Anna Patrick's Blog, page 262
August 20, 2015
What time do you normally wake up in the morning, even on weekends? Werid question, but I'm a morning person and I'm trying to see when other fellow morning people wake up so I don't feel like a crazy person. I like to rationalize my weirdness as an early
Hi anon,
Morning people have to stick together! We’re a rare breed.
To make it to the gym before work I wake up at 6:30, mon-fri. On the weekends I let myself “sleep in,” I typically make it to about 8 or 8:30.
No need to rationalize, we’re just in tune with the energy around us and wake up with the sun! It’s a beautiful thing.
Anna
"It’s not the stars that create the light, but rather light that creates the stars."
- Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements
August 19, 2015
IT’S TIME! You Can Pre-order “Meditations In Wonderland” Now!
YOU CAN PRE-ORDER MEDITATIONS IN WONDERLAND HERE.
My heart was exploding to tell you all this!! It’s finally happening!
Anna
I want to do this so much! Does anyone have any DIY instructions...
I want to do this so much! Does anyone have any DIY instructions on this?
August 18, 2015
So I've come to find that I'm addicted to social media. Maybe not quite as bad as some people, but I've come to find that the first thing I do every day is check Facebook or Snapchat or Instagram etc. How do you think I can break this ?
This is so relevant, I’m glad you brought this
up. I can be so guilty of this too – dry swallowing this pointless information
that’s completely devoid of any deeper truth or spiritual meaning. Plugging in
from the second you open your eyes can lead to that existential feeling of
disconnect a lot of us experience.
First, take mindful steps to tweak the behavior
– instead of scrolling through your feed on Instagram, search for something
meaningful – motivational quotes, spiritual quotes, meditation quotes, book
quotes, whatever that means for you. Social media is just a tool, at its essence.
How you use it is up to you. Let it connect you to something meaningful.
Eventually, when you’re ready to let go of
that, resist the impulse when your phone alarm goes off in the morning to keep
the phone in your hand to scroll. Instead, allow yourself a few minutes of
breathing – don’t get out of bed until you’ve acknowledged five things you’re
grateful for for the upcoming day, or five things you’re excited about
experiencing for the day. Set an intention.
Like most addictions, you’re just responding to the dopamine
associated with doing an activity that released that feel-good chemical – so why
not trade the behavior, the social media compulsion, for a more mindful one?
The vibes you start your day with are completely up to you, so choose
mindfulness and meaning when you can. This is going to take time, so be kind to
yourself along the way.
You’ve got this!
Anna
What would your advice be for someone trying to find themselves? How do you go about doing that?
Thanks for your patience
in me getting back to you on this question – I needed a few days to think about
it!
A quote came up on my
dashboard right before I read this, and I think it’s worth mentioning as I
frame my answer:
“Be easy. Take your time.
You are coming home to yourself.” –Nayyirah Waheed
I think it’s important to
remember first and foremost that your Self is with you all along, sometimes we
just need help fully connecting with, and accepting, that sense of true self that
lies at our core. So don’t worry, your self hasn’t gone anywhere, you’re just
finding your way home.
For a lot of us, I think
it’s just the feeling that we lack a self that we can rely on. We jump between
phases, between likes and dislikes, between being open and being closed.
As far as day to day steps
to “coming home,” so to speak, I think discipline and regularity is important
in order to create a stable base to work from – keep your environment neat,
fill it with creative things, feed yourself healthy foods, make sure you have a
regular sleeping pattern. Once you have a stable foundation, you can confront
some of the issues that might be holding you back from embodying your fullest
self – evaluate all thoughts and habit patterns that leave you in anxious flux,
see where they come from, fall down the rabbit hole.
Uncovering, and accepting,
the things you find down your conscious and subconscious rabbit hole will help
you feel connected to that core sense of self. The method of doing that is
different for everyone – maybe it’s meditation, therapy, creating art, or doing
yoga. Whatever channel you intuition leads you toward, follow that.
Wishing you light on your
path, and my inbox is always open to you along your journey!
Anna
"Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality,..."
- Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements
