TOOLBOX
My intention is that by the end of this journey, you will have a vast personal library of tried and tested tools you can go back to again and again.
Keep track of the meditations, practices, quotes and exercises you enjoy and/or you would like to try later on.
Ideally, you want to have them somewhere easy to access so that when you feel like you need support you can reach them easily: via your phone, desktop, journal, post-its, etc.
The beauty of these tools is that they will always be there for you whenever you need them, and you can keep expanding your toolbox as you move along through your path.
Wether you want to soothe your nervous system, come back to your body or connect to your heart, here are some practices to support yourself:
EMBODIMENT
An embodiment practice uses the body’s sensations (present in the here and now) as a tool to deepen our awareness and presence, self-regulate, as well as feel more whole and connected.
It’s incredibly powerful in helping us heal and know ourselves. Through the body we’re able to move energy, blockages and trauma that might not be accessible in a conscious level.
It also gives us access to our innate wisdom, guidance and intuition (there’s a reason why it’s called a “gut feeling”). It’s a portal to claim back our health, freedom and wellbeing.
While most of us learnt in childhood to disassociate or escape our bodies as a survival mechanism, embodiment practices invite us to come back to the body/breath in a safe space to be able to stay with whatever is present, allowing energy/emotions to move and release.
Here are some tools and practices:
GUIDED PRACTICE:
PLAYLISTS:
“In order to change, people need to become aware of their sensations and the way that their bodies interact with the world around them. Physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.”
― Bessel A. van der Kolk
CONTRACTION TO EXPANSION
A natural response when faced with danger is to protect, contract and tense up to survive and minimise the chances of damage/pain/death.
However, we’re often trapped in this state of survival in our daily life.
We are in a constant state of high alert and reaction towards triggers or situations that remind us of past trauma or fears. When we stay in the contraction, the energy stays trapped in the body, which keeps the trigger alive. This keeps us in an ever-present state of tension, which affects not only our emotional wellbeing but also our physical wellbeing.
Allowing those contracting energies to move, allows us to claim more inner space and freedom. By addressing the root cause of the trigger we no longer stay trapped in the reactive cycle of fear and survival, which allows us to move from the tightness of fear into the expansion of love and trust.
The more we learn how to soften, breathe and relax in moments of contraction, the quicker we will be able to navigate the natural waves of life and energy. Just like a beating heart, allowing both contraction and expansion to occur. Honouring both. Flowing with both.
These are some guided embodied practices to move from fear/contraction to openness/expansion/love:
Music to go from contraction into expansion
“Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open,
you would be paralyzed.
Your deepest presence is in every small contracting
and expanding.
The two as beautifully balanced and coordinated
as birdwings.”
― Jalaluddin Rumi
MENSTRUAL CYCLE AWARENESS
There is magic inherent in the menstrual cycle.
Each cycle provides a woman with the opportunity to understand and read the messages her body gives her for any specific healing she needs. Each cycle creates the opportunity for as much spiritual growth and personal development that she could want. All a woman has to do to connect with that potential is simply to be with what is, her cycle, happening over and over.
I encourage you to commit to connecting and tracking your cycle, at least over a period of time (my suggestion would be a minimum of 6 months). This will help you understand your body, energy, emotions and needs in a deeper way. The more you track it, the easier it will become to notice the regular patterns that may come up in different points of your cycle.
I believe Menstrual Awareness is one of the most powerful and life-changing tools we can embrace as a regular practice.
The different physical and associated emotional symptoms that you experience through your cycle, are your body, your Self alerting you to a particular need you have that requires meeting.
Learn more about the moon cycle HERE.
“What’s the greatest lesson a woman should learn? That since day one, she’s already had everything she needs within herself. It’s the world that convinced her she did not.”
— Rupi Kaur
INSPIRING RESOURCES
Stay inspired with uplifting books, talks, podcasts, etc.
SACRED RITUALS
Nourish deeply with healing practices.
https://www.jeaninegasser.com/sacred
Password: sacred
SOUND & YOUR VOICE
We are sound / vibrational beings. The entire universe (seen, unseen, physical, mental), is made up of vibrations.
Everything around and inside of us (our bodies, organs, tissues, and cells) is constantly vibrating and creating a unique sound. We’re ceaselessly resonating and reacting to the sounds we’re exposed to. Consciously and unconsciously.
The music we constantly listen to, words we utter to ourselves and others, conversations we’re surrounded by, environments we move in… they all deeply impact how we feel and behave.
Most women hold a lot of trauma and contraction around using their voices. They’ve been taught to be quiet. Speak softly. To hold their tongues.
A big part of healing invites us to release old programming, so we can claim back our voice’s full range and expression.
Practice allowing yourself to sigh loudly. Moan. Scream. Laugh. Say NO. Weep. Sing. Communicate your needs.
Whether you hum or sing while you’re folding the laundry, I invite you to allow yourself to explore the life-changing power of your own pure sound.
Here are some practices to explore the healing power of sound:
Notice if you have any negative associations or stories around using your voice and expressing your needs: how did your family react to you using your voice? how do you feel about speaking your truth to yourself and others?
Pay attention to how you speak and the language you use in your daily life (especially about yourself and your life): are you focusing only on what you don’t like? the negative aspects of a situation? do you constantly criticise yourself and others?
Bring more awareness at to what music and sounds you’re constantly surrounding yourself with and ask yourself if they feel nourishing
Become more conscious about what inner voice you’re constantly listening to (your mind? the bully? your heart? your body?)
Practice relaxing your jaw, tongue and throat often, we hold a lot of tension in those areas.
Practice humming. Humming affects us on a physical level, reducing stress, inducing calmness, and enhancing sleep as well as lowering heart rate and blood pressure and producing powerful neurochemicals such as oxytocin, the “love” hormone.
ABRACADABRA = from the Aramaic phrase avra kehdabra, meaning “I will create as I speak”
TRANSFORMING YOUR MINDSET
According to the National Science Foundation, an average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, 80% are negative and 95% are repetitive thoughts.
By bringing more awareness to how the mind has been running our life, we can start claiming back our control and reprogramming our mindset.
The most important step is remembering you are NOT your thoughts (and your mind isn’t always right!).
You are the awareness perceiving your thoughts… so you don’t need to be drained/consumed by them. You can rest in awareness and observe thoughts, without attaching to them.
A simple way of breaking the hypnosis of the mind is by taking deep breaths to come back to your body and the present moment.
AFFIRMATIONS
Affirmations are short phrases that help us anchor our mind and attention, when repeated often they can also create new neural pathways and perspectives.
“I am not my thoughts. I am not my mind”
“I am not my emotions”
“I am love. I am whole”
“I am loving awareness”
“My body is healthy, full of energy and a sacred temple”
“My life is full of magic, love and flow”
“I am enough, I am worthy. Exactly as I am”
“I choose joy and gratitude”
“Everything is working out best case scenario”
“The universe has my back”
“Abundance is my birthright”
Feel free to create your own affirmations. Make them bold and powerful!
You can also write them on post its and paste them around your house as reminders.
IFFIRMATIONS by Karena Neukirchner
If affirmations don’t resonate with you, and they feel more like a manifestation of toxic positivity, there’s a tiny tweak that could transform into an “iffirmation”, a question that starts with “what if.”
Some examples of iffirmations from Neukirchner:
What if things turn out better than I expect them to?
What if I can handle this?
What if things are always happening for my highest good?
What if I am calm and centered?
What if I am enough?
What if it’s okay to feel this way right now?
What if everyone struggles like this?
What if I’m not broken?
What if there’s nothing wrong with me?
What if I can soften into this feeling?
Asking iffirmations, Neukirchner says, feels more authentic than stating an affirmation. You’re not telling yourself something you don’t believe. And they’re expansive—more about possibilities than black-and-white beliefs.
Iffirmations work on a deeper level, too: They prime the brain to find creative answers to whatever question you’re asking. “There’s this thing in our brains called instinctive elaboration, which means that when we’re asked a question, some part of our brain will continue to try to answer that question over and over and over again on a subconscious level until it’s answered,” Neukirchner says.
THE WORK by Byron Katie
This technique is very helpful when deeply rooted beliefs/thoughts come up.
The Work is a simple process of remaining alert to and questioning stressful thoughts.
It involves asking four simple questions about each belief that causes us pain:
Is it true?
Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
How do you react when you believe that thought?
Who would you be without the thought?
“Mind is a beautiful servant but a dangerous master” - Osho
MORNING PAGES
Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning.
There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages–they are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand.
Do not overthink Morning Pages: just put three pages of anything on the page... and then do three more pages tomorrow.
Write 3 pages of whatever comes to mind without stopping, editing, judging or rephrasing.
If you want to learn more about this exercise, you can check out Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way”.
MORNING SCRIPT
This powerful tool is designed to support you to upgrade your stories, claim your dreams, and raise your energy.
When done on a regular basis, it’s designed to help program both your conscious and subconscious mind by focusing on what it is you really want from life and how you will feel when these things arrive.
What makes it really come alive is the daily practice of reading it daily (in the morning or before bed, whatever works for you!) and truly connecting with it. Feeling every word as if it was already true.
TIPS:
Write it in the present tense, as if it’s already happening
Make the affirmations positive, claiming what you DO want (instead of saying: “I don't waste my time”, say “I honour and value my time by using it in the best possible way”
The script will change, as YOU and your dreams change - it’s a living thing
You can print your script, have it in your laptop or/and in your phone - make sure it’s accessible and easy for you to read daily… Some people even record themselves reading it and they listen to themselves reading it!
Ideally you want to book out 20 mins each morning to tune into your vision - take time to tune in slowly and feel every word
While you read it (outloud is best for maximum impact) allow yourself to really tap into the feelings in your body
PROCESS:
Put some nice music on, light up a candle/incense… maybe do a little meditation (or dance!) to get inspired.
Allow yourself to dream. Go BIG!
You can use pinterest, instagram, etc to get quotes, tap into people you admire, if you feel like you need some inspiration.
1. What’s your BIG vision?
2. What does it feel like?
3. What does it look like?
SUGGESTIONS ON THINGS TO INCLUDE:
How you feel in your body, in yourself
How you feel in partnerships, friendships, relationships
How you feel in your career
What is your relationship with money like, how do you feel when you connect to money?
How do you feel about being alive/ in life
PRESENCE
Without being in the present moment, we will not do well as conscious human beings. Either we will be working from opinions based on the past, or day-dreaming into the future. Thus any practices which help us to come into the present moment with every part of our being, and with every cell of our bodies, will be beneficial, not to ourselves alone, but for the good of the whole.
Return to your senses: Bring your full attention, energy and presence to your body and to the present moment by focusing on your senses and what you are perceiving. Ask yourself: In this very moment, what can I see? hear? smell? feel? taste? touch?
Meditate: whatever that looks like for you - listening to a guided meditation, cleaning while staying very focused of every movement, dancing and connecting with your body, journaling, etc. For great guided meditations, check out app Insight timer.
Connect to nature: Go for a walk and open yourself to connect with your full self (attention, intention, presence and senses) to the trees, flowers, the wind on your skin, notice the way your feet come into contact with the ground on every step. Observe how everything in nature is always in a state of presence in the right here and now.
BREATH
The secret of life is in the breath. We come into this world on the breath and we go out on the breath; but if we are not awake to breath, we will surely die asleep to the reality of life itself. Breath is life.
Deep, slow, conscious belly breaths are life-changing. When in doubt, connect with your breath.
Breath and box breathing:
Breathe deeply. Take five breaths.
I invite you now to exhale completely through your mouth and make a little sound as you do it (sigh, exhalation sound, etc).
Close your mouth and inhale through your nose and count to four.
Hold your breath for a count of seven.
Exhale completely to a sound of eight out of your mouth.
I want you to do that breath pattern as many times as you need to until you feel calm.
This is called 4-7-8 breathing. It is called box breathing. It is a very common breath work pattern that you can use to self soothe and calm your system down.
I also suggest having a hand on your heart and a hand on your belly.
Really notice your heartbeat. Notice your breath. Start to tune into the sensations of your body, this is somatic awareness.
We’re bringing ourselves present to what we’re feeling in our body.
Tune into the sensations in your body, so you can start to name not only your emotions, but the sensations that come along with them.
Why does this help? Because when you attune to your own system, when you know that what you’re feeling is safe and you can identify it, your system can relax.
7-1-7 breathing practice "Mother's Breath" *
Goes back as far as to ancient Egyptian sources.
Sit in a hard-backed chair. Keeping your back straight, without forcing it, will allow the flow of energy to move as it should. With practice your back will straighten naturally.
Place your feet flat on the floor, with heels together and toes apart forming a triangle. Legs should be uncrossed. Arms should be relaxed and if possible in an unstressed position; hands should rest on knees.
Do this practice for about ten minutes and no longer. It can be done several times a day .
Before you start the conscious breathing practice, visualise the most beautiful object in nature you can imagine. It could be a plant, a tree, a waterfall, the sea, or whatever means something real to you.
For this practice, the eyes can be open or closed. Either way, focus on a point approximately eight feet in front of you. If your eyes are closed, then put the picture of whatever you’ve chosen in front of you through visualisation. If you are focussing on an object, put it as close to eight feet away from you as you can. Do not meditate on a candle in this practice. This is very important. The object of the visualisation is to help you focus your attention, not to meditate on the object itself.
Now we come to this sacred rhythm, this 7-1-7-1-7 rhythm of the Mother’s Breath. The rhythm came from ancient Egypt, and there are many hieroglyphics showing how this practice, and others, are done.
The method is simple though initially it may seem difficult since we are used to just breathing without any form of attention or consciousness. You are going to breathe into the solar plexus for the count of seven, pause for one count, and then for another seven counts radiate out breath from the “heart centre”, as we call the point in the centre of the chest. You may notice that the rhythm corresponds exactly to the octave in music. Please remember that it is not the speed that counts, be it slow or relatively fast. It is the actual number of counts that we are talking about. Choose the speed that suits you.
First, find a point in the centre of your solar plexus area, and also the heart centre. Breathe into the solar plexus for the count of seven and from fourteen directions simultaneously, from in front and behind, from above and below, from left and right, as well as from the remaining eight diagonals. As you breathe, bring in all the elements of the earth, the minerals - you can even breathe in vitamins by choice if you wish! - and fill yourself with all that the body and its subtle counterparts need. Do not be embarrassed about taking what you need in the understanding that all this is done in the name of service.
Having breathed in for the count of seven, pause for one count and at the same time, bring your attention to the centre of the chest. Then breathe out for the count of seven. As you breathe out, radiate love and goodwill to all mankind from the centre of the chest in the same fourteen directions, as if you are a lighthouse for the ships that are entering the harbour.
At this point, there is a tremendous sense of wonder and gratitude in the realisation that, indeed, we are able to serve our fellow human beings and the planet itself.
To complete the practice, return to the senses. As in other practices, feel your body and take responsibility for it once more. Be awake to the room or the surroundings, and finally agree that you have fulfilled what you set out to do.
We can choose the quality of the air that we breathe. As you progress in the practice, through correct visualisation, you can breathe the air that is circulating in certain sacred areas of the planet, without leaving the chair upon which you are sitting.
The last step in the practice, which, after all, is an alchemical process, is the refining of the breath. Begin taking only us much breath as you actually need and are given. This should require as little effort as the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings. There is no more need to force the breath. In a sense, at this stage, you are not breathing. Rather, you are being breathed.
*by Reshad Field