What I learned during my two-week break from media
For much of this year, my mind has felt like a chaotic space. I've had trouble hearing from my intuition, my emotions have been running wild, and it's been a struggle to get in touch with my body.
So while on vacation in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, I spent a lot of quiet time at our Topanga Airbnb. Sitting on the swinging chair in the wild, sprawling, cactus garden watching the lizards and listening to the birds, I was still fighting my mind and wanting to plan my life out. But my inner voice began coming back to me.
I heard the words RADICAL ACCEPTANCE.
I had a real KNOWING that I needed to:
Get off of social media for a bit and also stop taking in content like podcasts and YouTube videos (I am an information addict - I usually have something streaming into my ear at all times)
Begin to become aware of my thoughts and accept them without judgment (like recognizing that I'm spinning off into planning the future or getting down on myself and simply coming back to the present moment and acceptance).
Consuming content can be a way that we avoid our own feelings and out-of-control thoughts. It creates this cycle that takes us away from ourself.
So for two weeks, that's what I've been doing with the exception of TV for relaxation, and two books that have been very intentionally and intuitively selected.
Here's what has happened:
I began hearing my inner knowing more clearly - people ask me all the time how they can hear their intuition more clearly. There are many things we can do to practice, but, creating silence is the one thing that we cannot avoid when it comes to hearing our own wisdom and ironically, it's usually the thing that we often FIGHT the most.
My nervous system has calmed down FINALLY - My therapist says that I have one of the most sensitive nervous systems he's met and a mind that makes everything more complicated. Taking in less stimulus and observing and accepting my thoughts and feelings allows me to FEEL SAFE.
I am in FLOW - There's a flow trigger called 'deep embodiment' that allows us to get into and stay in flow. When our nervous system is calm, we are deeply embodied. Last week I was very productive even though I was in a fully creative, immersive, exploratory space. I flowed from one thing to the next and it felt so blissful.
I am more present, kind, and accepting of myself - When I became aware of my thoughts, I realized how much I was judging everything or trying to plan for the future. When we become present and accept ourselves, our thoughts, and feelings unconditionally it opens up so much more space.
It's pretty incredible how much change this has affected me. Again, it wasn't simply cutting out media but also becoming aware and accepting my thoughts and feelings UNCONDITIONALLY. By doing both of theses things, I created space just to BE.
I wanted to share this with you in case it might help you, but your journey could be different. It's funny that I had to create the space to be SILENT in order for my intuition to tell me what I needed.