Awareness of our Physical Body

So definitely the first step to any wellness, is awareness. We need to be aware of where we are, aware of that there is an issue in order to address it right. We need awareness of where we're at, so that we can move to that place that we want to be. I think so often in this world we are moving so quickly, and we are filling ourselves to the brim. We are filling our minds and filling our schedules to maximum capacity. So we don't often have that moment or that mental space left for us to think about and to to really tune in to our bodies and find out where we are. I know several different professions where we are encouraged to keep going and we don't have that moment to really listen to what our body needs because of responsibility to students or to patients, or to clients of some sort. We have been trained to ignore those body cues, like hunger and thirst and having to use the restroom. Some of those basic needs, we have been training ourselves to ignore them, so that we can fulfill our responsibilities. What I'm encouraging you to do now is to take that time to purposely build in some time, a few times a day, maybe to check in, and really listen to those cues. Ask yourself, "Am I hungry? Am I thirsty? Do I need to use the restroom?". Listen to those aches and pains of your body. What are they telling you? What is it that your body needs? Being in the moment, and being present is the key. That's easier said than done, right? When we are in this, "Go, Go, Go" busy culture it takes some actual practice of mindfulness and being in the moment to get there.

What I love to do for this is a nice body scan. So this is something that I practice daily and I use this when I do my live guided meditations during the week. The reason why I love the body scan is because it gives you a systematic way to go through every part of your body and listen. You can tune in and have full awareness just on that body part, just on your body at the moment. It helps us to practice. That's what meditation is ... a practice ... practice bringing our minds back to the present moment. Our minds are going to wander! Some days more than others. And that's okay! The practice is bringing it back to the focal point. In this case the focal point is your body. When we can really tune in we will start to notice how we are holding our bodies throughout the day. Sometimes we don't realize that we're going through our days with our shoulders hunched up to our ears and then we come home with a neck ache or backache or headache and not really sure why. So, when we do this and we take this time to go through our body it helps us to tune in to get those cues from our body. The more that we do this, the more that will be ingrained in us to do this throughout the day so not just during a meditation, quiet, sit down time, but throughout the day as you're moving along. You'll be more apt to stop and think, "How is my body feeling right now?". Or you'll start to notice when something's tense, and you'll be able to then let go and release those muscles so that you don't end up at the end of the day with these aches and pains that we don't need to have. I encourage you to try this every day and you'll get to the point where you don't need the guidance anymore and you can you kind of know the process of going through each body part.

It really does amazing things for relaxing our body and amazing things for training us to be more mindful to be in that moment to tune into our bodies to our physical bodies. We do have several layers of our body and that's where I'll be going next time for some future videos. But wanting to tune in to where our physical body is is a great start. So slowing down ... presence ... checking in ... and then changing course, if you need to. If you're noticing that your body needs something, if you're noticing that your muscles need to be let go or need to be released, then you now have that choice. Now that you have the awareness, then we're empowered to have the choice to help our body, in whatever way it needs.

Here’s What My Haircut Reminded Me … Declutter Your Life

So I was finally able to go get a haircut.  It had been months and I was not feeling like myself.  When I came out of the salon I had this free feeling.  I felt lighter, like I had shed layers that were not “me”.  I felt like I was “ME” again.  I felt that I was more aligned with who I am and the style I feel drawn to.  

This got me thinking about decluttering in all areas of my life.  What if we applied this concept to all areas of our lives including our mental space, physical space and digital space.  Let go of old layers that no longer align with our true self.  

I recently began the mammoth task of decluttering my email inbox.  It had gotten out of control.  When I looked at the number of unread emails I knew I needed to take action (and get to the bottom of why there were so many I didn’t even open).  It was pretty eye opening when I realized that I had cluttered up my inbox and ultimately my mind with other people’s opinions.  I was looking outside of myself for the answers.  The flurry of unsubscribing and deleting that followed was extremely freeing and rewarding.  I cleared space for my own intuition to be heard.  I unsubscribed from anyone that didn’t FEEL in alignment with my true self.  It was an amazing way to evaluate where I want to be heading and to make space for me to look inward.  

I found a similar experience when decluttering my physical space.  When going through my physical things I asked myself who I wanted to be and what I wanted my life to look like.  This was an incredible perspective to approach this task with as it really helped with letting go of things that did not align with where I wanted to go.  During this decluttering we can evaluate the energy behind why we are keeping certain items.  Are we keeping items out of guilt?  Out of a lack mindset?  

All of these things together can help us clear the mental clutter that is taking up space and making it harder to hear our own intuition.  What else is cluttering up your mind?  What are those negative thought patterns that are continually running through your mind that no longer align with who you want to be or the goals you are reaching for?  These thoughts become beliefs that we hold as true and they limit us from growing and achieving.  When we can bring these beliefs to the level of awareness and process through these to release - we can be free … lighter … and more aligned with our true selves. 

Let go what everyone else wants and their opinions.  Let go of things we are holding onto out of guilt or obligation.  Let go of the previous phase of our life so we can step into the next.  Let go of the limiting beliefs that are holding you back.  

Let’s clear out … shed layers… realign with our true selves.

If you would like to start the process of identifying the limiting beliefs that are keeping you stuck check out my Free Resources section to get your worksheet.

Progress not perfection

I used to call myself the lazy perfectionist.  Perfectionism hindering us has come up a lot lately.  

The pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect and do everything 100% and perfectly is paralyzing.  Sometimes literally.  We instead end up doing nothing because of the unrealistic expectations we put on ourselves.  We create a monumental task in our minds out of everything. 

 We need to have the perfect pretty journal before we start our journaling practice (well… actually we need to somehow remember that we want to buy a journal … drive to the store … look through every journal at the store to find the one that is “perfect” … possibly find one or more likely get overwhelmed that you can’t find the right one or can’t justify spending x dollars on a journal & leave without one) --- PHEW!  I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

Meditation is another example.  I think there a lot of people (I used to be one of them) who thought that I had to do it “right” or it wasn’t worth it.  We think that we have to sit in the right position, on a specially designed meditation pillow, don’t dare think of laying down … we have to have x amount of minutes to dedicate to it regularly … and if you don’t do it everyday at the same time then just forget it.  Also, I used to get so hung up on breathing correctly and completely clearing my mind.  I felt I was always doing it “wrong”.  I was off on the breath count.  Those pesky thoughts kept coming back.  So I would get frustrated and give up.  

We spend so much time psyching ourselves out of doing something that we avoid potentially fun or helpful things.  Or we get ourselves so far behind that we are actually making our lives harder.  When we do try, we often fall into the trap of beating ourselves up about how we did it.  Somehow we didn’t do it “good enough” and we end up making ourselves feel worse than if we just didn’t do it at all.   

Sound familiar?  I think we can all think of several habits, tasks or practices that we go through a similar process in our mind.  

So here we go … let’s stop this paralyzing perfectionism and start getting some forward movement going.  Here are some of the ways I’ve been tackling this:

• Use Mel Robbins 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 strategy.  You have 5 seconds before your mind starts to talk you out of what you know you should do.  Start counting backwards from 5 and then get into action.  You will interrupt the sabotaging habit of your mind.

• Remember the phrase “Progress not perfection” … put a reminder in your phone, make signs, write it on sticky notes and hang all around.  

  • If it is a larger task just 10-15 minutes a day will do the trick sooner than you think.  Stay focused on one area or part of a task and chip away at it.  

  • Or if trying to establish a bigger habit try to at least do something every day.  Laura from the YouTube channel “How to Get Your Sh** Together” describes this concept as having no “zero days”.  She encourages us to not have any zero days, meaning any days where you don’t do anything for your project, goal or habit.  The idea being that it is so much harder to get back on track when you’ve done nothing.     

• Just get started.  Don’t wait for the perfect time, perfect way or perfect materials.  It really doesn’t matter … our mind is tricking us to believe it does.  

  • Just journal on any paper you have handy.

  • Just meditate sitting in a chair, laying in your bed, sitting in your car, sitting on your couch.  Just take 2 minutes to be still and quiet.  

  • Just throw the socks in the drawer unpaired.  

  • Just write a note to a loved one on a piece of lined paper (you know that in reality they will be ecstatic just to hear from you … not wondering why you didn’t send your note on coordinating stationary.)

Remember that we are constantly talking to ourselves so let’s focus on shifting that language to supportive and encouraging rather than critical and defeating.  

We’ve got this!  

-Amanda

Awareness is the Key

For me, awareness has been the key to progress and healing.  If we aren’t aware of something how can we change or heal it?  It seems to be one of those universal concepts that encompasses many areas of our lives.  Here are 5 ways awareness can make a big impact on our lives.

1. Body 

This one is a simple one … but not easy!  So many of us have become experts at ignoring our body signals - those basic survival instincts that we are born with.  We have taught ourselves to push through pain, exhaustion, hunger, thirst (among other bodily functions - insert clever emoji).  We have convinced ourselves that we don’t have needs or at least our needs are not as important as everyone else’s. It is amazing when you truly start to listen!

2. Mind: Limiting Beliefs

When we go through our lives feeling stuck … feeling like we aren’t living up to our potential or feeling like we aren’t reaching the dreams we have, I am guessing that there are some limiting beliefs under the surface that are holding you back.  The worst thing about limiting beliefs (those negative thoughts about ourselves that we hold as true) is that they are often hidden in our subconscious.  We go through the motions of our days and are often unaware that these negative beliefs about ourselves are lurking there.  When we actually take the time to bring them to our conscious awareness we may be surprised how many there are and how often we are repeating them to ourselves.  Awareness makes all the difference in taking back our power.

3. Emotions: Emotional Triggers

Another area of life that can benefit from a higher level of awareness is our emotional triggers.  I don’t know about you but this is a big one for me.  As we go through our days we can find ourselves in reaction mode. Usually leading to us acting in ways that we aren’t proud of leaving us with feelings of regret.  If we can raise our awareness of the types of behaviors, situations and/or events that trigger us we can start the process of working through them.  Without awareness, we are stuck in the unhealthy patterns of reaction.

4. Present moment - Mindfulness

Awareness of the present moment is the core concept of mindfulness (non-judgmental awareness more specifically).  How often do you find yourself going through the motions or rushing through the day?  There are so many moments, sights, experiences that we may be missing when moving so quickly.  When you actually stop and make it a habit to be consciously in the present moment … raise your awareness of the sensory experience surrounding you, of the people surrounding you and truly giving them your full attention; only then can you fully experience life. 

5. Spiritual

Awareness of the spiritual realm … signs left for us.  Are you in tune to the messages sent from your spiritual team or loved ones?  From words spoken to us from those around us, to little signs such as frequent sighting of coins, feathers, birds (esp. cardinals), butterflies, dragonflies (among others) … they are communicating with us to let us know they are here and we are supported. 

Awareness can give us our power back!  If you’re hoping to make changes and improve your overall wellness, it starts with awareness.  Best of luck!

Amanda 

If you would like to get started on identifying the limiting beliefs that may be holding you back click here to get your free worksheet!

https://amandakugler.com/take-action

Affirmations … What are you sending out to the universe?

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” ― Mahatma Gandhi.

As we go through our days we have a running loop of thoughts.  The question is, are these thoughts supporting you or bringing you down?  This is where affirmations come in.

What are affirmations?  Affirmations are positively phrased statements that are reviewed in your mind, stated out loud or written down to reinforce a new belief that you desire to hold about yourself or about the way the world works.  

Affirmations work in two ways.  

First, using affirmations is like a filter for your mindset.   When you affirm something such as, “Everything always works out well for me”, your mind will automatically start to look for evidence to prove this statement.  Unfortunately, it also works the opposite way.  For example, if you are saying to yourself, “This is not my day!”, your mind will have a filter on that looks for the bad parts of your day and you will easily overlook all the good parts of your day.  This also encourages us to interpret all events in a negative way.  There is a quote from Eckhart Tolle that states that it is not what happens to us that causes suffering but the story we tell ourselves about what happened to us.  

Secondly, affirmations work with the laws of energy.  It is scientifically known that thoughts are energy.  When we have a thought we are putting out a certain vibrational frequency depending on the type of thought.  Every thought has an influence on us and everything around us; therefore, we need to be very aware of what it is that we are sending out into the universe. 

We are able to choose one thought over another.  What are you going to choose?  Let’s choose to support ourselves.  Let’s choose to bring in good energy into our lives!

- Amanda 

Limiting Beliefs … What’s holding you back?

As we look at others and feel that spark of envy or we think about a long held dream that we’ve always had, we feel those thoughts creeping up.  The thoughts that sound like, “Good things never happen to me.” or “I’m not smart enough” or “I don’t have the right credentials” or “Things are always difficult for me”.  These are common examples of limiting beliefs that many of us hold.  Let us break down this term … Belief: a thought that we hold to be true … Limiting … something that holds us back, keeps us small … limits our experiences.  So, a limiting belief is a belief that we hold to be true (about ourselves or about how the world works) that holds us back from experiences or from achieving the things we’ve always wanted.  

Where do these beliefs come from?  They could originate from an experience in our childhood … maybe in first grade you made a picture and someone laughed at it, then from then on the limiting belief, “I can’t draw” began running in the background.  We also can acquire limiting beliefs from those around us.  We can hear our parents say things, our culture, our friends and take those beliefs on as truth.  For example, “Our family is not the type of people who do ___”, “We can’t afford to go ___”, “Money doesn’t grow on trees”, “Women can’t ____” 

These limiting beliefs can sometimes be common among many people or they can be completely unique to each person.  The thing they all have in common is they are negative, they are limiting, and they aren’t true.  Truth is only what you believe it to be.  It’s like the famous Henry Ford quote … “If you believe you can or believe you can’t … you are right”.    

These beliefs are tricky because often they are running on a loop in our unconscious mind.  The most powerful thing we can do for our healing and overall wellness is to start to identify these limiting beliefs.  If we can bring these beliefs into our conscious awareness now we have the power to address them and move forward.  Limiting beliefs may span across all areas of our lives.  You may have many in each area or maybe more in one area of your life.  I would recommend just selecting one or two areas of your life that you feel are most significant right now.  Once you learn the process of moving through limiting beliefs you can return at any point to address any others that are still lingering or any new ones that may arise.

So are you ready to move forward?  Are you ready for the life you’ve always wanted?  If so, check out my free worksheet to help you begin identifying these limiting beliefs here:

https://amandakugler.com/free-resources

Good luck!  

- Amanda

Guilty Pleasures

Pleasure … What does this word bring to mind?  What feelings come up?  Guilt?  Shame?  Are you immediately associating pleasure with something wrong … something selfish?  Or has it been so long that you are having a difficult time remembering what brings you pleasure?  This can be a difficult area for many adults … especially women.  We have even come up with a term that makes it clear how our society views pleasure … “Guilty pleasures”.  We are sent these messages that if we are seeking pleasure then we are “wrong”, “bad”, “selfish”, “frivolous” and if we do allow ourselves moments of pleasure then we definitely need to feel “guilt” or “shame” afterwards to make up for our momentary lapse in judgement.  When we are children we make most of our decisions based on pleasure (what will make us feel good).  Then over the years we are taught how to be responsible, how to sacrifice and how to do the “right” thing.  Slowly we lose sight of what we like, what we want, what feels good and our decisions are made based on what would be best for others, what is expected of us (by family, culture, etc.), or what is the responsible thing to do.  

I remember being so tightly wound that I had forgotten how to have fun.  I definitely identified pleasure with guilt and being frivolous.   I wasn’t allowing fun.  I had to be financially responsible … health conscious.  There was always the ever looming feeling that there was something more “productive” that I SHOULD (ugh!) be doing.  I had become out of touch with myself and what I actually found pleasurable.  I realized that I couldn’t answer simple questions such as “What’s your favorite ___?”  I was so used to working hard, doing the “right” thing, doing what was convenient for others.  I couldn’t even honestly answer the question, “Would you like a glass of water?” when offered to me because I would immediately default to “no, thank you” so I wouldn’t inconvenience anyone.  So, I began to make a list.  Started to tune in and raise my awareness.  When I found myself enjoying something I would stop and take it in for a moment … be mindful of the moment .. and then write it down.  

So I have discovered that sauteed onions and live acoustic music are two of my favorites. 

I started to realize that my responsibility/pleasure meter was way out of balance. 

Forgetting that allowing ourselves pleasurable moments is not only “not wrong” but is actually needed for our overall well-being (stress levels, physical health, mental health) and positively contributes to the health of our relationships (with ourselves, significant others, friends, children & families).  

Now we don’t have to go wild to embrace pleasure but I encourage you to begin tapping in to yourself again.  Start remembering what it is that you like!  Enjoy those moments of pleasure and plan to have more of them!  Remember that you are worthy of love, pleasure and joy!  

- Amanda

I Had a Moment

Well I was tested … I have been doing okay for the most part during this pandemic.  It’s been hard, it’s been challenging in many ways, but overall I’ve kept my emotions fairly in check.  I’ve had the occassional moment, but finding a routine and working on projects that give me purpose have kept me anchored.  However, I didn’t realize how sheltered I’ve been.  When you’re almost exclusively at home it’s easy to get out of touch with what’s going on.  Yes, I’ve seen it on Facebook or videos but it’s still removed.  This week, my anxiety was tested.  We received some difficult news and then needed to make a decision.  Making a decision right now in this time where everything seems uncertain, was not an easy feat.  However, a decision was made … and then quickly changed.  I had the wave of anxiety hit me.  I had a moment.  Okay, several moments.  I talked in a recent post about some anxiety strategies that have helped me in the past.  After this experience I realized I left out a few other strategies.  

The first was to just allow myself to not be okay for a bit.  I talked previously about acknowledging that these emotions are legitimate, but also not rushing through, or making yourself wrong for feeling what you’re feeling.  Taking a step back from the spiraling “what ifs” did help.  But the second thing I did this time that helped in the moment of intense anxiety was really trying to pinpoint the root of the anxiety.  There was a point where I was questioning, “What am I even anxious about?”.  I was completely operating in my emotional brain.  Taking a moment to step back to the present moment helped me to sort out what was going on.  Just acknowledging the actual source of the anxiety helped me to move forward.  I didn’t solve the causes or make them go away but identifying and acknowledging helped “give it a name” so I could move forward with the other strategies.  I talked it out with my support team … shout out to my sister and husband who are always there for me even when I’m at my worst.  I tried to balance caution with not letting fear (of what might never be) stop me.  I had to trust that I will be protected, trust in my body, and trust in my ability to make the right decision.  Then there was some nourishing … a nice fire with the kids in the warm evening.  

Following this, I tried to return to my journaling, meditation and self-Reiki routines to re-balance.  I feel strongly about being honest and upfront about my struggles.  I hope that these are helpful to you all in some way.  I’m here for you.  

- Amanda

5 Ways Chakras Can Become Blocked

Just like everything else in life our energetic system also needs balance.  If one or more of our chakras become blocked, our whole energetic system can be out of balance.  This imbalance can result in physical, psychological or emotional difficulties.  But how does this happen?  How do our chakras become blocked?  Here are 5 ways … 

1. Physical Trauma

Our energetic system is what carries the life force energy through our whole body.  Interruption in this system can occur when our physical body is impacted by an illness or injury of any kind.  Although we may have superficially healed from this event, oftentimes there is an underlying memory of this event held within our body.  

2. Emotional Trauma

Emotional trauma can include a range of events ranging from isolated, minor incidents to chronic situations.  We experience events where these emotions may be too much to process all at once and these emotions remain in our body.  Losses that we have endured and violations of our trust can also remain within our body.  Our nervous system can become overwhelmed, triggering our “fight or flight” instinct.  Our physiological mechanisms can help us to function in everyday life by separating us from our trauma.  However, this trauma remains stored in our body resulting in blockages in our energetic system.

3. Longstanding Limiting Beliefs

Beliefs are thoughts that are held to be true.  Limiting beliefs are those negative beliefs we hold as truth regarding ourselves or how the world works that are holding us back from truly loving ourselves and living our best lives.  Over time, the reinforcement of these beliefs can contribute to blockages within the corresponding chakra.

4. Chronic Stress

Today’s modern lifestyle has us conditioned for chronic stress.  Our busyness keeps us operating in the sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”) and tension builds in our physical body.  These areas of tension can contribute to blockages within our energy system.  

5. Unhealthy Lifestyle

All of our daily choices can contribute to our overall health.  From our choice of food, to thought patterns, to our environment, to movement and sleep patterns.  Each decision can contribute to the overall health of our energetic system.

The Chakra System

We are not just a physical body! Just as important as it is to keep our physical body healthy, it is equally important to check in with the health of our energetic system! There are 7 main chakras that make up our energetic system and each one governs the functioning of different physical and emotional areas. Chakra is Sanskrit for “wheel of light”. These energy centers work in partnership with your life force energy (in different traditions named: “Chi”, “ki”, “prana”). The chakras are aligned vertically from the base of the spine to the crown of the head aligning with our body’s endocrine system and nervous system. Each chakra positioned at one of the endocrine glands and running along the vagus nerve (the main component of our parasympathetic nervous system - “rest & digest”). The connection of the chakras with these systems is support of the idea that health is holistic, where the system is working together as a whole to maintain health. When there is a blockage of the energy flow or the particular chakra is under-active or over-active you can see a manifestation in the physical body and/or in our emotional well being.

1st - Root Chakra

Associated Endocrine Gland: Adrenal

Color: Red

Element: Earth

2nd - Sacral Chakra

Associated Endocrine Gland: Ovaries/Testicles

Color: Orange

Element: Water

3rd - Solar Plexus Chakra

Associated Endocrine Gland: Pancreas

Color: Yellow

Element: Fire

4th - Heart Chakra

Associated Endocrine Gland: Thymus

Color: Green

Element: Air

5th - Throat Chakra

Associated Endocrine Gland: Thyroid

Color: Blue

Element: Ether

6th - Third Eye Chakra

Associated Endocrine Gland: Pineal

Color: Indigo

Element: Light

7th - Crown Chakra

Associated Endocrine Gland: Pituitary

Color: Violet

Element: Cosmic Energy/Thought