Self-connection
How have you been slowing down this summer?
I feel grateful to have time this summer to self-connect. For me, quality connection with myself means alone time walking in nature, meditating, journaling, creating, or practicing yoga.
While I appreciate the time to connect to myself, it's not always rainbows and butterflies. I think that is where people often get confused. Yes, the hope is that you can work to peel back the layers and find the love within, but sometimes you do need to sit in layers that don't feel so good. Feeling all the feelings and sitting in the uncomfortable is part of the connection. And the more you can do this for yourself, the more you can do it for others.
I believe strengthening our connection with one's self is so important because it impacts how you show up in our external connections and experiences. These outward experiences could be as simple as the way you show up to make a meal, brush your hair, or drive in your car. How you show up to these simple habits may indicate how connected you are to yourself in the present moment. Because wherever you go, there you are! Whatever you are doing, whoever you are with, you always take yourself with you!
Other connections, like those with loved ones, friends, and family, are very much dependent on our connection within. The more we can bring parts of ourselves into the light with love, the more we are able to love those parts in others. I continue to work on connecting to all parts of myself. This work is really important, and it may not be noticed by everyone in your life as the changes are often not very obvious to start - that is okay. The more you self-connect, the more you are able to validate your own experience. You know that it is real.
It sounds silly, but I like to get curious and notice what happens when I am really connected within. And honestly, magic always happens! Sometimes I get really centered before going to the grocery store. When I'm there, I'm open, present and I'm just gravitating to new types of vegetables, or all of a sudden I have inspiration for a meal! The presence that I bring forth into the grocery store then carries over to when I get home and unpack the groceries. My presence and excitement continue into the week when we cook the meal that my time at the grocery store inspired. For me, this is all just proof of the impact self-connection has on our experience of even the most simple things.
Questions for your journal
How can I create space to connect to myself and to my body on a regular basis?
Who am I when I am alone?
What is the quality of my connections with others?
Where can I go deeper with these connections?
