Friday Focus :: Choose Your Own

{image repost from @thesacredartsexperience on Instagram}

This weekend's mantra is a "choose your own adventure" of sorts.

Every summer, my mom would take us to the library and let us pick out a big stack of books.  I remember reading those Choose Your Own Adventure young adult books as a kid and trying to find a method to reading every possible story option. Just picking one version of the story all the way through to the end didn't work for me. I folded pages and used bookmarks to mark all the forks in the road and all the places of choice, so I could make my way back and see the journey of the other options. Does this resonate for you? 

Sometimes when I come up across a big decision or a moment of fuzzy thinking, it's easy to consult others, my oracle cards, instagram quotes, and only when I've done all the pros and cons list of rational thinking, do I find myself getting quiet or walking in nature or doing a little breathwork to find my answer and my clarity within my body's intuition. 

So I thought today would be a good time as we move into a new month to practice and remember that we know ourselves and our bodies the best. We've lived in and with our bodies and our perspectives and our experiences for our entire life.  

We can consult and get support from doctors, coaches, healers, therapists and they are important people to have on our team. At the end of the day, we are the ones that have to do the heavy lifting of the healing work. It's OUR boots on the ground that creates progress. Our willingness to get vulnerable, to feel our emotions, to tend to ourselves with love and self care.  It's OUR CHOICE to pick which path on the adventure that we take.  

So feeling into your body and your energy, where do you feel you need a little focus and attention? Where in your being needs a little awareness and a little care? 

Let your inner wisdom guide you to the mantra that wants to work with you.  If you are familiar with your chakras and know which one needs a little balancing and opening, you can also use that as your guide.  Otherwise, feel into which one resonates most for you and go with that (there's no right or wrong answer!). 

I AM DIVINE. {crown}
I AM CONNECTED. {6th chakra}
I AM EXPRESSIVE. {throat}
I AM LOVED. {heart}
I AM STRONG. {solar plexus}
I AM CREATIVE. {sacral}
I AM SAFE. {root}

{and if you're like my childhood self, maybe you choose all of them!  That's okay too!}

Take a deep inhale and exhale.

Feel into your body, feeling your feet on the floor and the crown of your head lengthening upward. 

Choose your mantra and say it to yourself.

Sometime things resonate with us for a cycle, a day, an hour, a year, a decade. Let this mantra guide you for as long as you need.  Feel free to come back to this list whenever you need a short, simple way to connect with a certain part of yourself.  You know you best.  xo!