Awareness Why You Feel Lost & How to Find Yourself Again | The Inner Purity Alchemy Method Pt. 1

We walk through the first stage of the Inner Purity Alchemy Method and make awareness feel real, not abstract, so you can stop living on autopilot and start coming back to yourself. We share why noticing is the foundation for change and give simple practices that help you build self-trust, clearer boundaries, and a calmer nervous system. 
• awareness as observing thoughts, emotions, and behaviors without judgment 
• why you cannot change what you cannot see 
• how people-pleasing and “keeping the peace” disconnects us from identity and needs 
• a personal story of becoming a first-time mom in a pandemic and finding a way back 
• body sensations as data and an inner compass for alignment 
• noticing before fixing as a daily mindfulness practice 
• journaling prompts to reveal patterns, triggers, and fear-based choices 
• three deep breaths plus “How am I actually doing right now?” as a grounding check-in 
• why skipping awareness keeps old patterns running the show 
If you're not already following me, you can find me on Instagram at immarisa.xo. 

Enter my world in my Skool Community,
The Inner Purity Sanctuary Space Link Below:
https://www.skool.com/self-love-ceo-studio-5741/about

My personal weblink:
https://links.theinnerpurity.com

Where I hang out the most to connect:
https://www.instagram.com/iammarisa.xo/

&

https://www.instagram.com/theinnerbeaconpodcast/

Don't forget to spread love like you would nutella. 

xoxo, M

Transcript

Welcome And Series Preview

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the windows for level 10. You are in the right point if you are ready to leave your life. My goal and intention here is to inspire and empower you. And for fun, I might be able to add some leftonic content and travel to I'm so glad you're here. So let's dive into today's episode. This is gonna be part one of three part series. I'm calling the inner purity alchemy method. And over these three episodes, I'm going to walk you through the exact framework that I use with myself and with my clients inside the inner purity alchemy container. It's a three-stage journey. So the first will be we'll be talking a lot about awareness. Release is the second, and receiving being the third. And today we're starting at the very beginning with awareness.

What Awareness Really Means

SPEAKER_01 1:08

So now I know that the words get thrown around a lot in like the personal development world. But I want to talk about what it actually means, why this starts, how to start building it in real life practical ways, not just the concept, but as a lived experience. Because here's the truth you cannot change what you cannot see. And most of us are walking through our lives on autopilot, reacting from old wounds, old patterns, beliefs, and without even realizing it. Awareness is the light switch, basically, for your inner beacon, huh? So let's turn it on together. Awareness, the way I use it and teach it, is the practice of coming back to yourself. It's learning to observe your thoughts, your patterns, your emotional reactions, and your behaviors, not from a place of judgment, but from a place of genuine curiosity. Think of it like this: Imagine that you've been living in a house your entire life and you've never once turned on the lights. You know the layout because you've been bumping around in the dark long enough, but you sort of know where the furniture is, you've learned to navigate, but you've never actually seen it clearly. Awareness is the turning point. It's you turning on those lights. And sometimes when those lights come on, and I'll be honest with you here, it can feel a little uncomfortable at first. Because you start to see things, patterns you didn't realize you had, beliefs that were running the show from the background, ways that you've been giving away your power without even knowing it. But here's what I want you to hold on to. Seeing it is not the same as being it. The moment you become aware of a pattern, you are no longer fully inside. You can create space. And that space, that's where the change begins. Now I

How We Lose Ourselves

SPEAKER_01 3:43

want to talk about how so many of us lose touch with ourselves in the first place. Because this is an important context. And from a really young age, most of us, especially women, were taught to be for others before we were taught how to be for ourselves. We were praised for being helpful, agreeable, easygoing.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

We were taught to keep the peace, not make waves. Right? Not to take up too much space.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

And slowly, without realizing it, we start living from the outside in instead of the inside out. We start making decisions based on what others expect. We start shrinking ourselves to fit the room. We say yes when we really mean no. We keep going when your our body is screaming at us to stop. We pour into everybody else until there is generally nothing left in our cups. And then one day, whether it's in motherhood or relationship or burnout or just a quiet moment in the car, we look in the mirror and we think, I don't even know who I am anymore. I've been there more than once. And I know so many of you have too.

Motherhood And The Dark Stretch

SPEAKER_01 5:20

So for me, one of the clearest moments was becoming a first-time mom in a pandemic. I went from being this independent driven woman on her path, working on herself, building her dreams, to being completely quarantined with a newborn, financially dependent, sleep-deprived, and feeling so disconnected from myself that it got really dark. And what brought me back wasn't a big dramatic shift. It was small things. Journaling, moving in my body, asking myself one simple question over and over again. What do I need right now? Not what everyone else needs, not what needs to get done, but what do I need? That question, as simple as it sounds, is the beginning of awareness.

Body Signals As Inner Data

SPEAKER_01 6:18

So let's get into what building awareness actually looks like in your real life. Because I don't want this to stay abstract. The first thing I want you to understand is that awareness lives in the body as much as it does in the mind. Your body is always communicating with you. That tight chest when you're around someone who drains you, or that pain in your stomach when you say yes, even though you actually mean no. That lightness and expansion you feel when you're doing something that's actually aligned to what you actually want, your actual desires.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

These are not random sensations, these are data.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

These are your inner compass speaking to you. The problem is, most of us have been taught to override those signals. Push through, don't be dramatic, you're fine, right? And so we get further and further from our inner knowing. So step one of awareness is simply this: start paying attention to how you feel. Not how you think you feel, how you actually feel. When you walk into a room, notice your body. When someone asks something of you, notice what comes up before you answer. When you scroll through your phone and feel that low grade anxiety potentially settling in, notice it. Don't fix it yet. Just notice it. This is a practice. Observation without judgment. The second

Journaling To Spot Your Patterns

SPEAKER_01 8:07

piece of awareness is noticing your patterns. And this is where journaling becomes so powerful. It has been a huge part of my own journey since I was a young girl. And it's one of the first tools that I reintroduced to myself when I was going through postpartum depression, and that I introduce to everyone I work with. Because when you put pen to paper and you actually ask yourself the hard questions, things start to surface, patterns become visible, you start to see the thread connecting your reactions, your relationships, your fears. Some questions I want to invite you to sit with today. And please pause this and actually journal these if you can. Is where in my life am I saying yes when I really mean no? Where am I putting myself last and calling it love? What emotions do I tend to push down or avoid? What would I do, say, or choose if I wasn't afraid of what others would think? That's a big one. And this one.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

No performance required. Sit with those.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Really sit with them because your answers are the beginning of your map.

A Daily Three Breath Check In

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Now, I want to share with you one of the most simple and grounding practices I use myself and guide women through inside my container. And it's this at least once a day, ideally in the morning, before the noise of the day comes in, I want you to take three slow deep breaths, place your hands on your heart, if you can, and just ask yourself, how am I actually doing right now? Not fine, not busy, how are you actually doing? And then just listen. Let whatever comes up come up. If it's tired, feel tired. If it's anxious, feel the anxiety. If it's actually good, great, feel that too. You're not trying to fix anything in this moment. You're just practicing being present with yourself, practicing coming back home inward. The more you do this, the more you start to notice things. You start to catch yourself, you start to catch yourself mid-pattern. You start to recognize your triggers before they take over. You start to build what I call a trust muscle, a relationship with yourself where you actually know what you feel, what you need, and what's true for you. And that in itself is beautiful. It's the foundation of everything. And when you are in this awareness state, it also allows you to go in your daily life and respond differently. And it also makes you aware of when you're responding from somewhere that isn't from authenticity or is from anger or from something deeper. And that helps you explore that, give it a voice, and move through it. Now, I

Why You Cannot Skip Awareness

SPEAKER_01 11:53

want to explain why I always begin with awareness before anything else. Just like I said, because I've seen what happens when people try to skip it, they go straight to trying to change behaviors, set goals, hustle towards something new, but then the old patterns keep showing up because they've actually never really been seen, never been acknowledged, never been understood. It's not just this isn't just a process that I take people through because it's also a process that I have to take myself through often. Because new things start to pop up, right? It's like trying to renovate a house without ever looking at the structure. You can paint the walls all you want, but if the foundation is cracked, the problems will keep coming back. Awareness is the foundation, it's not glamorous, it doesn't happen overnight, and it asks you to be honest with yourself in ways that you can feel uncomfortable. But it is the most important work you will do. Because once you can see it, truly see it, you have a choice. And having a choice is having power. Without awareness, we just react. With awareness, we respond. That's the difference. So

Invitation For The Week And Next

SPEAKER_01 13:18

that is part one of the inner purity alchemy method, awareness. I want to leave you with this. If something in this episode, an emotion, a quiet knowing, don't push it away if it came up. That's your awareness activating. That's you beginning to turn on the light. Sit with it, journal about it, be gentle with yourself through it. And if you're feeling a little tender right now, good. The tenderness is you starting to feel yourself again. And that in itself is a beautiful thing. Next episode for part two, we'll be speaking about release. We'll talk about what it actually looks like to let go of what you've been carrying, the stories, the patterns, the emotions that have been living in your body and keeping you stuck. That one is a big one, and I can't wait to share it with you. For now, here's your invitation this week. Draw that heart I talked about in my first episode ever. Fill it with who you actually are: your character, your values, your gifts, not your roles, not mom, wife, boss, who are you? Every bit about you in it. Fill it up of all the things that you are. You are not lost. You're just remembering her. Thank you so much for being here and doing this work.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

It matters. You matter.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

And if this episode resonates, you can join my community if you're not in there already. And we go deeper into this work in the premium section. Thank you for spending this time with me here on the Interbeac. If you're not already following me, you can find me on Instagram at immarisa.xo. And if this episode resonates, spread the love like you would follow it by sharing this podcast and tagging subscribe for fully functional. And if you are feeling exploding, leaving a review helps light up another beautiful soul and supports the growth of those folks. I am so glad you are here for the next episode.