Who Said it Had to be Hard to Cultivate Inner Peace? Here's How to Embrace the Simplicity of Spiritual Self-Care
Before I began the asana portion (the physical practice/yoga flow) of my yoga practice of my yoga session this morning, I sat on my mat, closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and set my intention for the session. The words that came to me were “I intend to be free.” That intention felt whole enough, but for the parts of myself that didn’t fully get it, I allowed myself to elaborate. I said, “I will be free. I can stumble, fall out of a pose, or even forget how to move my body. All are welcome. In my freedom, I give myself grace, love, and compassion. I won’t simply celebrate nailing complicated, balancing poses, I’m already celebrating that I’ve made it to my mat today. That is enough.”
With that, I began my asana practice, starting with Hero’s pose (pictured above), which fit my intention beautifully. After all, one of my core values in the way I live my life is to always believe in my strength, intelligence, and ability to be my own hero.
There’s a yoga teacher on YouTube that I really love, Echo. Her channel is Our Echo Yoga. She describes yoga as a form of prayer. I absolutely agree. It is an integration of my mind, body, and soul. It is where my faith is strengthened. It is where I heal, face my discomforts, celebrate my wins, and mourn my losses. Through yoga, I constantly shed my ego and dance with my shadows in order to bravely die and rebirth myself.
One of the big takeaways I got from today’s yoga session is this: No one has to understand or agree with the way I choose to flow through life. We don’t have to share the same values, beliefs, or hopes. But I will always set strong boundaries and demand respect for the way I choose to be.
See, freedom is a choice. I was once a people-pleaser and felt totally trapped and unhappy as I did my best to please others in order to prove my worthiness. Now, I’m a blissfully empowered warrior. The decisions I make are rooted in self-love and while I don’t go out of my way to do anyone harm, I also don’t take any shit.
I’m direct and honest about who I am. And I am extremely grateful for the relationships that my authenticity has brought into my life. Because before, as a people-pleaser, I attracted people who judged and made me feel guilty when I’d make time for self-care. Now, if I were to look at my phone, I'd see a ton of texts and calls that I have yet to reply to because I’ve felt extremely introverted for a couple of weeks as I’ve honored my need for quiet while I am growing through a cocooning cycle, I am grateful that no one has tried to pressure or guilt me into opening up or getting back to them ASAP.
My people, my soul family understand me. I do this fairly often. I unplug for several days and limit my connection with other people’s energy in order to grow, nourish, and rebirth myself. This is where I receive downloads and birth new projects too (I have a new book coming out soon!) My people get it. But I couldn’t have attracted this support without setting boundaries with myself first.
Now, I have a journal prompt for you.
In what areas of your life do you need to set boundaries with yourself? What do those boundaries look like? How can you hold yourself accountable?
Create a judgment-free zone within yourself so that you can openly explore these thoughts and the emotions that come with them. Don’t even worry about taking action right away. Remember, your intuition is the most vocal and powerful when you embrace rest and stillness. So, just focus on the self-awareness portion for now and give your higher self a chance to show you the next steps.
Be well, my loves.
XO, Frida