Grow self-awareness to “believe in yourself” never grows old. That mantra can change your entire day and how you feel about yourself… and still be you, but better!
Be You and Believe in Yourself! 🪞And love yourself with chocolate heart cookies. A health conscious sweet cookie recipe below… 🧡
A few weeks ago, I published Part 1 (of this 2-part series) on using yoga meditation as a way to develop and grow self-awareness for your happiness. And the one thing yoga and your happiness have in common is self-love.
Think about this, you are loving on yourself when you’re focused inward (and in yoga pretzel bends 🥨).
…So first and foremost, love yourself first.
And if that’s what you’re doing, then that love energy radiates and carries over to the (and your) world that needs more light.
And know that the opposite of love is fear. (It’s not hate that can be usually what we’re constantly upset about).
And by knowing this, we can do something about it as we grow self-awareness.
Our ego is built-into our brain construction that serves up internal obscure thought messages to us every day in a “lizard brain” protection way. Triggers turn into threats in the subconscious ego mind and thrives in our dark area where self-love is missing.
So to grow, we want to bring back love to restore.
Ego fear shows up first in our thoughts, so we have a chance then to shut it down, walk away, change our thoughts, and replace with loving thoughts that grow self-awareness and our happiness.
And if anyone you know thinks they’re not affected, then their ego is definitely playing them every day.
As silly as it can sound to our ego minds, telling yourself and believing “I am loved” (or substitute with your fave loving mantra to build yourself up) will eventually kick out the ugly ego imposter ways.
And then you have a concrete go-to way that helps the next time. And you count on that there will be a next time whether it’s later in the day, week, or a few weeks away.
And if this ego idea is newer to you, think of ego as fear and how you feel when you’re scared in some way. Similarly, an unhealthy amount of ego shows up from time to time from some situational trigger, memory, or enemy forces (where ego stands for Edging God Out if you’re spiritual).
And know that ego fear is disguised on a platter to you in your subconscious thoughts, behaviors, and decisions. More serious is when it shows up in you, and that affects others in your actions if the thought is allowed to grow.
So, do yourself good…
Healthy Love yourself more… and stop the ego fear madness!
When you bring out the accumulated baggage in self-awareness that you’ve been carrying around already too long, let it go, and magnify self-love, then you’re on your merry way to personal happiness.
I wrote a special Valentine’s Day personal happiness article on self-love (the most important love relationship you can have, and that’s no hype!)… so, enjoy and I’ll leave you here with some tasty chocolate biscuits 🍪 for your own sweet inspo.
Consistent is the balance needed for a Vata whose middle name is “irregular” and “variety.” The balancing remedy is routine.
Oat Pear Crumble dish with Vata happy balancing cinnamon and oranges! Recipe below. 🧡
Today I share some better ways to get consistent so you’re in mind-body alignment. And if you’re in a season where you’re not in alignment (or have never been), you’ll have a hard time with the “A” word because you’re not there yet. But you can make that a mantra to get aligned!
And being in balance helps us get there …This time I’m focusing on Vatas, where every month looks different, like moon periods…
And every day of the month is inconsistent in some way… on top of the world around us is changing. The good news for all of us is, like plants, we’re growing just a bit daily. 🌱
And Vata patterns change more often than Pittas and Kaphas, even though those could be secondary dials that can ratcheted up.
For a Vata looking closely at her life, you’ll see how this affects your sleep, food, and play minute-by-minute… even what you reviewed in your productive time last time looks different.
And even though nothing about the work has changed. Because your last name is “change.”
Like the wind, Vatas by nature is changing all-the-time. Vata bodies don’t withstand temperature swings well… more like orchids than enduring palm trees.
So to balance and restore, doing the opposite helps. You want to be consistent and stay on task instead of letting the mind run you by sending a list of things you need to do this minute that aren’t urgent.
If you look at a tipping scale, the way to balance it is to add some weight to the opposite side. …makes sense, right? ⚖️
And if you’re feeling like you can’t sit still, or are going from task to task more than usual, you could be heavy on the Vata. And some daily tweaks could help you restore back to your usual ways pretty quickly.
For any of us, it doesn’t take much to get off balance in our Vata, Pitta, or Kapha.
For Vata, these are the balancing tricks you can help to tip the scales back to equilibrium:
1.Consistent sleep – just like you’ve been told is a good idea, keep the same schedule as much as possible. Even if you go to bed late, try to get up at the same AM time you normally do. You want to take advantage of circadian rhythms.
If you sleep in because your body has been tired for a season, you’ll be even more tired once your body gets a sleep dose. It’s part of the process of our bodies trying to restore balance.
Our one-and-only bodies send obvious signs and blaring warnings that we can still miss in our busy modern lives full of external noise. Alarms and coffee only go so far to help us awaken.
And while 8 hours of sleep is healthy and on average what most of us need, if you’ve had enough sleep, that’s all you need.
Worrying the Vata head is worse than not getting enough sleep in the mind-body connection, because then you add silent stress to your body. With a lack of sleep, your body will let you know by your tiredness, and other new symptoms over time.
Your body knows what it needs to reset and we’re not in charge of that. And if it’s running efficiently and you’ve been good to it by not overdoing yourself, then you may only need a few hours of sleep one night to be recharged.
The recommended 8 hours is just an average and works neatly for 1/3 of our 24-hour day.
But even if you have a perfect sleep record streak from measuring your sleep… at the end of the day, that just says you’re off to a good start with your daily health. It doesn’t indicate much else.
It’s more what you don’t do in sleep that shouldn’t be ignored. Any daily health telltale signs show up on the body and should be attended to quickly so they don’t become a new normal.
And getting the right dosage of sleep amount is individual as we all have different symptoms and bodies.
So… In short balance, the goal for each of us in sleep is getting enough. 💤
2.Consistent eating – and having regular eating patterns is good. I shared how time-restricted eating (or Intermittent Fasting) could help set a discipline, like it does with me for snacking and late-night eating.
And one thing I would steer more into the Vata ways is variety and diversity in healthy foods. Pittas and Kaphas tend to stick more to the same foods.
Different healthy foods offer different nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, and amounts. It’s also good to have macros: lean protein, healthy carbs, and healthy fats in the diet.
Muscle gradually declines as we age so we need more protein. Healthy carbs give us bursts of energy and keep us full enough while junk carbs rob us. And healthy fats help the body absorb foods and fat-soluble vitamins better this way.
3.Consistent Practices and Activities – keep you calm as you do your daily routines you enjoy.
That can include exercise, your craft, quiet time, reading, etc.
When you’re tired, try to plow through those moods and do at least a little bit of your routine or practice. This will teach you to keep at it, which helps with balancing inconsistency. And you’ll be working on a skill you can use the rest of your life.
And if you need ideas, you can find outlets like this one here that gives life advice on pillows:
LIFE IS GOOD…
And keeping it good is part of the balance. Because we all run into situations we’d rather not at some point. It can’t be all sunshine and roses (as part of the balance). 🥀
4.Consistent Behaviors with Other Influences
It’s important to stay consistent even when we don’t live in a bubble. We interact with people and society.
And you do this in work and life where you can get tested.
I’ve had many experiences starting something new with new people involved that can be a bit stressful… and sometimes throw the balance off. I’m sure you can relate.
And to make those times easier, what I do is I stick to my gut thoughts, feelings, and boundaries. It’s smart not to react as the air shifts around you and in you.
I know not everyone has offenders in their lives (living in a bubble, haha!)…
But kidding aside, in daily life, some people have no idea how they come across to others (in lack of self-awareness). And sadly, others knowing better let their bad sides run, trying to work (play) the systems. You just happen to be someone muddled in their system.
That’s just how it is in this imperfect life where we only control and manage ourselves.
…And that should be enough to keep us all busy!
We all come from different backgrounds. Sticking to our own values and not compromising is going to do you and the world a world of good (say that 10 tongue twister 10 times 😊).
You teach people how to treat you and how to behave toward others.
I know it’s not easy.
But always remember: your life is not a dress rehearsal. You will never get this year or today back.
And you don’t want to live in your own regrets if you need a motivator.
Usually, the people who want to test your buttons are the ones who aren’t doing the right things to begin with… and they’re not the ones that you want to follow anyway.
So with the troublemakers who aren’t considerate and are annoyingly kicking up your Pitta, initially it could seem like a good idea to follow along their ways or at least not create waves. But wise not to fall into this temptation.
…But the innocent often fall and don’t follow the good rules. They cave into the squeaky grease and play along on their blind path game that leads to nowhere.
And innocently that’s ’cause they don’t want to cause friction with themselves or other people. But you teach people how to treat you today and in the future.
If you let others step on you, then expect more of that when you allow it once. That’s how it is with children, and some adults haven’t grown up yet or figured out their ego sides.
And last tip on that note: never, never ever reward bad behavior unless you want more of the same behavior.
To be a productive leader, you want to create and forge your own path. Be considerate but stop caring so much. And think for yourself. You’ll be glad you did at the end of whatever you’re facing.
And be consistent where you tell your heavy anxious Vata mind to stop worrying about what will or won’t happen.
Because what will happen is you’ll get respected by the people you respect, and get to do more of what you want (and work with the people you want to work with).
And you’ll get to build the consistent, work-life balance that you really want!
Next time I’ll follow up with the 2nd part of the self-awareness series I started a few weeks ago that you won’t want to miss! 🧡
I’m starting a two-part series on self-awareness, starting with how to use yoga this week for self-awareness. I list some specific links to yoga articles I wrote, down at the bottom at the very end.
And, self-awareness is something I believe that’ll help most of us today…
And I know it helped me to snap out of a PTSD way of living that I didn’t even know I was experiencing and carrying around as baggage until I became hyper self-aware.
And most of us have some form of PTSD living in this imperfect world. If you don’t what that is, then there’s a good possibility that you’re still carrying it around in your life, and not living as optimally as you could.
It’s impossible to come out of all of our life situations unscathed. So it’s not your fault…
In this life and when we’re younger, we’re so impressionable and less in control, but our brains don’t forget these past older memories, even though wehave in today’s precious moments.
And as life grows more complicated, de-cluttering the mind and spring cleaning to get rid of outdated thoughts are necessary to run the daily mind optimally.
We can achieve this better by becoming more fully self-aware and learning more about our deeper selves and what we want in this life, and then proactively making changes.
Otherwise, our lives can just go in a usual-okay way, but that’s not optimally what it could be. We usually know some older people in our lives we can point to living in these ways and who we feel sorry for… they couldn’t see how they held themselves back.
And in wishing them well, asking ourselves: are we doing thatin our own life?
And that’s because of the filters we set and the lens we look out from that affect our actions and decisions that lead to the next thoughts that are influenced by us and subconscious factors. If we stand too close, we may not see our blindspots.
So our thoughts can lead us to less-than if we’re not aware…
It takes a heightened sense of awareness on our parts to break out and uncover, and a desire to discover a better existence (that’s available for every single one of us despite our circumstances)!
We can all question and sometimes argue against our own brain’s thoughts. And to be even more successful in these efforts, act like a third-party, observer witness, and referee at all times.
In my case, I know it was the spiritual alignment path that helped lead me quickest to uncover my less-than ideal beliefs I had grown into. And out of thankfully from both the desire to grow and what appeared to be unfortunate work circumstances…
My stressful, busy working life duty in Corporate America disappeared because of a layoff due to a nationwide economic disruptor.
So just like that in a day, I had more time on my hands. And while making ends meet figuring a new way out in that season of my life, led me to grow as a person. …I’m sure you can relate in your life with just the past few years.
And I leaned into growth and took a work sabbatical that lasted for a year trusting what life could bring. I explored, traveled, and had time to think and re-center.
And the one thing that I could keep going back to was yoga for centering (…that gave that, you know, overall feeling of I’m relaxed and myself again).
I started doing yoga when I was working a busy Corporate work life.
Yoga helped me along during those stretch years to stay true to myself and step out of meeting work performance goal mindsets that I would later learn were temporary.
…Most of life’s experiences are.
Yoga and self-awareness allowed me to question what does Brandy want? (And not just from work life, but out of this life.).
In self-awareness reappearing again, my authentic feelings showed up.
When you’re in a busy running-around season (…and maybe you don’t remember what an unbusy season looks like), you can’t see the thick trees outside of the forest… where even nights are consumed with preparing and getting clothes ready for work the next day. It does feel like running on a hamster wheel.
…Or there’s a problem to get through at work that you can’t shake off during off-hours.
…Oh, and then trying to juggle other important areas of your life. And caring for yourself and others at home.
…And now we have these remote digital devices that never let us really get away from work.
So all that stacked against a busy life, yoga can be the freedom bridge that makes the difference… and that you can say yes! to. Btw, the Bridge pose is one of my favorites (and many of them are).
…And why I still love yoga for improving self-awareness is because you’re focusing on something specific: Your Body.
And that’s something we’re all aware of daily.
In yoga, when you’re wiggling your toes and flexing your fingers, that makes you more self-aware of your body. And that’s actually how many yoga classes start off to help us start feeling body sensations and any kinks we feel in the muscle joints.
That gets you to more easily relax and work on self-awareness at the same time.
And yoga is simple in that you don’t need anything but yourself to do yoga. A mat and some yoga props are nice, but not critical.
And when you’re working on your body, then you can also work on your mind. And coming full circle, that works well because of the mind-body connection. You’re able to optimize your wellness.
And especially if you’re not good at meditating, yoga could be your path to lead you on the journey to your greater mind self-awareness. And that’s not something that’s completed in a few yoga classes. It can take years.
If you’re wired like me, meditation is a waste of time as it doesn’t heighten my spiritual senses. And it may not light you up either, lol. 😊
In my world, I look at everything in life as spiritual. I do that better with my eyes open from my first cup of coffee in the AM, looking out the window, to the first forming awake thoughts that enter and how I approach my day.
…There is no unspiritual part of the day because that part of me and what I see is abundance. I choose to do life that way which gives different outcomes, than if I shut off that side as I did earlier on.
You Do You Alignment
But that’s individual, and an individual choice, just like our preferences are that make us each You-nique. And you get to decide what’s best for you as you make your improving changes in self-awareness that will help you align.
One example I have here is, I pay attention better listening to podcasts than to watching videos and sometimes reading articles. That’s how I hear messages, learn best, and can multi-task… and part of why I just recently started audio recording these blog episodes to be in full alignment 🎧
…And I share this for your benefit because if you would like to be more aligned in your life or enlightened on your path, small tweaks help and you didn’t have to have started out that way at all! You can improve and learn as you do you in your life and keep desiring to grow.
The opposite can be true too. In my earlier journey, I followed culture’s ways like most of us. And grew up in a relatively affluent area which led me to think material gain was the riches. But so much of that came from pride and ego, that I have disabled.
I was stuck in an in-between, out of alignment, when I worked for others that didn’t have the same growth desires in mind. I had to show up a certain way to fit into the work culture. And so I shut off the spiritual side, except when I got to my Sunday weekly dose of inspiration that I wanted to feel every day. And those years I was rarely creative, finding an occasional creative hobby.
But without needing a project, you have an available outlet for your health and self-awareness with a daily yoga practice that will help you become calmer. You’re able to rest and park those frustrating and irritated areas of life on your yoga mat.
You can change you anytime (but wisdom words here: anything that affects the life decisions or finances of close ones is best first communicated 😉).
At the end of the day, you report to yourself.
Everyone (and you) can choose what he or she wants out of their life, but if you’re not happy and this becomes seasons or inconsistent seasons where you go back-and-forth in a tug-o-war, then that’s actually creating heat for your progress and a sign to change course.
It’s time… and you won’t get this time back is a good motivator.
If you listen to your gut and move in that direction, soon enough you’ll feel aligned, that’s better than staying in a pattern without self-awareness growth.
And in doing so, then get the wheels turning to focus on priorities in your life of what you DO want from this life that usually has nothing to do with today’s fleeting to-do lists.
Yoga to Disrupt the Non-Essential Lists
And if you rushed around this morning… and you have your lists running in your mind all day, healthy yoga can disrupt that interruptive pattern.
You can’t act on a to-do list in yoga moments. Yoga forces you to slow down and refocus while stretching the body (that can be a good distraction if silent meditation doesn’t work for you either 😉).
And no matter how you get to your slow down, then you can find out more meaning in self-awareness, and how that impacts you.
As promised, here’s the list of past yoga blog post articles:
Happy New Year’s resolution practices are a concept of yesteryear, better replaced by a wellness new year.🌱
…And better formed habits (in my healthy list below).
But resolutions are still embraced by some as it’s commonly referred to around the world.
And for others of us, we’re open arms to big changes we want to make and a healthy world revolution to head into a better future world… oh, and to make up for the losses from the past few years.
And in light of the global events affecting us all over the past few years, our world needs more uplifting. We don’t need more challenges. We need a revelation. Amen?
And maybe for you (like me) starting goals in the coldest, winter months in the U.S. is not the easiest plan to stick to and would be preferred in warmer and summer months when we have higher serotonin levels and more natural Vitamin D sunshine.
…And, that’s a time when we’re more active, happier, and apt to make changes.
So, on that healthy intention, you want to set yourself up for success and feeling good for better mental health this wellness new year (…and that’s better than last year).
When you can show up as your Best Self, then you have a chance to make a better and bigger impact. Being healthy and happy matters. And even more so as parts of our lives have become initially harder to eventually make it easier (…I believe).
And I also believe that’s where our world is headed. We see this fueled faster by new technology 🚀 advancements and awareness-growing of the need to save our planet.
And that means some of the old ways we did daily life… and the resolutions we once hung our baseball caps on… will change.
But one area that won’t change and can stay traditionally evergreen 🌲 is a wellness new year plan that will help keep you going year-round and that you can count on consistently. If you show up, it’s available.
…And these natural pinecones (above) showed up in my view, which to me is one of nature’s beauties. It also serves a purpose where the cone protects the precious seeds inside.
This natural miracle hasn’t changed through generations.
And like traditional pinecones, if you want to embrace traditional resolutions, then go for it…
Isn’t the post-2020 famous saying?… You do you.
Either way, here I share some of my better health and wellness new year habit tips (…27 to be exact) that give you a better wellness new year list to practice, so you can better navigate this new emerging world of changes.
1. Drink more water naturally. When you jump up and down or run circles cardio-exercise, you naturally are thirsty
5. Work on daily body balance and yoga that helps in years to come
6. Improve your heart health with cardio and healthy cholesterol levels
7. Write daily (or find your daily creative practice)
8. Color your world with inspiring home and clothing choice colors
9. Learn something about yourself, deeper than you normally would
10. Start mornings eating a plant-based meal (...cool beans?)
11. Add more spices (and make your own punchy, hit-you-in-the-nose with anti-inflammatory gut clove spice blends like in holiday gingerbread or exotic Ras el Hanout spices with fennel, coriander, cinnamon, black pepper, and cloves.)
12. Do-it-anyway yoga (and any which way you can!)
13. Get enough amino acids (starting in the morning with your protein sources)
14. Put out a bowl of no-prep easy, healthy snacks (e.g. carrots, nuts, and apples)
15. Pause on feeling-frustrated and change the air you breathe by stepping away
16. Change your anxious tunes in the morning with calm breaths
17. Change your worry thoughts in the evening that stir up
18. Change your rainy-day moods with the environment around you
19. Change your negative thoughts at the gate so they build up and become your day
20. Scan the headlines and read one healthy growth article a day
21. Choose the recycling option even if takes just a ‘lil more effort as you’ll feel better you did for our planet…. and you can appreciate all the bean cans you consumed 😊
22. Remove some of the older digital overwhelm habits you no longer need
23. Spend a rainy day weekend organizing your belongings (and feel lighter afterward). Rock out to some good tunes while time melts away 🎶
24. Find your share-to-the-world message that’s part of what you do. This builds your self-worth and confidence as you get better at your talents
25. Prepare more plant-based meals. It’s easier to get veggies and lentils in if they’re cooked or ready-to-go, and in your kitchen. You could have a leftover dish for breakfast so your drinking coffee has a happy landing
26. Spend time in nature. You get out of your busy life and into the busy bees doing theirs 🐝
27. Embrace the neti pot. This is what our new world can be all about… clearing out the old stuck mess, and bringing in fresh ideas that work for us. We need the new. And happy new year! 🎉
If you want to see what your body is trying to say to about the balance it needs, take the Body Balance Quiz (…and if you already did it last season, do it again this season as our bodies are always changing. 🧘🏻♀️)
Self-empowering thoughts are one way we can count on to feel-good daily.
…Btw, how are you these days?
The holidays aren’t over yet, but we’re just one week from New Year’s and that can be a relaxing or a stressful time…
One thing that we all wonder about is what the new year will bring.
And besides putting out a spread of merry cherry gluten-free Christmas cookies, plus a couple of probiotic-rich Greek Yogurt chocolate peppermint and nutty yule logs, I’m working on cranking out a New Year’s List ✍️ of healthy mind-body tips that’s growing daily… and should be ready next time after I bake my 4th batch of healthy gingerbread cookies.😊
…And before January 6th (that’s Epiphany Day with a capital “E”) that’s meant to be a hope-filled day, that somehow got erased by an unrestful Capitol political news headline.
Which btw, used to be the area I lived in and was just a few minutes away from at the time… but was able to find peace amongst chaos. And now I’m breathing in less cultural-political air.
…And more life-giving oxygen. And you can too no matter where you are in the world.
Because you have peace inside you.
And you can look for more hope and encouraging messages to help your cause. And on that mission, I have a list today of 30 self-empowering thoughts to keep the loving good vibes going that you can check out and think about today. 📝
And these also make good journal prompt ideas, so you can better breathe in your best self today and breathe out what isn’t helping you grow into tomorrow.
Self-empowering thoughts are your ticket to happiness and the way out of mental blocks that are holding you back in this life. You don’t have to wait for situations to change… it’s YOU and your perspective that can be changed. And when you do, you reap mind freedom. It’s the difference between abundant mind vs. victim mind and sad thoughts.
