know yourself, know your magic
Life can be easy, but life can also be very messy, and it’s up to us to figure out how to navigate this. I’ll be honest with you guys, this was not my week, and I’ll own up to that. Under all of my actions laid a nagging anxiety that I am doing something wrong… or maybe that I’m not doing my absolute best, or not doing as well as others, or not serving my highest purpose (this is the avalanche of doubt, a position of feeling helpless and inconsistent with no way to dig out of it). When that spiral begins, it feels like a wave has crashed over your stability, and suddenly you’re flailing underwater with no idea which way’s up or down or how to find the surface again.
This kind of chaos is inevitable, but our reaction to it is entirely in our control. This is something I had to meditate on hard this week, when I woke up each day unsure of my next step, weighed down by the water crashing around me, unable to fully orient myself in my mood or my intention. Where do you even begin when you don’t know where you are?
Your higher purpose, I’ve learned, works a lot like a GPS. You have a destination (goals, desires, dreams), your GPS knows the path to get there (via guidance by your intuition), and your job is to follow the path laid out before you. But in the chaotic state of doubt, you can’t tell your GPS where you are...so it’s not going to know how to navigate you to where you want to be. A road trip from Texas to Nevada is futile if your GPS thinks you’re in London, you catch my drift?
Where are you now? Honestly, ask yourself—as I’ve had to ask myself each day this week. Where is that answer going to come from? Only you know where you are, and your doubt + negative vibrations insist on clouding up your inner awareness, causing you to feel lost or out of touch. What can we do to lift the fog, and gain more clarity on our current position + vibration?
For me, I know that grounding myself in reality and gaining clarity on my present state is always going to give me the answers that I’m looking for, and I do this through my daily journaling rituals. I know, I know, how many times you’ve been told to journal your feelings in order to understand yourself better, and you probably have stacks of partially filled notebooks + planners gathering dust on the bookshelf, but hear me out—these 3 daily practices I’m going to share with you have expedited my bounce back time from chaotic-doubt-spiral to navigational-intuition. In the past, negativity could set me back weeks—hell, months—at a time, and the further I buried myself in the feeling, the more my journey out of it became tenuous and deflating.
The three rituals I’m sharing with you today only require 30 minutes of your time, and they’re broken into 3 small chunks from morning to evening. 30 minutes could seem daunting, or juvenile, depending on how willing you are to take some time for yourself. But ask yourself, is 30 minutes of each day worth saving myself weeks to months of stress + anxiety? What am I avoiding when I shut myself out? Am I unwilling to take responsibility for my emotions, and help myself out of this spiral? If we’re waiting for another person or a chance miracle to dig us out of our own shit, we’ll be left waiting for a lifetime. I don’t want to wait, and I know you don’t either, so it’s time to start building that boundless relationship with our inner GPS—our highest self.
1) Morning Pages
Every morning, set your alarm 15 minutes early and immediately write without stopping for 3 straight pages. You don’t reread it or revise it, it’s just a stream of consciousness, and you’ll keep writing in that same journal until it’s full then move on to a new one. The journal is also entirely up to you. I’ve been writing morning pages for 6 years now. In the beginning, I used a composition notebook, but now I just order bulk mini legal pads on Amazon. 3 pages is 3 pages, no matter the size of the notebook—so you can start real small if this seems daunting to you. This ritual promotes morning mindfulness by clearing your brain of all the chaos, allowing you to start your day with a clean slate. Learn to have fun with these pages! Your journal is the place to be fully yourself.
2) Morning Gratitude
On my journey of researching mindfulness + manifestation + self-improvement, almost every single resource has stressed the importance of giving gratitude. The universe is constantly gifting you with what you desire, and it deserves a thank you for this magical service. Imagine if you deliberately picked and delivered a gift from the heart, and the receiver of that gift just threw it aside without acknowledging it. Wouldn’t you feel hurt, or make note that giving to this person in the future would be a waste of your energy? That’s how the Universe feels when you disregard its limitless abundance. Every morning, put on some high vibe music, make yourself a warm cup of tea or coffee, and write down 3 things you are grateful for. Be specific, it isn’t always the big things like your family or your partner + friends—although you should always be thankful for them. Just yesterday, I made note of how thankful I am for honey, for golden hour, for funny astrology memes. When you put your energy towards the things you love, you will receive more of those things—that’s how the law of attraction works.
3) Evening Gratitude
This is similar to your morning gratitude, except you’re going to list 3 things about that day specifically that brought some magic into your life. The prompt for these 3 things can change depending on the type of day you had, so you definitely have room to be creative here. Some days, I write out “3 badass things I did today.” On slower days, I write “3 ways I took care of myself today.” On social days, I may write “3 things I received from others” or “3 things I gave to others.” It’s really just a quick catalogue celebrating 3 unique things about your day. You don’t win an award or fall in love or get promoted every day, so don’t think of these things as major milestones. Even an afternoon nap is something of magic, so celebrate anything and everything that brought you joy that day.
“Gratitude feels so good because it is the state of mind closest to your natural state in which you were born to live. ”
BONUS PROMPT: documenting your thoughts + emotions as they come in.
Throughout the day, I make a conscious effort to understand and reflect on any thoughts or emotions that come to my mind. Your thoughts + emotions define your reality, when you’re conscious of them, you’re more likely to be in a receiving mode instead of on autopilot. As a bonus exercise, keep a small notebook (or even use the notes in your phone) to document your thoughts and emotions as they come. By writing them down, you can begin to dissect how these thoughts and emotions make you feel, and connect the dots between your external circumstances and your internal dialogue. Not every thought is going to be on an Einstein level, fam. The other day, I made a note that crunchy peanut butter tastes amazing in a smoothie. Now I know to pick up crunchy peanut butter next time I’m shopping, because I felt joy in that moment, and we should be striving to multiply our joy any chance we get. This will also help with documenting those wildly random creative breakthroughs you get while stuck in traffic or washing your hair. When I’m looking to amplify my joy or inspire some creativity, I go back through these small notes to see if there’s any opportunity or untapped potential from a previous day that I can utilize in the present. We don’t always need to utilize external sources for inspiration, you’ll be surprised how much you can truly inspire yourself via your own consciousness + awareness.
It’s important to remember that new habits may feel foreign or uncomfortable when you’re first starting out. I urge you to push past the discomfort, and dedicate yourself to 1, 2, or all 3 of these rituals. Like any habit you have, be it good or bad, it will take repetition and intentional action to turn a new ritual into a habitual practice. Be patient with yourself in this process, don’t throw in the towel if you forget a day, or maybe need that extra 15 minutes of sleep in the morning. Every day will be a new opportunity for magic, and these 3 rituals (including the 4th bonus) can be a jumping off point for all of the good habits you’re looking to pick up, and your first step toward connecting with your higher self.
Next week, I’ll be diving into a one day experiment that will unlock your ability to make every day feel like the perfect day. Until then, commit to these new journaling rituals for just 7 days! I can promise you that just one week of mindfulness could transform the way you show up in the world, and how you show up for yourself.
Reach out on instagram (@letsget_into.it) or drop me an email (connect.intoit@gmail.com) and let me know how these rituals have served you this week. I want to know all the amazing things you’ve learned about yourself!
It’s going to be a week of pure magic, fam!