On the day that I moved in to my beautiful new one bedroom apartment in North Bondi, I woke up with a single word ringing in my head. Foundations.
This is typically how my inner guidance speaks to me. It plays the same word over and over through my mind until I finally get the message.
I didn’t realise how spot on this intuitive wisdom was until I made it through my big move and found myself sitting in my new home feeling completely stressed, scattered and disconnected. My body was tight and rigid. My head was racing with incessant thoughts. I was struck down with a 3 day migraine. And in very uncharacteristic Connie fashion, I found myself living on take away food for an entire week.
The move completely knocked me off kilter.
Once I started to find my feet, I took some time out to stop and reflect on what had just happened.
I realised (with rather confronting clarity) where there were some chronic cracks appearing in my inner foundations. Where those supportive practises that helped me care for myself, were not as strong and stable as I needed them to be. Where the relationship between me and me, had become a little rocky.
And the powerful thing about living on your own is that there is nowhere to hide. The spotlight was right on me. Without all of the distractions and busyness around me, I had no choice but to face up to the fact that there was some work to do.
When The Cracks Begin To Show
When my journey into health, wellness, self development and spirituality began, I clung to my foundational practises for dear life. Daily meditation was my lifeline, I couldn’t get through the day without my green juice, and I would leave work excitedly yearning for the deep stretch of yoga class.
As I became stronger in myself, my reliance on these practises faded and I somehow convinced myself I no longer needed them. I was too busy running a business, managing my relationships, and juggling my to do list. My mind seemed to skim over the details and constantly drift to bigger and more enticing goals.
And so as my journey continued, I caught myself slipping at times. I would prioritise clients sessions over going to the gym. If I had an early start and had limited time I would scrap my morning routine. If I was tired or feeling lazy, making a green smoothie seemed like way too much effort, so I would grab something quick and easy on the run.
These seemed like small and harmless omissions at the time, but over time they accumulated in to big gaping holes in my self care. I found myself frequently feeling unsupported and scattered. External events knocked me around more than usual. And I found my ego took a stronger hold than ever before.
Being the teacher and guide I am for others, it is easy to feel a little confronted when you see this play out within your own life. But, rather than allowing myself to get whipped up in a storm of criticism and judgment, I decided to take a more empowering approach.
With a compassionate heart and a gentle spirit I am using this as a beautiful wake up call to start re-building my inner foundations.
Getting Back To Basics
If you are like me, there is a tendency to want to gloss over the simple stuff like healthy eating, deep breathing and proper sleep, and leap ahead to the juicy goodness like manifesting your dreams and doing what you love every day.
But I am learning that we cannot expand in to our true potential without solid foundations beneath us to support us to go all the way. These foundations are what we can fall back on when life throws us a curve ball or we encounter an unexpected challenge.
These foundations help create a clear mindset, a light energy system, a high vibration and a balanced emotional state. They create joy, good vibes and a feeling of support. These core feelings are necessary if we want to call bigger things in to our life.
They keep us grounded, connected and present. We have an inner stability, a strong sense of self and a healthy radiance. They support us to show up more powerfully in the world.
What this really comes down to, is the quality of the relationship we have with ourselves. How well are we caring for ourselves, listening to ourselves and attending to our needs? How present, connected and awake are we? To what extent are we supporting, honouring and loving ourselves?
My Foundational Practices
What I have decided to do is bring my writing back to basics and share with you my journey of strengthening my inner foundations.
As a starting point, I have mapped out 7 key areas I will be placing my focus. Over the coming weeks and months I will be diving in to each of these in more detail for you and sharing posts and video’s with practical and simple ways to strengthen these areas. I will endeavour to be as authentic as I can and not share anything that I am not practising within myself. So, let’s begin.
1. Nourishment
To me this means: Paying loving and careful attention to what I eat, how I eat and why I eat. Filling my body with alkaline, nutrient dense, cleansing foods. Paying attention to the intention behind eating and whether I am eating from true hunger or boredom or as a distraction. Eating slowly, attentively and consciously. Being deeply connected to my body and how I feel when I eat. Hydrating my body and being conscious and attentive to how much water I am drinking. Loving and appreciating the food I eat, as I eat it. Noticing the sensation of fullness while I eat and stopping once I feel nourished.
2. Stillness
To me this means: A commitment and devotion to stillness and the creating of inner space. Bringing an awareness to my inner world so I can notice my energy, my state of being and how I feel. Quietness. Presence. The intention to rise above my limited mind and connect with a more expansive, soulful and empowered energy. Creating the space to hear my inner wisdom, feel my heart’s whispers and receive guidance. A commitment to twice daily meditation. Devotion to the divine presence within me and prioritising my connection to her. Balancing the dynamics of being vs doing. Holding space and allowing myself to drop deeper within myself.
3. Movement
To me this means: Practising daily movement – a walk, yoga, stretching, dancing, running or gym classes. Allowing movement to come in whatever shape or form I feel to experience it. A deep connection with my body during movement and being present to and aware of how it feels. Tuning into the energy within my body and letting myself be moved by it. Using movement as a way to honour, respect, care for and love my body. Never exercising out of need or as a should. Releasing the push and force behind movement and allowing it to be flowing and effortless. Sweat, heat, deep breathing, strength.
4. Body Connection
To me this means: Developing a profound love and respect for the physical body I have in whatever way it appears in this moment. Acceptance of the parts of myself I am judging. Embracing the parts I am rejecting. Loving the parts I don’t want to love. Being attentive and present with my body and touching and caring for it in gentle and loving ways. Honouring the profound role it plays for me. Feeling comfortable being naked in front of the mirror and dancing in my undies. Taking immaculate care of her. Loving her. Seeing her. Connecting with her. Filling her with love and light. Speaking to her with powerful, open hearted, unconditional love.
5. Self Love
To me this means: Becoming more conscious and aware of the thoughts I am holding within myself towards myself. The quality of my self talk. Catching the limiting and fear based thoughts and turning them around to something loving, kind and beautiful. Can I compliment and praise myself? Acknowledge myself? Appreciate myself? Taking time to notice my positive aspects rather than searching for flaws. Speaking in loving and kind ways. Practicing tuning in to what I need in each moment. Giving to myself and receiving from myself. Being attentive, gentle, compassionate and kind to myself.
6. Femininity
To me this means: Embodying more of the qualities of softness, flow, grace, passion, sensuality, ease, freedom, light, depth, radiance and the divine. Opening myself up to others and to the world. Removing the mask and releasing all defences. Receiving and allowing more love, attention and affection to flow in. Intimacy and closeness. A deep connection to my feelings and the powerful messages they hold. Goddess energy. Allowing powerful creative energy to flow through me and be expressed through writing, cooking, speaking, teaching, movement and play. Full blown, unrestricted self expression. Surrender. Painting. Letting life happen, rather than making it happen. Wild sensuality. Touch. Releasing over-doing, achieving and striving. Revelling in the joy of the process.
7. Energy
To me this means: Maintaining a high, positive energetic state through following my bliss and doing what brings me joy. Laughter and play. Choosing the most love-filled thought that I can reach for. Daily chakra cleansing. Prioritising what I love and making time for those practices each day. Appreciation and revelling in the moment. Deep and profound gratitude. Awe. Love. Creating happy vibes in each moment by keeping my focus on what I love. Aligning with the essence of my soul and it’s high, fine vibration. Aligning my energy with what I want to receive more of.
Would you love some support to strengthen your self-love and self-care practices? In my 1:1 coaching programs you will work closely with me and receive practical and personalised guidance.
Read more about my coaching options, or email me at [email protected] to book a complimentary Discovery Session.
Are there any cracks appearing in your foundations? What do you feel inspired to begin strengthening and re-building in your own life? Share with me in the comments.
With love,
Connie x
Hi Connie, what a wonderful post. I found my intuition speaking to me in the same way today, and can very much relate to the ‘cutting corners’ idea! Thank you for your timely reminder about getting back to basics xx
Yes Maretta, I think cutting corners is a perfect way to describe it. Luckily our intuition is on to it!! x
Hi Connie,
I loved reading this post and very much resonated with everything you’ve written. For me the cracks where more to create solid foundation. For years, I’ve dabbled here in there for short to long periods of time, without sustainable discipline. Now, I am really being guided to dig in, not out. To create the space of stillness. To embody more of my presence and connect to love. Perhaps the biggest realization for me has been understanding WHY I want to do all this in the first place. I’ve understood not until we have a solid why, we may never really stick with create and maintaing our beautiful garden. Thank you for this post! xx
I agree Kajal, I think it is that shift from dabbling to commitment. We are being called to take these practises to a deeper level and really create a deep devotion to ourselves and our soul xx
Great post Connie, thank you. I agree, it’s easy to skip over the self-care when we are so passionate about giving to others – especially through our work. Already I see that your foundation is looking rock solid, now that you are giving back to yourself! xx
Totally Clare! It is hard when you love what you do, but I have realised I cannot give to others unless I am giving to myself x
Beautiful post Connie. I’m in the throws of change myself at the moment as I move interstate in 2 days! These foundations for me have certainly lapsed- and I find myself overwhelmed.
Coming back to basics with a soft heart is so important- thank you for your authenticity xxx
Oh wow, sending you love for the big move. It is funny how these self care practises seem to the first to go when we are stressed and overwhelmed but they are the ONE thing we need the most during such big times of change! x
Wow Connie – I feel like you have read my inner most thoughts on this topic! It is something that I have also been noticing for some time – when we start our journey with wellness, we are developing and strengthening it and we are delighted by the results, it gives us the encouragement to keep going. But as soon as things settle, we no loner notice the big results and we can tend to step back from these key pillars, trusting that they will always be there. Recently, my intuition has also been telling me to put some more structure into place so I can reignite these beautiful rituals and habits that I had put so much energy into. I feel like this isn’t so much about starting from square one, but more about continuing the journey and building on what we have already have paved the way for! Blessings Connie!!! X
Oh Jo you and I seem to vibe-ing on the same page a lot lately 🙂 What you have shared is beautiful. I agree, that it while it is back to basics it is not square one, I think rather it is just a deeper and more committed level of practise xx
I’m right there with you on skipping to the manifesting, transformation and all the seemingly juicy bits. I currently have about 6 spiritual books on the go! So it high time I introduced some focus on the foundations. I also love that you included femininity – absolutely loving and embracing this concept at the moment. And it goes hand-in-hand with intuitive movement, by allocating time for movement but honoring however this may present itself for your body at any time. In awe of your honesty and insights xxx
Haha yep I am a 6-books-on-the-go girl too! And yes freaking bring on the feminine, body connection stuff. This is where the gold is for us ladies xx
Its so easy when we feel good to forget all the pieces that got us there in the first place! A great timely post, I know I have fallen into the trap a few times before. I feel good and so I start living my life assuming that feeling will just ‘be there’, forgetting that it took a loving, caring investment to brick that road. xx
I am the same Ruth, I tend to return to my practises a lot during time of need but when I am feeling good I think I let them drift away. But it was a big wake up call to see how impossible it is to truly thrive and expand without them! x
This spoke directly to my soul and needs right now. It’s so easy to get off course, but foundations are always what bring me back. I think I need foundations that remind me of my foundations. 🙂 Thank you so much for being the light for me in this area of my life right now! xo
Haha Katie I agree! I lose touch with these core principles so easily. Luckily we have beautiful bodies that communicate to us so clearly when we get off course x
Hi Connie, thanks so much for sharing. I too am guilty of letting my healthy habits slip at times – particularly when the day already starts early and finishes late! It is so important to maintain the foundations to take care of ourselves – and a little per day is better than nothing at all. (Sometimes I try to make up for it by doing a lot in one sitting which is great, but never a substitute for continuous practice).
Thanks again x
Yeo busy-ness and long days can really trigger a collapse of my foundations too…. but sometimes all we need is to take 5 minute breather breaks through the day and that provides enough support to carry us through x
I have been going through a similar thing too! I’m just juggling so many things at the moment and putting all this pressure on my external self to be perfect. My body has just felt tense and exhausted for a few weeks now! I just haven’t been feeling right and I know it’s because I haven’t been nourishing my inner self – definitely time to get back to basics 🙂 Today is the first of Spring what a perfectly beautiful time to start. Love your work Connie!
Sometimes the more tense our body becomes, the more we stay up in our head so we don’t have to feel what is really going on!! It happens to me too hun. Beautiful to hear this reminder came at the perfect time for you x
Love this post Connie. I am so inspired by your honesty. My personal journey has recently gone to the next level and after reading your post I have realised that my foundations are not strong. I completely agree with the 7 that you outline and am committing to focusing on building these into a long term habits.
Oh Nicola, it is those times that we go to the next level that we need the foundations the most! I am so glad this post was a gorgeous reminder to re-establish some of those practices that will support you to keep taking things bigger and bigger x