our own. No matter how much you love someone and want to help them there is a huge difference between help and ownership.

Example one: Work is cutting your hours. Yes, this is an actual problem for you.

Example two: your cousin can’t pay their rent because they partied all month and didn’t save a dime. No, this is not your problem (unless they live with you and are paying the rent).

No matter how much you love this person if you are going to hurt yourself by financially, emotionally or physically helping them. Then you need to take a step back and say at this moment I cannot help them without hurting myself, so they must solve their own problem. This does not make you a bad person.

“No one was put on this earth to solve problems for everyone they meet, know or love. How do I know this? Because if that was your purpose, trust that the Universe would have given you all the resources to do so and live a life you adore.”

— Irisa MacKenzie

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Once you have gone through the list and crossed off what really is a problem for you take a moment to be proud of yourself for doing something very difficult. Also, do you any items that you feel guilty for putting down or that the inner voice is saying isn’t a problem? Pull them aside and we will deal with them seperately.

Now, look at what you have left on your list and prioritize what needs to be handled. Start at the top and brainstorm solutions. In example one: Work is cutting your hours. Possible solutions: second job, new job, unemployment, roommate, evaluate finances and see if you can really survive on less, etc.

Go through each issue in front of you and brainstorm. If you do not know what to do about something try to google solutions, speak with a trusted friend or family member, meditate. Write down possible solutions, no matter how crazy they seem. Sometimes the craziest ideas hold nuggets of truth, ideas or wisdom. Only you can find the solution that works best for your life. Trust yourself!

Having a plan or part of a plan doesn’t make the problems go away, but it does give you focus and hope. Changing focus from worry to solution is a step to clearing the blocks from having a life you adore. Hope is the seed needed to find our way back to love.

Take another breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. Look at the list that makes you feel uncomfortable. Are the items there something that others tell you how you should feel? Is it something you secretly desire? Be totally honest with how you feel and why. This may take some time and soul searching and that is okay. Simply acknowledging that you have these feelings about these things is the first step to doing something.

That something may be resolving an issue with another individual through communication. You may need to set clearer boundaries in your life which can be difficult and often brings feelings of guilt at first. Personally, I am still working on not feeling guilty for setting boundaries. I can tell you that it gets easier if you continue to practice this.

It may even be that what is bothering you is something someone else is telling you about yourself. This takes some self evaluation to see if it is meant with love and something you do need to focus on or if they are projecting their expectations for you onto you and those expectations are not in alignment with what you want for yourself nor do they resonate with your soul. Only you can determine this truth, but do it with total honesty that resonates from your soul. Work through any resistance until you are certain you are seeing this clearly.

Congrats on taking the first steps to making changes to create the life you adore! Does this mean you are going to start being one with loving kindness or embrace positive parenting and never get frustrated with the kids again? No. What this does mean is that you are beginning the work to creating a life that you adore.

While I cannot offer you a magic solution that fixes everything in an instant. I can offer you truths I have learned along my journey. May this wisdom reach those who need it and may the Universe continue to guide us in this amazing journey of Know Thyself to create a life we adore!

Have a wonderful day!
Irisa MacKenzie