It's the top of 2023 and we're still in this new year, new me kind of vibe this year. I didn't really make any specific resolutions outside of publishing this podcast, prioritizing, wellness, and creating healthier habits. Every year I feel the inner push to change my whole life, but I'm kind of content with where I'm at I just finished a 31 day meditation challenge, and I feel good. I realize we're all a work in progress. We're ever changing, ever evolv. I'm constantly becoming a new person every day. So, you know, as long as I continue to do what makes me happy, what feels good, what fuels me, I'll become the person I wanna be.
If I'm present with myself and others with loving awareness, I'm on the right path.
I learned a new term this week in an online meditation. , it's called Loving Awareness. It's a term coined by Rom Doss
A quick Google search
defines loving awareness as stripping away our egos and going from who we think we are to who we really are, loving awareness is about approaching every aspect of life, every interaction, every upset, every negative feeling, with self-compassion,
Instead of judgment . Which has given me the space to flow into the new year.
Some days it's easier than others, and on the tough days, I meditate on loving awareness.
I journal out my feelings and finish with affirmations around loving awareness. I wrote,
I am not my emotions, thoughts, feelings, or circumstances, but I am the loving awareness.
We don't have the answers to all of life's questions, but as long as we handle situations, people, ourselves, with grace and loving awareness, we'll be good.
I saw the scope the other day , life is full of . 10,000 moments of sadness and happiness, and as long as I approach every moment with loving awareness, I am on the right path. And it's true. You know, whenever I'm having a low vibe moment or I feel things aren't going my way, I just need to lean back on the fact that I'm in control of how I feel and how I choose to think about things.
And as long as I approach everything with loving awareness, I'm on the right path.
This year, my resolution is just to have healthier habits, follow through on those habits, and continue on this journey of being the person I want to be. I think the easiest way to develop healthy habits is to have a routine. So I've been focusing on developing the ideal routine for myself that prioritizes wellness, creativity, and ultimately my contentness, not necessarily my . Productivity. I'm an artist. I'm not a.
I like to live my life with a go with the flow kind of mentality, which is one of the things I love about myself. But lately I've been feeling like I need a little structure to that flow. I randomly get inspired and go down a rabbit hole of creativity and get an idea and start creating and just go full force into that idea until I get tired, and then I don't work on the idea for days at a time.
Acknowledging my patterns. I know if I crafted a schedule where I had structured creation time,. I would create a breeding ground for inspiration and. Waiting for those random creative moments of inspiration and only creating When I'm feeling inspired is cool in theory, but in actuality, I know I'll happier if I create time to be inspired. If I schedule the time to create, the inspiration will come.
The blessings will come.
Creating the life of our dreams starts with our habits, and habits are formed through routine. An ideal routine is flexible, allows me to go with the flow, but still have time to handle my business and take care of myself.
I like to structure my morning around doing at least one thing for my mind, body, soul in time.
For example, this morning, for my mind, I journaled and meditated for my body. I stretched in bed, then took a mindful walk around my neighborhood. Other days I may do a light yoga routine. For my soul, I watered my plants, hugged my partner, and admired myself in the mirror. And for my time, I wrote my to-do list, which included recording this episode.
Prioritizing my wellness first thing in the morning, sets the tone for the day, and allows me to start the day with the sense of peace, It definitely lessens my anxiety..
When I started working from home, I used to wake up, scroll on Instagram for anywhere from five to 30 minutes, and before I knew it, it was time to eat breakfast, get in front of my computer and start the day.
And it wasn't serving me at all. I was setting myself up for a stressful day. . I noticed when I didn't take the time to be present and tap into myself in the morning, my anxiety and mood would be all over the place. As creative beings, we need time to tune into our feelings, thoughts and emotions.
. When I take the time to recalibrate and ground myself in the morning, the day goes by with ease.
When I'm researching an episode, I kind of have a broad idea of what I want to talk about, but then I create a mood board from Pinterest and pictures to like motivate me and then I create thescript. Then I record, edit and I upload.
So I was scrolling on Pinterest, researching for the mood board of this episode, and I saw text graphic about having non-negotiables, which are essential personal activities you can do in any order. Instead of a set routine, giving me a feeling of spontaneity and time freedom, which is important for the creative mind.
I really like this idea of having non-negotiables instead of having a set routine, I've been putting the system to test for the past few days, and it's been great. especially in the morning, my morning non-negotiables are to make my bed, brush my teeth, wash my face, drink water, all the essentials, but also things like meditate, journal, stretch, say good morning to my partner. when I wake up, instead of reaching for my phone and opening Instagram like I used to, I want to do things to support my wellness.
Finding my rhythm through non-negotiables versus a strict routine
keeps me motivated instead of obligated to my wellness practices. . I used to hesitate to journal or meditate because I viewed them as chores, but now I'm learning to approach tasks with loving . Awareness, ultimately focusing on the person I want to be instead of the tasks which keeps me motivated to prioritize wellness.
I want to be a calm, grounded, centered person who thinks before she speaks, moves with grace and treats others with compassion. How can I do that? Put me first. . How can I do that? I need to prioritize my mental health
We don't wake up in the same mood every day. So having non-negotiables instead of a strict routine allows me to honor how I'm feeling while making time to take care of my body, mind, and soul.
In addition to my morning non-negotiables, I have daily non-negotiables. , like eating three meals a day, spending time outside, reading for 20 minutes, creative free time, my evening skincare routine, washing the dishes, straining up my house. I have weekly non-negotiables that include going to the gym , attending a yoga class, a day where I check in on my goals and finances.
A self-care night where I wash my hair, do my nails, do a face mask, a day to deep clean my home, and a day where I just rest . All habits that will keep me happy, healthy, balanced, and on track to have a wellness based lifestyle.
I want you to think about some habits or non-negotiables that would make your life easier, healthier, happier, and more peaceful, and start implementing those into your daily routine. Think of the person you want to be and what it would take to show up as them.
I've tried to record this episode for a couple of weeks now, ended up catching Covid, and it's been a struggle to say the least. This year and beyond, I'm not playing about my health. There were a few days while I was sick that I felt like I just wanted to give up on podcasting because recording this third episode was such a struggle. I started to doubt myself.
I couldn't think of anything to talk about. I had completely fallen off my wellness routine, You know, when you're sick, you're not thinking straight. When your body is weak, it's easy for your mind to be weak. Remembering what I've been talking about on this podcast , helped me snap out of my funk
in episode two, I talked about resting and how it's okay to rest as long as you keep going. And you know what? Here we are doing just that,
I had to take my own advice . That's The whole point of this podcast is me putting my words of affirmation in audio form so I can listen to it when I need that boost and you can listen to it.
And so I can help others by, helping myself
Showing. Compassion and loving awareness during that time was crucial because I had to like lovingly acknowledge and be aware of how I was feeling. I was feeling down and instead of like judging myself
and going down the rabbit hole of self-doubt and giving up, I had to kind of check. and just sit with my emotions and sit with feeling sad for a bit, and allow myself time to just not feel well, but also not allow myself to stay there. You know, I lovingly allow myself to feel on my emotions, and then I lovingly, try to figure it out.
We all have our low moments is how you bounce back.
Instead of focusing on being sick, I decide to just focus on getting better. I got the urge to juice and I actually made a orange carrot pineapple juice with some ginger to boost my immune system.
I'm sipping on that as we speak, and it's delicious. I just promised myself that this year I'm not playing with my health at all. I know what I need to do. I need to habitually take my vitamins. I need daily physical activity to build up those white blood cells. I need to go back to cooking at home and making whole plant-based foods instead of eating takeout all the time.
we all have the tools we need to take care of ourselves, but it's important to just slow down and take inventory of how we're feeling so that we can support ourselves when you feel good, it creates the environment and mental space needed to create. I know when I feel good, I feel inspired.
I feel like prioritizing my health and wellness makes me a better artist. When it comes to having writer's block or creative block my best advice is to self-care yourself through it. Burn incense, make tea, . Play music. Do things that feed your soul and evoke emotions and create based off of what comes up.
They say systems create habits, and I wanna make it a habit of being well and creating and allowing myself to be an artist who I want to be is on the other side of my habits. On my vision board this year, I have the words to be a woman of my word, and I wanna keep my word to myself. Everything I want is on the other side of. , the . Career and life I want is on the other side of putting myself out there, submitting to fellowships and contests and grants.
Finishing my scripts, premiering this podcast, applying to positions I may feel unready for or not good enough, and working to. , those feelings.
The body I want is on the other side of yoga every day, eating whole foods, juicing, cooking at home, exercising consistently, cutting back on alcohol, appreciating my body the way it. . The mind I want is on the other side of meditating, daily reading at . Least 20 minutes a day, journaling and therapy.
The relationship I want is on the other side of clear, kind, communication, compassion, patience, couples therapy, ambition, tenderness, loving awareness. The soul I want is on the other side of my spiritual. Building community, connecting with my family, and loving myself unconditionally with grace. The finances I want are on the other side of budgeting, investing in a retirement fund, paying off my credit card, applying for business grants, filing my taxes and writing things off, monitoring my bank statements, multiple streams of income.
everything we want is on the other side of action and good habits and keeping your word to yourself with self-compassion and loving awareness. The grass isn't greener on the other side. It's greener where you water it,
We transform the world by transforming ourselves. It starts with us. It starts with our thoughts, our ideas, our habits, and what we make time for will manifest in our.
So make time for things that make you feel good and at peace, and you will send peace back into the world.