When was the last time you really listened? Not to the news. Or your favourite YouTuber. Or your partner contemplating which pizza topping to get for your Friday takeaway. No, when was the last time you truly listened to yourself? Your gut? Your body? Your SOUL?
I’m aware this ALREADY sounds a bit woo but despite how I’m wording it or explaining it, listening to yourself is hella important. It’s something I’ve been working on a lot over the last year, particularly since I went down the road of life coaching. And let me tell you, it’s changed my inner world.
So what do I mean exactly by listening to your body, mind and soul?
Well, if we’re looking at basic examples to keep this beginner friendly, you might consider some of the following situations and circumstances as an opportunity to listen inwards:
- You start to suffer from a headache and instead of powering through, you take time to evaluate what might be causing it and act accordingly
- You might be tired and feeling run down and instead of powering through your to-do list, you take the night off to indulge in some self care instead
We have SO MUCH (arguably too much) external chatter going on around us all the time, it’s no wonder that so many of us struggle to tune in to ourselves. It’s a wonder we can actually hear ourselves think half of the time.
Related read: How To Be Mindful With Your Self Care
But self care goes much deeper than just having a bubble bath and some chocolate. Although those two things are great (don’t get me wrong, I BLOODY LOVE eating chocolate in the bath), sometimes that just not what we need.
Often times there’s a stark difference between what we want and what we need.
And the only way we can truly know what we need in any given moment, is to go inwards, dial out the chatter and dial in to our inner radio frequencies.
We’ve all been there. We’ve all experienced how that feels – whether you remember it or not. But the point I’m trying to get at here is that it needs to be a NORMAL thing to experience. Not once in a blue moon.
So how exactly can we tune in to ourselves?
There are many ways we can start tuning into ourselves, our intuition and our inner guides. For the sake of this post and keeping it as beginner friendly as possible, I’m going to start with some more basic suggestions:
Meditate
Always a good place to start. There are many different types of meditation you can practice and at this point, it’s not really what you do but getting into the habit of practicing it and making it a part of your routine. I meditate a few times a week, along with small moments of meditation during my daily Yoga practices.
And you wouldn’t believe some of the things that come up for me sometimes. Things that seem to be lurking deep that rear their head when I’m in my most vulnerable, forcing me to step back and be like “woah okay, maybe that needs tending to”.
Slow the heck down
How are you EVER going to tune in to your inner voice when you’re doing 4 things at once and going at 200mph every day? You’re not. There’s no point even trying because you won’t get a clear message in or out. Slowing down is something I think a lot of people learned the value of in 2020 during the pandemic, which is amazing.
And it’s also something you can take forward with your inner voice practice too. Multi-tasking, never giving yourself a break and constantly doing “something” is a quick way to kick your inner voice to the curb. So slow down. Hear what you’re saying.
Take the time for you
And following on nicely from that point is taking the time for you. Yes, I mean self care. That much is obvious and there are thousands of ways to practice self care but what matters is that you’re doing something for YOU. Not something that every blog you read has told you is a good self care idea.
Taking time for yourself will look different for everyone. But really truly, make it yours. Whatever you need to do to quiet the chatter, go inwards and reclaim focus of yourself, do it.
Intention setting
Intention setting is an amazing way to go inwards and think about what you want and how you want to live. Intentions aren’t the same as goals (in my opinion). And it takes more than just jotting down a couple of intentions in the back of your planner to really get to into those intentions that you feel are aligned with YOU.
In my freebie library you’ll find a FULL end of the month ritual guide I’ve created which contains an intention setting worksheet and how to get in the best space, physical and mentally, to set intentions with meaning and purpose. Click the image above to sign up to the free library!
Yoga
Yoga is a bloody brilliant way to tune in to yourself as it gives you such a deeper understanding of your body. I can notice super subtle things that need tending to now that I’ve been practicing Yoga for so long and it’s amazing. And it feels INCREDIBLE in my body. Here are a few Yoga blog posts that will help you get started:
- 6 Essentials To Start Your Yoga Journey
- 32 Yoga With Adriene Practices For Every Mood
- 5 Yoga Practices for Stress Relief
Life coaching
Not for everyone, I know. But considering the HUGE benefits I’ve gained from life coaching over the last 6 months, it’d be criminal for me not to include it in here. Life coaching has helped me go deep into my limiting beliefs and what my inner voice is saying.
It’s also helped me break through a TON of barriers and I have never felt better in my mindset. Truly. My coach Michelle from Journey To Bliss is absolutely incredible and I’ve come to think of her as a friend now, so would highly recommend checking her out if this is something you’re interested in pursing.
Tuning into yourself journal prompts
If you don’t know where to start, journaling is always a good place. We’re told to journal over and over again but what if we just can’t think of anything to write or our minds are so jumbled that we don’t know where to begin? That’s where journal prompts can come in REALLY handy.
Sometimes the simple act of putting pen to paper can be enough to unlock the creative spark and achieve clarity. You can reflect on your day or explore deeper thoughts, writing it down can help you process emotions. The act of writing can be therapeutic, and you can sort your thoughts and feelings in a concrete way.
Related read: 30 Journal Prompts for Mental Health
You can use journal prompts once a week to check in with yourself and how you’re feeling. Ensure you’re in a quiet, safe space, with a clear mind and free from distractions. Here are 5 basic journal prompts to get you started:
- How does your BODY feel right now? Is it tight? Does anywhere hurt?
- How is your BREATH? Is it short and shallow? Is it hard to breath today?
- How are your emotions lately? Are they manifesting anywhere in the body? Are they bringing up negative self talk or triggering emotions? What has brought these emotions on and how can you tend to that?
- How’s your mindset right now? Are you finding yourself leaning more towards the positive or negative?
- And how is your spirit? Do you feel connected? Are you in alignment?
And what are the benefits
There are so many benefits to tuning in and listening to your inner voice. Too many too list here but I’ll name a few, which will hopefully encourage you enough to start on this journey of self awareness:
- It helps you tend to things BEFORE they get too much (i.e tending to a headache before it becomes debilitating) which will enable you to maintain a more balanced lifestyle, with less obstacles
- It gives you a much bigger sense of connection with yourself; body, mind and spirit. You’ll start to notice subtle changes that you never would have noticed before and be able to tend to them accordingly
- It’s a huge act of self love that you should never, ever deny yourself of. I always say the only person you’re spending the rest of your life with, is you! So you’d better learn to love them
- You’ll learn how to take care of yourself without looking elsewhere for external validation. You’ll be so in tune with yourself that you won’t have to ask for permission, acceptance and validation from ANYONE