You survived the week! That's an achievement within itself - you are alive! Hooray! :)
Now, grab a cup of your favourite tea and lets get into this weeks post, it's gonna be a big one - we got a lot to cover here.
This weeks post as decided by a twitter poll is all about blocking out FEAR.
For me personally, blocking out fear is all about following your intuition. I hope that by the end of this post you can understand what that means and will have some strategies to help you tap into your heart.
SO, FIRST THINGS FIRST (I'm the relaest) WHAT IS FEAR AND INTUITION?
According to the google dictionary fear is "an unpleasant emotion caused by threat of danger, pain or harm."
In my opinion fear is your brain talking, it's that voice in your head thats says "Oh hey man, don't do that that's scary as fuck." at least mine does. Fear is what stops you from going for it and taking a little risk or even stepping outside of your comfort zone. In retrospect it really is your brain trying to "protect" you but to get past this we really need to listen to our intuition and our heart.
Our intuition is our instinctive feeling. For example, my intuition always wanted to take a dance class and that made my heart happy BUT then my fear kicked in and my brain protected me from taking a dance class for about 10 years of my life because I came up with every scenario that stopped me from doing what my heart wanted me to pursue. Can you relate?
Take a moment, think about all the things you have always wanted to do.. got them? Now, think about why you didn't pursue them? I can guarantee it was because your brain (fear) kicked in and talked you out of it.
In todays society we are bombarded with fear. Just watch the news, the world is a scary place but we often forget to tune back into ourselves and listen to our intuition. It's always best to lead with your heart not your head.
But how do I listen to my intuition you ask?
These are a few ways I've found work for me to tap into that and don't stress if it doesn't happen overnight, this is a life long journey with yourself and it's taken me about a year to get to this point and I still have so much learning and trusting to do within myself. So, you gotta buckle yourself up for the journey.
1. BREATHE.
Let's face it, we breathe to survive but have you ever taken a moment to really tune into your breath? As an actor I've recently found breath work to be such a big part of my process. I make it a habit to spend 5 minutes a day just focusing on my breathing pattern and being with myself for a moment, tuning out my brain.
Once you focus on your breath you become more aware of yourself and how you're really feeling. Take that moment to be honest with yourself. Write down whatever comes up for you. Do this at least once a day if not ease it into your routine and do it once or twice a week until it becomes a habit.
METHOD:
Find a comfortable position to lie down - the floor works best for me. Take a moment to get comfortable, really comfortable and surrender yourself to the floor. Feeling every part of your body connected to the floor. Next, just focus completely on your breath and your pattern breathing in and out do nothing else. Spend about 2-5 minutes doing this then write down whatever comes up for you and how you're feeling.
2. FREE HAND WRITING
This came from an acting teacher of mine Nadia Townsend. At the beginning of every new term she would get us to free hand write, giving us a starter sentence and then for about 1-2 minutes we would just write down whatever was coming to mind, not thinking just writing - a stream of consciousness if you will.
Then you take a step back and read back what you wrote. Some of the stuff that comes up may surprise you.
I find this technique a great way to clear my thoughts and tap into what my heart really wants but has been hidden by fear. It's great to do once a week, once you're done circle what stands out for you!
Some starter sentences to get you going...
- "I feel happy when..."
- "I get frustrated when..."
- "I am scared of...."
In order to really live a fearless life you need to be honest with yourself first, now for me this didn't come easy I often like to put a wall up and sugar coat things but sometimes you do need that talk with yourself, cut the bullshit. And you know what? once you truly have that chat with yourself things start to open up. A great starting point is to truly ask yourself
- What am I really scared of?
- What would happen if I didn't stop myself?
- Is this where I saw myself 5 years ago?
Journal down your answers and always come back to it. This should be your new found motivation to move forward, move away from the fear.
4. LOVE YOURSELF SILLY
For me, this one didn't come easy and is still a struggle some days. Having been bullied as child and suffering some pretty bad anxiety I was a walking hate yourself machine. Over the years and definitely as I've gotten older I've learned to love myself.
Some small but effective ways to love yourself are:
- Daily affirmations - write down little affirmations on small pieces of paper and then put them in a mason jar. Every morning pick one out and let that be your affirmation for the day! It could be anything from "You rock!" to "You got this gal!"
- Surround yourself with a great support system. Have people around you that make you feel warm and fuzzy!
- Treat yourself! Take one day/night a week and just spend it with YOU. For me, that's spending time with a good book or movie and a nice face mask.
So now my challenge to you this week is to try some of these strategies and even let me know what works for you!
I can guarantee that by tapping into trusting your intuition and following what your heart wants you can kick fear in the butt and start to live a fearless life!
Until next Friday! Keep sharing those positive vibes! Xx
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