by Jodi Sell
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| (Image via Shutterstock.) |
My journey began in June with a focus
on intentional mindfulness. This term,
mindfulness, meant that I was consciously focused on how I chose to use my
energy, view my every day experiences, and what I chose to take into my
body. As June progressed and July
started to approach I noticed that a shift began to occur in my thinking. I began to experience periods of
uncomfortableness…the best way to describe it would be doubt, worriedness, and
lack of self-confidence. I know everyone
experiences this at some point in their day and I, for one, do NOT like those
feelings or thoughts. So, I began to take note of when these feelings or
thoughts would arise. I found that at times when there were many opportunities
in front of me or times of quiet, these uncomfortable thoughts or feelings would
‘pop’ up. I had become confident with my
growth in mindfulness and was quite shocked that I was experiencing these
‘bouts’ of self-doubt. In fact, I was
irritated because these feelings or thoughts would throw off my rhythm or flow. This led to the next level of investigation…a
deeper search of the ‘missing piece’ of mindfulness.
What I discovered was a profound truth
in the choices I make every day. When
faced with uncomfortable situations or exciting new adventures or even a common
everyday task…will I choose to focus on the little details or will I choose to
‘let go’….release…surrender? Do the little details matter? Do the BIG pieces matter? Do I have to know the outcome or what lies
ahead? These are all questions that I
get to choose to answer or let go.
Here is a great example: my alarm goes off for my morning wellness and
fitness routine….I hit the snooze and immediately fall back to sleep. I miraculously wake up thirty minutes later,
get myself ready and do a shorter version of my morning routine. At some point in the middle of the day I
begin to have thoughts like “you didn’t spend enough time reading” or “you
should have exercised for ten more minutes.” In those moments, I get to choose
to dwell on those thoughts and allow them to close in on me and begin to feel
self-doubt or possibly even frustration. Or I can let them go and trust that my
body was telling me I needed a few more minutes of rest. Sometimes surrendering
those thoughts can be difficult. In
fact, it became increasingly difficult for me during my investigation. I had an amazing insight one evening on how I
can quickly surrender or let go and move forward. I created a three minute or less breathing
and self-talk exercise that works great for me to move quickly to surrender, I
call it Connecting to My Truth or Connecting to Spirit:
- Close your eyes and inhale deeply counting to 3
- Exhale focusing on the release of your breath
- Inhale deeply focusing on your intake – trust, have faith – counting to 5
- Feel your breath reaching all the way to your heart
- Exhale slowly, breathing out your truth and faith
- Inhale even deeper – feel the inhale reaching and encompassing your heart – counting to 5
- Exhale slowly, breathing out your truth and feel it completely surrounding you
The untapped truth that I uncovered is
simply knowing that mindfulness
involves the choice to surrender. Each
day I have the amazing opportunity to choose.
It’s a mindful choice…ultimately the best choice…my FREEING choice…to surrender and trust, have faith, and know that my true leader will always
lead me in the direction I am to go.
