Meditation & Mindfulness while Sick

Hello My Friends!

The last several days I have found myself relying heavily upon my meditation practice as I navigate three sick children under the age of ten. Joining lack of sleep has been our friends cranky, whining, and extra tears. Breathe meditations and mindfulness have helped me be more patient and present for everyone’s care right until I woke up sick and congested.

As I was moving around and realizing just how awful I felt in my body, I also noticed my mood. It sucked. I was grumpy and did not want to be a caretaker today. Beginning to breathe in to do a 10 breathe meditation I felt my inability to breathe through my nose happen and recognized this wasn’t going to work … now what?

Meditation while sick is helpful for your mood and your body. “When you can get into that quieter state of mind through meditation, your body isn’t releasing stress hormones into the bloodstream,” Jane Ehrman, Cleveland Clinic for Integrative Medicine.

I thought of doing some guided meditation and then realized I had the focus of a kitten following a laser pointer. So, I needed short focal points to help me relax and be mindful. I didn’t want to be snapping at my kids because I was feeling crappy.

One of my favorite methods to shift my mood is water. Off to the showers it was. As I let the lava hot waters rain over me, I visualized the dark ick rinsing off me and down the drain. When I began to feel lighter I visualized bright healthy healing waters running over my body strengthening me. As I worked on my mental state the steam and heat did wonders for me physical state. Out of the showers, I put on comfy clothes and made my way to the kitchen.

Back to water. I got a cold glass of water to rehydrate me and put a kettle on to make soothing tea. Each time I have been stressed or thirsty; I pause for a moment and ask my body hot or cold? tea or water? Then I answer the call by getting the requested water and focusing on the act of drinking for 10 sips. These moments help ground me in my body, environment, and mind.

Being grounded in yourself and environment is helpful when the cytokines affect the part of your brain that deals with emotions and reason. I find it helpful to be honest about any moodiness that I may be experiencing while ill. Expressing myself to those around me keeps any situation from escalating.

For example, I made it clear to my kids that I was aware I was grumpy and had less patience than normal because I didn’t feel well. I also made it clear that this was not their fault or their responsibility, but that I know I am struggling today and will do my best to not take my emotional state out on anyone around me. If they do find that I am taking things out on others they can can let me know that I may not be acting in loving kindness. We all need gentle reminders. Also, it let’s the small people in my life know that everyone is human.

Self awareness combined with self honesty are important to add into your mindfulness practice. Being aware of a situation, behavior and emotions of yourself and others does you no good if you cannot be real with yourself. Until you are willing to be real with yourself, you cannot be real with others.

If you feel sick you don’t have to let that derail your practice, but you may want to try alternative methods of meditation or mindfulness:

• Breathe meditation
• Guided meditation
• Sensory activities
• Mindful moments with water or tea
• Mindful body check-ins
• Focus Meditation on a plant, clouds, candle, etc

Mindfulness and meditation don’t need to stop because you are sick, but they may need to adjust to fit your physical, mental, or emotional state. Use this time to adapt your practice, be self aware and heal. Don’t push through what you always do just because it is habit. Don’t be a superhero and not rest. Adapt. Listen to your mind, body, and spirit. Take the time to heal and be the best you that you can.

Blessings,
Irisa

The Art of Releasing What no longer serves you

Hello Beautiful Self!

It is time we dive into another part of mindful living … the art of releasing. I call it an art, because it really is an art. Releasing or letting go is hard for everyone. You are not alone in that. However, we all need to let go of things that no longer serve us. Once we have become aligned with our mindful observations and are aware of what is either no longer serving us, what we have outgrown, or what is flat our holding us back we need to release it. Let it go … say Bye Bye and thanks for all the fish! I have no idea why that Douglas Adams line just popped into my mind, but there you go …. humor for a difficult topic. Release. Let go. Let be.

Sometimes, all we have to do to let go is just let something be. Let it take a natural course away from you. There are relationships and situations in our life where we are the driving force. When that relationship or situation is a cause of negativity, stress, toxic patterns and behaviors or whatever about it is no longer in alignment with your greater good and you are the driving force in keeping that relationship going simply stop feeding it. Stop giving it all the time and energy you have been and let the natural course take place. In many situations it will just fade away from you when you allow yourself to put your energy elsewhere.

Other relationships require more active roles to disengage and release. Relationships where lives are physically, financially, or purposefully combined on a day to day basis are the most difficult to release. The stigma of changing life, career, home, and community can be huge. I have personally experienced both the healing and wounding of leaving a long-term relationship, career, and home that was the “American Dream” on the outside, but in my reality my waking nightmare.

Side note; I was able to post-vaccine connect with longtime friends and heart family this weekend. Through our overview catching up I learned that after 7 years divorced my ex-husband is still bad mouthing me for leaving him. Once, this would have made me withdraw, now I no longer care what he thinks or what mud he slings for he is stuck in the mud and I have blossomed like the water lily rising out of the mud. My life is more aligned with myself and my greater good. I have a happiness I never thought I would have, because I aligned with my mindfulness and did the scary thing. I released what was not only not serving me, but what was suffocating me.

Which brings me to the next point on releasing. Releasing isn’t just about letting go, but aligning with your personal power. Things don’t feel right to us or work in our life when you live out of alignment with who you are. When you do not know yourself or live to please others through expectation, societal demands, yearning for love or whatever your reason is for not living in self alignment or Know Thyself, then you either give away your power or simply ignore the fact that you have power.

Were you aware that you had personal power? You have choices, you have free will, you have hopes, dreams and the ability to be in alignment with yourself. You can serve your needs and be of service to the greater good. This is not mutually exclusive. But first, you have to get really clear on what is and is not working for you. Sometimes it will feel like nothing in your life is working and that is okay. We don’t have to climb to the top of the mountain today. What we do have to do is put one foot forward and be aware that things aren’t serving us.

So where do you start? pick something small. For example, I have an ongoing struggle with soda or pop, whatever you call it. I do great for a long time, then start drinking it again which leads to over drinking it. Going cold turkey doesn’t work for me, so I need to ween myself off it. There is a lovely lavender and honey tea that I like, so I make sure to have that in the house. After my first pop, the next time I get that sugary craving I make the cup of tea and have that instead. By doing this, I am currently down to 1 soda a day from 3. I would love to cut it out all together and I will get there. Small steps. Each step forward build the confidence and momentum to move forward.

Where will you start today? What is your plan if you stumble or struggle in releasing? How can you give yourself creative, loving support that is in alignment with your goals? Drop a comment and let me know.

In Loving Kindness,
Irisa

The Journey to Know Thyself

It has been some time since I posted but writing on the topic of Know Thyself has been a priority. I have been working on a book to Know Thyself through Nature and Nurture, using tools of meditation, mindfulness, and journalling. One of the biggest questions that has come up as I have shared what I am doing is why the topic of Know Thyself.

I believe that each of us have instances that disconnect us from ourselves. There are life events such as trauma, scenarios that lead to people pleasing, relationships, work situations, school situations, and simply life that constantly throws new scenarios, opportunities, input, and challenges towards us. Depending on what is happening we have the best of choices and time to reflect on how that fits with who we are or a variety of reaction and actions up to and including survival mode.

I don’t know anyone that was raised to take self care time to make sure they know who they are from a young age and take time to make sure they are acting, reacting, and making life choices that keep them connected with who they are. What I have both experienced and seen in others is following life opportunities as they arise. A prime example is a job that is either a necessity or appears to be the perfect job. Weeks or months later the shine has worn off and going to work tears the individual apart mentally and physically. I spent many mornings crying my entire way into and from a corporate job that I had. Other examples include: Visiting a family member has you physically dreading the experience or worse yet you numb out with drinking to deal with the experience. Hanging out with a friend that everyone else loves in your life, makes you feel miserable because you don’t want to do so.

All of these instances are feelings telling you that you aren’t living in accordance with your truth. That certain people and situations are not feeding your soul, but eating away at it. Know Thyself is self care, self knowledge and personal power. It is not a stagnate part of you, but one that is mutable and ever-evolving, as you are ever growing and changing your self knowledge and self awareness should. By making the self care to Know Thyself a part of your awareness and checking in with yourself and having the tools to Know Thyself a regular part of your self care routine I believe that each of us can create a life truly connected to who we are and what has meaning to us. This in turn leads us to a life filled with relationships and opportunities that feed us, in stead of eating away at our soul.

Knowing who we are and what we want or need makes creating personal boundaries, personal space, self care, and speaking what we need for ourselves in loving kindness (sometimes firmly) a lot easier and a lot less scary. I spent too many years trying to find a reason why I felt one way, but well-meaning family and friends told me I should be happy living XYZ way. I was miserable with the life I was living. People told me I was ungrateful because I had what everyone dreamed of. When I explained they weren’t my dreams, I was told I was selfish. No, I was being honest about my truth, but I wasn’t in a place to be seen and heard. However, I could have saved myself so much heartache if I had known that it was okay to not want what others want. It is okay to have different dreams. It is okay to want a different way of life.

We all need to Know Thyself and how to express that in loving kindness. Then we need to find ways to live in alignment with who we are and what we want. I believe that if people Know Themselves more and live out societal and familial expectations less, we would have a lot more happiness and loving kindness in the world. After all, it is difficult to live and share loving kindness when we are not happy with ourselves and our personal situation.

I hope you continue to join me in the journey to Know Thyself.
Irisa

Mindfulness Begins with Observation

The Little Things? The Little Moments? They aren’t little.

John Kabat-Zinn

Majority of our lives are made up of the small, the mundane, the unnoticeable. Hollywood and the shape of modern American society have set expectations that life is full of large noticeable moments. Imagery of sun glinting off our smiles indicate health and stress free living. I don’t know about you, but when I step out the door I am not taking any moment to pause. I typically am concerned with keeping the toddler from running straight across the street to pet the neighbors dog (cars be damned!) or the overzealous puppies from darting out the door.

Photography, videos and advertisements have taught us what perfection should look like. Social media has brands for all parts of life from hot mess moms to Pinterest moms. When is the last time you saw a mom with messy hair, sleep deprivation and pajama clad wandering the late night market for cold medicine for a kid on social media as the new trend?

I call bullshit. What all of that has done is set us up for unrealistic expectations so someone else can promote their thing (which I don’t fault anyone for promoting their thing). However, that is not an accurate representation of daily life. Life is messy, chaotic, confusing, and emotional. There are productive and focused moments. There are moments where you lose your train of though because the voices of Donald and Goofy float in from another room accompanied by a child’s giggles … this is a moment. A real, live beautiful moment. Did it derail my train of thought, yes. Is it worth hearing his laughter and joy? Absolutely.

When I was younger I was so into the flow of things that I got in trouble for being different. I wanted to sit and watch the sun on a leaf instead of being in cheer. That wasn’t the image for girls my age so off to cheer I went. Social Imagery has a powerful impact on perceptions and expectations. These perceptions and expectations can take the place of personal realities and norms if we are not mindful of our truth.

Gorgeous photography, trending news, apps and the like are fascinating. They serve as a distraction from our everyday and give us things to discuss with co-workers and acquaintances which can help with relationship building. However, the distractions can warp our perceptions of ourselves.

Mindfulness assists us in bringing us back to our life and our moments. When we accept that our life will have more small moments than large a relief can wash over us. Carrying a constant expectation that life is going to have a string of major changes/announcements/moments is asking ourselves to constantly be ON. Instead of being ON, be mindful.

Cultivating a practice of mindfulness will increase the likelihood of finding the opportunities that are in front of us as they are instead of looking for opportunities with a preconceived notion of how they should appear. The more we can focus on the moment and see it for what it is the easier our life will be. Removing preconceptions from our lives is a game changer.

Suddenly, we aren’t worried about doing things the way someone else said we should but finding the solution for ourselves that aligns or fits with who we are and how our life flows. Mindfulness matters. Mindfulness brings awareness to ourselves of what is or is not working. By identifying how we are feeling in the moment we identify what isn’t working. Once we acknowledge what isn’t working then we can make the shifts and changes needed for peaceful living.

Simple ways to begin mindful living:

• Observe how you feel when asked to commit to something. What is the first answer that runs through your mind? What is the answer that left your mouth? Do they match?
• Observe if you have a default answer to any commitment question. Are you the person that will always say yes or are you the one people ask for a short time and then stop because they know the answer is no? If you have an auto-default on answering, why is that?
• Observe your physical body when speaking with people or doing tasks. Do some people leave your body feeling tight and sore? Are you relaxed with most interactions? What do you think your body is telling you about your interactions?
• Observe your mental state when doing tasks or interacting with people. Does a task wear you out or leave you energized? Do you get grumpy and bitchy or remain calm? Is there dread or peace associated with this task?
• Observe your emotional state when doing tasks or interacting with people. Are you worn out at the thought of having to interact with this person? Does a social event fill you with dread or peace? Do holidays have you buying a bottle of whiskey and making an escape plan before going somewhere? Does this invitation feel like an obligation you must do or fill you with joy?

Pick one place and begin your observations with mindfulness. No judgement just observe. I recommend that you take the time to journal your observations. This will allow you to notice trends and patterns.

Take a breathe. Reflect. Be Mindful and reclaim your life.
Irisa

Expectations, Mindfulness & Journaling

I have spent a week working on this discussion on expectations. Ironically, the harder I work on it the more problems I had with it. This morning, I am reflecting on what I had and just started laughing. Here, I had a set expectation in my mind of how I wanted this blog to turn out and it kept crashing and burning. Exactly, the discussion I wanted to have and have been having all week. Thank you Universe for the lesson!

Be mindful about your expectations. Are you setting yourself up for success or failure? For example, my oldest has been struggling in school because she has been expecting to read over a lesson once and know it. Does she have an eidetic or photographic memory? Nope.

No wonder she has been a huge ball of stress. I asked her where she got the impression that was how things worked. Apparently, her dad and I quoting books and movie lines made her think we just knew it after one viewing. Nope, I have worn out movies and books memorizing this stuff.

Are your expectations leading you to an unrealistic state? Remember, we don’t need to live in Hollywood and advertising view of perfection. Ask yourself: What is perfect for your life? Now, ask yourself: What stage of that perfection can you achieve right now?

Take a mindfulness moment and reflect on current self expectations.
Get comfortable, have a journal handy and ready, set, breathe!

Breathe in … one, two, three and Exhale three, two, one
Breathe in … one, two, three and Exhale three, two, one
Breathe in … one, two, three and Exhale three, two, one
Breathe in … one, two, three and Exhale three, two, one
Breathe in … one, two, three and Exhale three, two, one
Breathe in … one, two, three and Exhale three, two, one
Breathe in … one, two, three and Exhale three, two, one

Now, Open your journal and set a timer for 7 minutes.

Prompt … What are my current self expectations? Write until your timer goes off. If you are inclined, write past that. When you are done writing, please take a look at what you have written. Read your thoughts with loving kindness. Your inner voice is telling you the expectations that you have for yourself. Observe them with love and kindness. Treat them as though you are speaking with a loved one.

Once you have observed your inner thoughts. Reflect, but do not judge. Are these attainable? Do the expectations reflect where you are or where you came from? If the expectations are lofty, can they be broken up into stages; think of it as climbing a ladder. Are these expectations so low that you don’t feel like you are moving toward any goals? Do your expectations upset you or excite you?

Once we know what our expectations are, then we can move forward with an understanding of how we are operating. Is fear and ego at the wheel? Lack of confidence? Crazy unreachable expectations (ego)? Another person’s voice?

This awareness can give us the mindfulness we need to adjust our self-expectations. Part of my self care is awareness of expectations. Expecting my kitchen sink to never have dirty dishes is unrealistic. Expecting my children to do their chores and empty the dishwasher of clean and put in dirty is realistic if I am discussing the older two.

Let’s not get crazy though, we all have expectations that make us feel like we are banging our head against the wall. I expect clean folded laundry to make it to the dressers. My children expect magic fairies to put the laundry away and deal with the dirty clothes.

Laundry feels like a circus around here. It stresses me out and never is where I want it to be. So, when it is at its worse and I am at my best: I remind myself they are little and someday I will miss this chaos. I remind myself this mess happens because we are spending quality time instead of chore time. I remind myself that we are lucky to have clothing and shelter.

Those mindfulness prompts are the good days. On the bad days, I sound like a mom who has lost her mind in frustration, too little sleep and what feels like a mountain of dirt and filth. Mindfulness isn’t perfection or if it is, I haven’t found that particular roadmap. However, mindfulness does let us grow, learn and adjust each moment. This gives us the opportunity to handle the next such moment better than the one before.

Be mindful, check on your expectations and if you find those magic fairies send them my way, I could use the help too!

Lovingly,
Irisa

Mindfulness as Stress Relief

Mindfulness as stress relief is something that I am immensely grateful for. Without mindfulness, I would be unable really hone in on the things stressing me out and resolve them.

This morning, I woke up with a headache, body aches, tension in my neck and shoulders and that awful, tight feeling in my stomach. Immediately, my thoughts went to worry and guilt over two things. Instead of wallowing and being upset; I decided to follow this awareness and see what it was telling me.

I made my coffee, grabbed a journal and pen and began to write how I was feeling. The main source of my stress was over the quote we received for a bathroom remodel. Okay cool, source acknowledged by why was that stressing me out so much? After all, this bathroom remodel is in the category of “this would be awesome” instead of “we have problems.”

I kept writing and asking myself questions. What the writing revealed was blocks and traumas involving myself, money, relationships with men, self worth and boundaries. It was very eye opening and I gave myself some time to then do forgiveness and gratitude work on those blocks.

The end result has been a decrease in body tension and stress. Awareness on personal blocks and a grateful feeling towards my mindfulness practice. Had I not been mindful to how I was feeling, I would not have recognized that I was having a physical reaction to emotional issues. The muscle tension and headache could easily been attributed to sleeping wrong, change in weather or the nightly blanket battle with my husband and dogs.

Let’s do a mindfulness exercise:
Grab your journal and pen or electronic device.
Get comfy and prepare to breathe.
Breathe in through your nose … one … two … three…
hold your breathe … one .. two … three …
Exhale through your nose … one … two … three…
Repeat
Repeat
okay, put pen to paper and take stock of how your body is feeling. Then check in on how your emotions are feeling. Write down what comes to mind.
We are simply practicing mindful awareness of our physical and emotional connection.
If you feel called to write more and follow this awareness, please do so.
If this was enough for you for today, then congrats on beginning the journey and mark you calendar to do it again tomorrow.

Mindfulness works in ways you may not yet imagine. It brings an awareness and clarity that cuts through the mental and emotional clutter. This helps us grow and heal as an individual.

May you find peace in mindfulness,
Irisa

Meditation: Holding Space

Hello Beautiful!

Today, I want to discuss holding space with you. Holding space in our lives is one of the greatest gifts that we can give ourselves. At this time of a global pandemic, economic uncertainty and for those of us who are American – political and social uncertainty has been rising over the last four years; with elections a few weeks away those pressures and anxieties are rising quickly.

When life is at its scariest we instinctively focus on the mundane. However, when we hyper-focus that is when uncertainty and fear take root. This is when holding space is vital in our lives. The first thing we need to hold space for is ourselves. We need to connect with ourself … not fear, ego or society.

Grab your journal and join me as we take 5 slow deep breaths; breathing in through your nose and exhaling through your nose. Keeping the tip of the tongue behind the front teeth, but touching the roof of the mouth adds to the complete energy/breathe cycle within your body.

Breath in … 3, 2, 1 … Hold for 3, 2, 1 … Exhale for 3, 2, 1
Breath in … 3, 2, 1 … Hold for 3, 2, 1 … Exhale for 3, 2, 1
Breath in … 3, 2, 1 … Hold for 3, 2, 1 … Exhale for 3, 2, 1
Breath in … 3, 2, 1 … Hold for 3, 2, 1 … Exhale for 3, 2, 1
Breath in … 3, 2, 1 … Hold for 3, 2, 1 … Exhale for 3, 2, 1

This is a small moment of holding space for yourself. I would recommend doing this breathe meditation and journaling for 11 minutes. Write whatever comes to mind and heart. There is no right or wrong here. This is about holding space for yourself. By doing so, you gain clarity amongst the mundane.

Holding this space for yourself is vital to personal balance in the mind, body and spirit; plus it opens you to knowing where you really want to focus in your life. When we are willing to stop multi-tasking and hold space for whatever we are giving our time a natural clarity occurs. It is easy to see if that is really where we want to be placing our time and energy when we are fully in the moment and aware of what is occurring with our whole presence and not split focus.

We also begin to see what relationships are feeding us when we focus on holding space when we interact with an individual. Engagement with another individual is an energy exchange. When we hold space and really focus on this exchange of time, energy and emotion with the individual we are sharing with a new awareness emerges.

Does this exchange leave you feeling balanced, drained, exhausted, happy, ecstatic, loved, etc? Is this exchange one-sided or balanced? Once we hold space we can take our awareness to a new level and make better decisions for ourself on what are healthy relationships for us. Some encounters are unavoidable, however, once you know they drain you then you can limit those encounters or make life changes to put yourself in a better place.

Holding space has a beautiful side affect. Your relationships deepen, as do your interests. Time doesn’t become a struggle to share. You are aware of what sings to you and naturally begin to align your time and energy with those things. The more you do this, the more you hold space instead of multi-tasking and rushing, the more your life and priorities become clearer and naturally align with who you are and what you want for your life.

This month I want you to practice holding space for yourself for 11 minutes a day. As you incorporate this into your life with ease, expand this to one task a day. Watch this concept of holding space naturally grow in your life. Journal and reflect on the awareness and changes that it brings for you and to you.

When you fall off the wagon, because we all do during new things, hold space and honor that it happened. Honor the awareness that made you realize it happened and simply begin again. Truth, Love and Awareness are the only perfection you need in life. We all falter, what is important is what we do when we recognize that we have faltered.

Holding Space with you,
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