The door to change can start with something as simple as a curiosity.
A tiny simple aha.
A wonder if “it” could be different.
Sometimes we’re angry.
Sometimes we’re confused.
Sometimes we aren’t sure what it will mean for the other people in our life.
Sometimes we don’t really believe we deserve it.
Sometimes it feels like it just wouldn’t work.
Sometimes we have a traumatized past around change.
Sometimes we believe, deep down, good is just temporary.
Sometimes we think we won’t be able to handle what we have to confront.
Sometimes it feels too overwhelming.
Our emotions are made by thoughts.
Thoughts pass through us, emotions stay in the body.
Thoughts create our habits.
Habits create our world.
And habits don’t just happen after 21 days or 90 days. They are so much deeper than that and the story you tell yourself under the surface is everything to unlocking the door to change.
If you don’t feel safe in your body, you may struggle with weight loss no matter what you eat.
If you don’t feel “in control” in your life, you may feel like food feels like relief.
If you have holes in your past where you don’t remember, feel like you have out of body experiences, like you disassociate or have numbness or anxiety out of nowhere, you may feel like your body is betraying you and food or alcohol is a way to feel good again.
If you feel stuck, yearn for passion, freedom, adventure or creativity, food or alcohol can feel like freedom and connection.
And it makes sense to feel that way.
Mental weight is physical weight.
And I invite you to set it down.
Anger is the poison we drink hoping the other person will somehow “get it”.
But you and all your parts are loved, worthy and deserved of feeling free.
Even if they never really know your pain.
You can set yourself free.
Here’s a gentle reminder…
You are not your past.
You are not your habits.
You are not your body.
You are not your resume.
You are not your mistakes.
You are not your achievements.
You are not what everyone else see’s.
You are not what everyone else expects.
You are a little bit of all the things and not any one of them.
You are in the sunrise.
You are in the grass under your bare feet.
You are in the soft sheets and a good night’s sleep.
You are in the words unsaid.
You are in your breath.
You are in your finger slots and your toe slots.
You are in all the incredible light and shadows of your mind.
You are in the foods you eat.
You are in the tender moments when you feel sad, alone, scared, disappointed, frustrated and hurt.
You are in your family.
You are in your best friends smile.
You are in the roads you travel.
You are in the rhythm of day to night.
You are the young, the old, the big, the small, the beautiful, the dark, the win’s and the losses.
Feeling better and making change in your life, starts in your mind and your soul before it starts in your body.
If even just one of these resonate with you, put them into your life on purpose, today. Maybe even right now with the intention of being present.
Soak it in.
Marinate in how it might feel to start your greatest mindful evolution today.
1. Simplify meals and your diet, eat things that look like the original state they grew in and eliminate those that only grew in a factory.
2. Stop weighing yourself
3. Go to bed and get up around the same times
4. Dry brush your body before showering and lymphatic paddle after
5. Clean out your closet, plan outfits the weekend before, leave open space
6. Spend time alone, everyday
7. Go outside
8. Go barefoot outside
9. Eat the cleanest, organic and non gmo food and drinks that you can, especially meat
10. Sit less
11. Use Emotional Freedom Tapping (EFT) to clear your body’s meridians
12. Leave blank space in your schedule to play, nap, walk, listen to music or do nothing
13. Keep learning about things you want to learn about
14. Keep your counter and floors clean where you look most
15. Spend a few minutes each day consciously breathing, even if it’s in the shower or in the car
16. Stop mindless scrolling on social media
17. Unfollow social media accounts that drag you down
18. Create things: recipes, outfits, drawings, ideas, beautiful spaces, games or ideas. Everyone has capacity for creative expression, how does yours need to be expressed?
19. Write things down. Connect with a pen and paper and make a contract with yourself and the Universe simply by writing words on paper.
20. Ask yourself, “who am I being when I ___________ ?”
21. Ask yourself, “what do I need from myself in this moment?”
22. Grow plants. Even one. Let them teach you how to slow down.
23. Unsubscribe from at least one email list. If it’s this one, I’ll understand, you have permission to do what’s best for you always 🙂
24. Stay. When an emotion comes up, stay with it instead of running, numbing or reacting. Let it flow through your body like the clouds passing in the sky. They will pass.
25. Give compliments like candy. To yourself. To the cashier at the grocery store. To the Amazon delivery person. To your Grandma. To your dog. Energy matches energy.
26. Leave yourself gratitude post it notes around your house, car or at work. Notice how good it feels to give yourself a present by reading them.
27. Listen more. To your breath, your thoughts, your body, your posture, your energy.
28. Guard the time and energy you spend taking in the “news” fiercely. If it bleeds it feeds. Some is necessary. Some is truthful. Most is an attempt to take you away from your own internal compass.
29. If it can be done in less than one minute, do it. If it takes more than a minute, put it with other similar tasks at a later so you get the most out of your time.
30. Before eating, ask yourself if your really just exhausted or craving connection.
31. Take a Pilates class at Mindful Evolutions and notice the investment you just made in tightening and toning your muscles, as well as improving your posture, energy, strength and breath!
32. Eat more protein so you stay fuller, longer. Simple carbs are a quick spike in your blood sugar and a quick drop.
33. Make your bed. It’s a present to yourself for bedtime and if the whole day is shitty, you’ve still pulled off one really great thing.
34. Remind yourself, “for me not to me”.
35. Forgive. Forgiveness is not saying what happened was okay, it’s letting go of the energy you hold for it to keep hurting you.
36. Meditate. Close your eyes and breathe, congratulations you have just meditated! There’s no rules to how meditation looks for you. It can be anywhere, anytime, anyway you feel is right.
37. Stretch everyday, keeping your body flexible will help you prevent injury, increase your range of motion and mobility and help you have radiant energy.
38. Play. If you aren’t a naturally playful person, watch a toddler, watch your pets or hang out with some middle schoolers. Give yourself permission to let go of control of how you may look or sound and feeling the freedom of play. Get in the game, the pool, the pillow fight, the hide and seek, the dog drool, the dirt, the paint project and the windows down with the music up!
39. Forget the to-do list sometimes. Be flexible, stop for ice cream, go for the midnight walk, forget about the house being meticulously clean and play at the park or have lunch with a friend, smell the roses, jump in the lake, call them back tomorrow.
40. Try a new food. Ever been interested + intimidated by a recipe and went with a “regular” rotation one instead? Watch a YouTube video, ask a friend or partner to attempt it with you, no matter what happens the experience will grow you and you may love it! Try these!
41. Remember our mind takes pictures of the past and places those in the future. We don’t know what the future will bring so for protection, we project what we think will happen and experience through that lens. Notice what is showing up for you next time you feel fear. Breathe. Allow yourself to get out of your own way.
42. Laugh. Belly laugh, no words or sound, cheeks ache, pee your pants laugh.
43. Write a letter as your 99 year old self to the you today about what was fun, worthy, exciting, scary, hard, terrible, sexy, inspiring, hilarious or impossible and how to spend your days moving forward as if each was the last.
End it with how proud she is of how far you’ve come ❤️
What if this was the first day of the rest of YOUR life?
It is.
Hit reply and let me know what resonates most for you.
What are you curious about? What makes sense for what you’re going through? What feels like freedom? What are you ready to stop feeling guilty about?
What are you ready to start living for?
The Studio will be closed from 8/6-8/14 for beach and family time. See you soon!
Xoxo,
Christy