Are you burned out from work?
Is stress ruling your life?
Do you feel lost?
You’re not alone.
Thousands of other people feel the exact same way RIGHT NOW.
In fact, these feelings are extremely common in modern society. Work demands, family pressure, social media distractions, relationship expectations, overstimulation from the entertainment industry, and the fast pace of life can all contribute to stress and internal disconnection. With so much external noise, it can be hard to cut through the static and listen clearly to what’s coming from inside.
Feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and lost are symptoms of disconnection from your core self. When you’ve fallen out of touch with what drives you and what you’re passionate about, it’s completely natural to feel like you’ve lost your direction. Your inner compass is clouded by distraction.
During these rough patches, take time to drop in and reconnect. Rekindle the relationship you have with your innermost self to recalibrate your inner GPS and get back on track.
Doing Less to Self-Connect
There is a pure simplicity in reconnecting with yourself. But it is not easy.
In fact, it requires un-learning much of your conditioning.
We often feel the need to push forward and dig into a problem more forcefully in an attempt to extract a solution. This approach often creates more pressure and leads to more stress.
To cut through the clutter, try going the other direction and instead of doing more, do less. The goal is to reduce the noise that comes from physical, emotional, and mental reactions, in order to hear your true self beneath all that distraction.
In order to reduce the noise, practice less doing, and more being. This means dropping in and relaxing your body, calming your emotions, and quieting your mind.
The problem is, if you’re stressed out, you don’t exactly know how to just "shut off" the stress switch in your brain and body.
But don’t get discouraged. This is where the power of self-regulation comes in.
Self-Regulate to Self-Connect
Self-regulation is the ability to bring yourself back into balance when you might otherwise start falling into physical, emotional, and/or mental reactions. To self-regulate, practice mindfulness: observe what is happening in the present moment, without judging or trying to change it.
When you're in a state of mindfulness, you're anchored in the present moment. Staying in the present moment allows you to regulate your mind, body and emotions, because you keep coming back to yourself right here, right now, instead of slipping into concerns of the past or the future.
In other words, mindfulness is a self-regulation technique that brings you back into connection with your inner world. It’s a way to avoid getting lost in the external stress and distractions of life.
Mindfulness based self-regulation takes practice, but it’s a skill that anyone can learn. And the more you practice, the more easily it will come to you.
Getting Into Self-Connection
Try it out right now, as you’re reading this post. It takes time, so don’t feel like you have to rush through it.
Turn your attention inward and simply notice the sensations in your body.
The emotions you are feeling.
The thoughts in your mind.
As you observe yourself, allow the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that arise to simply be.
Accept them as they are, without trying to change them.
(See our first Mindful Moment post for a visual, simplified drop-in exercise. A visual for the above exercise is available here, or you can see it down below.)
Great job! You just strengthened your self-connection with mindfulness. The very act of pausing and getting still to notice what’s happening within you is an act of inner alignment.
When you find satisfaction from being in the present moment, you no longer feel so disconnected and lost. What you'll find instead is that you know exactly where you are, because you’ve landed home within yourself.
To stay centered, build these moments of self-connection into your daily routine.
Tomorrow, we’re bringing you Part II of this post. We'll talk about what to do with the insights you’ve gained from self-connection in order to direct yourself through life with purpose and meaning.
See you back here tomorrow!
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