Self-care Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Music Inspiration Daily For Slow Waiting Seasons

Music inspiration can be a saxophone that calms and is bright and cheery. — Music inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes!

Music inspiration can be therapy to your mind-body, like it is for mine. This article is all about building in some audio inspiration to your life, to get your mojo back or make it through your slow waiting seasons.

And a healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie 🍪 that can be prepared in 5 minutes (ready in 30) with 40 chocolate chips, a 4 oz. applesauce container (that is a good pantry stocking item to have on hand and you can buy in a 6-pack in the dried fruits and nuts grocery food aisle).

[Someone already took a bite out of this one 😊…]

healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.

Because getting yourself daily happy is going to help you in tough seasons…

Where life can be unexciting and underwhelming and you wish would speed up and you could fast forward.

If you were to add up those days and years in your life, they would be most of life if you have lofty goals.

And they can feel heavy, like a hangover.

Those are the times when routines and ruts can run our lives. We can feel like we’re not growing as much because we’re not learning as much. Or we’re not running around feeling as light and bouncy.

And all that can show up as a mood funk and stress in the mind-body.

Bringing the calm and loving thoughts back in the moment helps bring our mind-body balance back despite life’s chaos.

We want to feel healthy good, and without this balance, we feel off and that slows down our productivity jam, creativity flow, and daily rhythm.

And, music inspiration is an easy way to snap our minds out of unrest, and gradually move us out of seasonal rut feelings day by day, and get our bodies to dance around a little.

I was feeling one of those weeks that felt imbalanced in moods.

There were storms outside that didn’t help to bring out the sunny feelings. And my body was off sleep schedule. I usually naturally wake up at the same time every morning within minutes.

Now I found myself setting the alarm again, that I hadn’t done as a routine since I worked for an employer.

Was it post-holiday blues?

That’s what I chalked it up to.

But I was determined to not let that settle into another day or the weekend.

So instead of my weekly routine, I did one easy test move. I turned on the television.

And this time of year is when ice skating competition shows are aired. I hadn’t seen one this year, so it took me into a new loop as I watched the triple toe loops manifest in front of my eyes. From the 20 minutes or so of watching, I had a new verve again.

I was inspired again. My mind had those happy hormones that felt like they kicked back into drive.

And all it took was a few minutes.

What just happened?

My mind went somewhere else. I saw something different, and it was exciting to my mind that drives the bus and matters most in changing moods.

And the subtle backdrop instrumental music put me in a new place mood.

Music is therapy and that’s why it’s called music therapy.

Changing our daily rhythm sounds is what we often need for simple imbalance changes based on our lifestyle choices (like food and drink, sleep patterns, etc.)… and doesn’t take that much effort to help change our moods.

You just turn it on and there it is.

And if you’re trying, that can be the slight switch you make in your day today that gives you a new pep in your step.

…as you’re counting on every new step that can turn your season around for change.

Finding the right daily music inspiration is an important part of having daily joy.

…Even if we woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or we were rattled with sad news. Or we’re in a nothing new season… music will help snap us out into a better mood because the effect it has on the mind.

And if that’s what you’re facing today, then know you’re one baby step away from making a change in your day… if you choose the right tunes to help change the mood tide.

The right music for the mind aren’t the same yummy bubble gum music or jams we hear daily on our stations, but ones that have moody sounds like snares and percussion instruments…you know, those odd looking small instruments like fun triangles and xylophones you had or probably played with in an elementary school music class.

I’ll never forget a Music Appreciation course I took in college where “Black Magic Woman” was one oldie song we analyzed.

Whether you listen to the Santana or Fleetwood Mac versions, you’re gonna hear some drama from the music…

You’ll notice when there’s a dramatic movie scene about to come on, they play suspenseful music to rope you in to add to the effects.

And the effects go straight to your head where your mind is. So in that small instant, you’re put in a different mood.

And if you can create your own momentary drama with music inspiration and musical instruments, that may dramatically wake up your dull mind up if that’s what you need. It’s the healthy way without creating real life drama, if ya know what I mean 🎭

And here are a few artists and songs to turn on for daily inspiration:

Al Green

B.B. King (or any Blues music)

And a few modern songs:

Magic (Coldplay)

Latch (Disclosure with Sam Smith)

Or have a home Christmas concert in July or anytime of year.

Seasonal Music Inspiration

Then there are times when you feel uninspired in general over a season. That’s when yo find new music 🎶 to gain your pep in your step.

And realize that’s an opportunity to recognize the need to welcome in a Life transition. Something great is going to come in. It could be a fresh start over.

Instead of adopting a why me attitude, turn on the why not me? And the why not me is about being chosen for your life mission and great activities ahead.

So recognize that seasonal blaise is meant to be a bridge or a transition.

Those seasonal feelings can overlap with the daily need for doses of inspiration. But they are not the same.

With those seasonal feelings, I know in my life that means it’s time to shift in another direction or do something different. It’s the Universe giving a clue to look up and out, instead of simply looking at what was.

And that can be how you approach your seasonal moods!

In growth preparation, finding inspiration (that can start with music inspiration) can get the wheels turning in the new direction.

And if music isn’t enough…

While listening to nostalgic music or getting music therapy, take a break and look at those daily photos, sports coverage, skating… or whatever gives you that temporary joy that snaps you outta your funk.

Try to find more appreciation or contentment to help your way through.

Transitioning is our life’s theme.

And of course, life never tells you or gives you a road map of where to transition shift to (…that would be waaayy too easy!). But if you listen to your inner guides, you have a better chance to figure out the next best step.

So it’s not always as much work as it sounds and if you cooperate with yourself.

Because in those tough moments, you know (or can believe!) that where you are will produce something GREAT on the other side.

And that’s how you can better embrace challenges and changes.

A belief, that’s fully in your control, improves your outlook and attitude.

And when we re-adjust those to help us get through and grow, then we’ve set ourselves up to more smoothly enter a new season with our good intentions.

And when you look back out next time, you’ll be in a different place because the moment has passed.

So what are you waiting for… turn on some good tune vibes 🎶 and ask yourself: what are you inspired about today?

And while you’re needing a sweet break, you can enjoy a healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with exactly 40 chip morsels in case you need to give someone a small job. This is an easy recipe that you or your young ones can make.

heathy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie in one bowl

Simple Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

4 oz applesauce (easy grocery plastic container size)
2/3 cup oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp maple sugar, honey, or molasses
2 tbsp chocolate chips (or 40 chip morsels)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup almond milk or milk of choice

Instructions

Combine ingredients and pour onto baking pan forming a roundish shape.
Bake on 350°F for about 20-25 minutes until well baked.

Child Pose Yoga DeStress

Child Pose yoga was something I wish I knew when I was first starting out in corporate work life. The day in hotel catering where I started was long and full of pressures, stress, and being in go-go-go mode.

Almond butter Granny Smith apples are the new healthy “candy apples” that please the adult inner child. 👧🏻

And once in a while we would stop to enjoy a snack break. This is a healthy apple recipe idea for a great pairing bite. 🍏

healthy candy granny smith apples recipe.

(No Bake) Healthy "Candy" Granny Smith Apples

Put a smile on your face with these healthy apple snacks reminiscent of caramel apples without the sugar coating.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

Wooden sticks (use skewers if you prefer)

Ingredients

Granny Smith apples
Natural Almond butter
Peanuts, other nuts, shredded coconut, fruit zest, or cinnamon spice to decorate

Instructions

1.Insert wooden sticks or skewers into your apple tops, removing stems. Medium-size apples work best.
2.Dip in natural almond butter or peanut butter. Stir in a little water to make a smooth sauce consistency.
3.Dip in peanuts or "candy" of choice.
4.Refrigerate and enjoy!

And some of those moments brought in negative energy that would linger into the evening and then the next day where the same triggers started all over again. Maybe you can relate?

Weekends flew by where I was never caught up with rest and completing errands.

There was always more to do, but then the rat race workweek started with Monday. And I couldn’t remember what I did over the weekend. It was like being in Plow Pose but not the yoga kind. I felt hit by a plow catching up with sleep.

The balance in social activities was long forgotten.

If you have a corporate work life, you know exactly what being in the rat race lifestyle means, that’s rarely 9-5.

And I felt no work-life balance in my first work gig in hotel catering that averaged twelve hours a day roundtrip plus some weekends. While I did have hotel management perks of staying overnight on request, but who wants to stay at there work when they can go home and feel like a human again? That’s how I felt. Even if you’re in a fun place, it’s never the same when you’re working and you take your job seriously.

Stress-free life is a foreign concept in those long hour environments where you’re always “on.” Today, we don’t have to be so much like a professional robot, we can leave that to the actual AI robots. 😊

Then, years later I had a WLB epiphany… oh, that’s what work-life balance looks like.

I had an actual 9-5 work life that gave me time balance. But as all things come to an end, moving on and years later, I found other 9-5 work that came with the tradeoff of toxic work environments.

In those roles, I would’ve easily traded fewer hours to work around positive work energy. I carried anxious energy that robbed me of life and enjoyment on my days off during those work seasons, kinda like first job. The Universe was definitely sending me clues. And decades in, I caught on to the recurring patterns like Groundhog Day.

Until once again, I got out of those sometime miserable work seasons… and then I could breathe in the moment and feel calm in mindfulness. I was not thinking of past situations or what could happen in the future. I was living free.

And through years of work trials and tribulations, that’s how I determined self-care, protecting your calm energy, and valuing yourself is most important. Life is too short to live unfulfilled in the process because you have future end goals in mind. There’s a balance because no one is guaranteed tomorrow or their certain plans that goals count on.

Plus, living with prolonged stress is outright damaging to optimal health and longevity.

Relaxing-calm energy is a prescription for mind-body health that we all need.

One way to get your calm energy back sooner rather than later is to reverse the negatives into positives…

And in any “bad” situation, realize in awareness that the situation you’re in today, will one day end.

…Either by you or circumstances beyond your control. So today, what you are gaining in resilience and lessons learned will pay dividends for your future endeavors. And today and in this moment, you can practice this relaxing perspective in Child Pose yoga and these ways:

1) Take deep breaths in and out in your Child Pose. You can do this in the morning and night to help calm. You don’t need to have any certain energy, just a pulse. And if you have pent-up energy, push it out into deep huff and puff breaths onto your yoga mat.

2) Then when you get more time, you can flow into a peaceful walk outside to appreciate calm spaces and surroundings. Like a child, wonder about the trees and all those similar curiosities you had in your earlier days. These days, it’s easy to stop and stare at nature off-balance compared to previous years, and that can stir up some fond nostalgia memories of the happy inner child that are peaceful and innocent.

3) Meditating on daily devotionals is great way to start your morning with positive affirmations and mantras, hopeful Psalm Scriptures, and check in and see what thoughts pop up.

4) Do a few minutes in a productive joyful activity that’s a daily outlet. Maybe you have a personal project you’re working on. When you’re fully immersed, that gets your calm mind-body back.

5) When you go back to your yoga mat, do an active Child’s Pose where your fingers are facing each other and touching, pointed straight ahead on the mat. And also move them with palms down on the floor to about the 2 pm hand dial position. Stay there for a few breaths.

Then move along to 3 pm for a few breaths. And turn your Child Pose into Hare Pose with a rounded back. Looking down and inward, you gain a few more breaths of calm and comfort. And maybe find out what your inner child is needing.

Focus on relaxing muscles and your breath to be in present moment where anxious energy doesn’t exist. That’s all in the past thoughts and uncertain future worry that causes us unnecessary negative sensations. Just focus on this moment.

6) Listen to relaxing music to help put you back into a calm mind-body balance mood. I like to have soft music like Ingrid Michaelson, Ed Sheeran, or Norah Jones upbeat moody tones in the background that won’t put me to sleep. Having seen them all in concert, I can put some surround sound and lights to memory too… and that pleases my inner child.

7) And turn your Child Pose to an upside down Child Pose where you hug your knees. Doesn’t that feel good? If you were like me you grew up in a family that didn’t know how to give hugs and kisses. This hugging Child Pose is a great way to validate your inner child that didn’t get hugs and outward expressions of love.

What pleases your inner child? 👶 Maybe a Plow Pose.

Abundant Living Over Sadness Feelings

When I was a child, a birthday cake 🎂 like this put a BIG smile on my face.😀 I only needed a slice for joy, but appreciated the whole abundant cake! 🍰

Abundant thoughts can make the difference in sadness over a sad situation and then settle in as a positive new normal. This can be important because many of us know at least one person who is dealing with sadness.

Abundant living often gets confused for wealth and having things. It definitely could help, but then some of the most well-off people are sad too, sadly. So that tells us it’s deeper, and more about us.

…And doesn’t come from external material things.

…And since we’re all made from the same human fabric, we all can feel lack (and not abundance) at any time relative to our lives. We don’t live anyone else’s (similar to, we only know and live in our bodies).

So if we don’t stay grounded inside, we may not find our well and wealth of abundance, where our greatest happiness is.

In America where I live, celebrities have their place on the Red Carpet and I think that’s fantastic as actors put in long, hard hours in their craft providing entertainment for the rest of us…

Which btw, did you watch the movie event of the year this week… The Oscars?

…I always like to see dressy attire (I think that comes from my childhood because my mom was a dressmaker, so her clients sometimes brought and left their dreamy sequined gowns around👗).

…Plus, I love good movies (…you too?). 🎥

This year I have to say Lady Gaga stole the show in her raw performance where she took off her Hollywood-glam look she came in and put on a T-shirt, then sang her heart out with the Top Gun Maverick theme song (“Hold My Hand”).

Everyone has their opinion, but maybe it made her feel less glitzy and more empowered to share her gift with the world. 🙌🏻 And I could listen to her 🎶 in dressy hoopla or not.

…In any case, it happily drowned out last year’s lingering negative-energy fiasco involving emcee, Chris Rock

…Anyway, back in our reality lives, we can learn from and drown out our own negative energy that can creep in daily if not recognized.

That includes anger like in a Pitta imbalance, and also sadness that’s generally more Kapha, and another way to express our emotions for how we feel.

We learned emotions from a young age. And now as adults, if a sad situation creeps in 🙃, we’re equipped to handle and turn our frowns upside down better with a DO IT ANYWAY mantra.

…And this helps us, so we bounce back to our happier selves, quicker.

Here are some great DO IT ANYWAY ways for you, or someone you know going through tough or crisis times:

Practice self-care even when you don’t feel like it.

Don’t skip a day without a shower. I know for some that sounds sil-ly, but people who are sad because of a situation that occurred or who are lacking abundant feelings, let their sad feelings guide them and keep them down.

So a simple act like taking a shower or bath can be a big ordeal, for whatever reason. It helps remind any of us of self-care and how we’re relevant in this life.

And that’s one DO IT ANYWAY easy goal we can do.

In abundant countries, it’s easy to forget to cherish the abundance around us like the 4 basic needs (food, clothing, water, shelter), but if we stay grounded and grateful, we can do this daily no matter how we feel in the moment. And we don’t let a day slip by unnoticed because a day can easily slip gradually into a season.

And soft, pitter-patter water on the skin and being sensitized to the comforts around us can help us feel alive as thriving people again.

While the sadness feelings may linger and fade in and out, find a way to make the day brighter.

Add a warming mask to your face. Drink a warm cup of lovely tea. Shower yourself with few essential oil drops. These could be the reminders to take care of yourself (or loved ones for themselves). And the more you douse yourself in love, the more that can come back to you.

Because YOU are loved.

And the Universe shows this to all of us, if we observe.

An example of this is:

Water is ever-flowing. It’s recirculating. It’s abundant. There’s no lack of drinkable water in modern culture. There may be a temporary drought or local drinking water issues in certain areas, but bottled water is transported from abundant areas that have fresh, clean water. And we always have some choices in the matter in our relative abundant living.

Our bodies are mostly made of water so we are made for abundance. Lean in on this idea and maybe visit a natural waterfall or moving body of water, and feel this external power on you…so you can appreciate the simple needs of life that are provided.

And then in the abundant overflow, you can be the problem solver for your community or the world’s greater needs, that matter most to you and are called to. You rise up!

Remember, none of us can give what we don’t have. And the more you operate from a lens of abundant living, the more you can make good impact and contribution in this life.

…So, abundance is love. ❤️

Let that grow in you so that becomes more of who you become today and tomorrow. …And what you do with your time here.

The Parable of the Talents (you may know) is about how one person buried all their talents and so then they had none. When they used one, they got more. And that grew and became many.

That’s just how this abundant earth operates from the energy generated from above. And the more you pay attention to those phenomenal blessings, you can better invest efforts in those areas.

…And also focus on what you have to look forward to. No matter what our circumstances or limitations are, we can use that to our advantage if we can look out from the right lens that starts with our thinking minds and re-writing empowered thoughts.

Our minds are the muscles to grow ourselves and our abilities.

Some of the best things in this life don’t cost anything besides willingness.

Just being open to the world’s possibilities can free us up to get the best out of this life… because then we discover what’s impactfully good for us (and not just what’s busy in front of us) that’s going to affect the world around us too.

Growing up in an affluent, busy city metro area, I learned that being busy and prideful are enemies. Trying to “keep up with the Joneses” hurts us. And not doing anything meaningful in life is another extreme.

A better way is staying balanced, staying humble, active, and curious, and trying new things to help each of us grow.

And growth is our path to abundance. And if we take the DO IT ANYWAY mantra into our day, then we have a step forward.

We’ve all experienced times when we didn’t feel like doing a task or activity.

But once we got into it, we were okay.

And after you finished, you actually felt GOOD for making a contribution or accomplishment for the day. You were glad you did it anyway. 👏

So magnify those experiences in your remembrance, whenever you don’t feel like doing something that can help you grow. Because being productive (however that looks for you) and making accomplishments, gives us more of those healthy and happy hormones. That’s what I’m talking about! 🤸‍♀️

If you prefer, you can Spotify listen to this 6-minute audio snack bite.

Grow Self-Awareness For Your Happiness (Part 2 of 2)

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 are good daily self-awareness mantras. — 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.

chocolate almond heart cookies recipe. Print Recipe

Chocolate Almond Hearts

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1 egg, room temperature
1 tbsp honey (or maple syrup substitute)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups almond flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder (use 70% or higher dark cocoa for added antioxidants and nutrients)
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Mix dry and wet ingredients together.
Refrigerate for about 15 minutes.
Roll out cookie dough. Add bench flour as needed.
Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes.
Let cool and then dip in melted chocolate. Refrigerate.

Grow Your Self-Awareness With Yoga (Part 1 of 2)

Nature surroundings help with self-awareness.

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 we have 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 that in 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:

Mood Boost Yoga

Car Seated Yoga Moves

Travel Yoga Poses

Yoga Poses While Baking

Creative Yoga Poses (Help Aches and Pains)

Plank and Downward Dog: