This year has begun to truly push women and feminine power to center stage. Women all over the world are releasing that bottled-up fear and starting to step forward. It's inspiring, and has provided a gentle reminder that we need to overcome our fears and work harder towards our goals – without letting things of the past (or people) stop us.
Coincidentally, this year I’ve started digging deeper into my “inner journey”, trying to focus on what my body/gut is pushing me to do, instead of looking outside for answers. I believe we all have a path to take, and no one knows our path better than us. We know it deep down inside. We all have strong intuition embedded in our gut, and especially for women, answers also lie in our womb.
The more connected we are to our gut and our womb, the more in-tune we will be with our bodies, which generally translates to more CONFIDENCE, and ultimately, a higher chance of achieving our health (and life) goals.
So what does it take to be more confident and more in-tune with our “inner self”?
That’s something I’m still working on - and will probably be a lifelong journey, for me and for you. But what I can share are some important steps that you can start taking now to get closer to that end-goal of utmost confidence and connection with your body.
Why does it matter? Because the more connected you are, the easier it is to take the (right) decisions for yourself, including what you should eat and when, what type of exercise is best for you, when you should rest, etc. The less you’ll need to rely on confusing outside noise and the easier you can reach THE BEST VERSION OF YOU, your ultimate healthy state, without overthinking it.
Here are 14 tips to help you reconnect and cultivate your feminine power (all on my current to-do list):
SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE & INFLUENTIAL WOMEN. I’ve been doing that; each of the women I work with, I admire. I’ve innately chosen beautifully confident women to have around me, and they’re a huge positive inspiration. Doing this will inspire you to be a stronger more confident woman yourself.
- BE POSITIVE. Every single day. Smile more. Start refocusing on seeing the beauty in things. Everytime you feel negative towards something/someone, stop, and focus on the positive. Then SMILE, and continue with your day. There is something positive in everything!
- Remember that BEAUTY COMES FROM WITHIN, so nourish your body and soul as much as possible on a DAILY basis. Every day you need to: eat healthy, drink tons of water, consciously breathe, meditate, walk or practice yoga, barre and/or your exercise of choice, get 7-9 hours of sleep, and regularly make time for other self-care (self-love) rituals. (Don’t focus on good/bad foods, or good/bad exercises; eat and do what you feel will nourish your unique beautiful body). We often forget that HEALTHY HABITS are about so much more than losing weight! All these habits, practiced regularly, will lead to deeper connection and happiness.
- Look WITHIN and try using mirrors a bit less. TRUST how you FEEL and focus less on how you “look”/ what the mirror reflects. I recently moved into a new home and it's taken me months to get our mirrors installed, so I've using a tiny mirror with which I couldn’t see my blackheads nor the lower half of my body. And what I realized is that indeed, it made me more relaxed about my appearance and also forced me to connect within.
- VISION BOARD. Keep your dreams and VISION in mind at all times and keep working towards it/them. I suggest that at least once a month, take some time to WRITE and/or DRAW your vision(s). Try a Vision Board or LaPorte's Desire Map. Be creative and dream big. And then constantly remind yourself of your WHY. Why do you do what you do. Why do you want what you want. And have that inspire you daily.
- Do what you truly LOVE, every single day. Do something that brings out your passion and happiness every single day. Maybe its yoga. Maybe it's cooking. Maybe its reading a romance book or watching a chick flick. Maybe its drawing. Maybe it's dancing, or sex. Maybe it’s doing your makeup or receiving a beauty ritual. Do at least 1 of those many things that bring you true happiness every day.
- SERVE others. The more we do things for others honorably (and without expecting something in return), the more we will shine. And the more we shine, the more people become attracted to us, and the more confident we become. It helps us connect more to ourselves and to others.
- At the end of each day, REFLECT on your day. Before going to sleep, do a mental re-run of you day. Then take a moment to recognize and accept your mistakes and notice how they make you feel. Make note of the amazing things that happened to you that day, be thankful, and again, notice how it makes you feel.
- HAVE FAITH. TRUST that everything happens for a reason. Welcome your past (don’t hold it as a crutch), trust your mistakes as part of your learning path, and trust that what is meant to come will come.
- BALANCE YOUR CHAKRAS. Do some “chakra balancing” work with yoga and/or essential oils. There are many sites that can guide you here. What do you feel you currently need to work on the most? Do you feel disconnected with your intuition? In this case, do exercises to balance your third-eye chakra. Are you having trouble expressing yourself? Do exercises to balance your throat chakra. Are you experiencing lots of changes that are making you feel unstable, not grounded? Work to balance your root chakra. We’re always changing, so this is a constant work of balancing that needs to be done.
- BALANCE your FEMININE and MASCULINE energies. Masculine energy is your drive, strength, what pushes your forward. It has you taking action. The Feminine energy is about just being, not acting. It’s about feeling and trusting and gong with the flow. In order to enhance and tap into this feminine power, we need to be balanced with our masculine power, too. So give space in each day to both of these energies.
- BE MORE PRESENT in everything you do. Start to take notice of all the details in everything you do, everywhere you go. Lots of times we just act on auto-pilot, and we don’t take the time to notice/feel/smell/really observe every moment. Next time you enter a room, take a few seconds to look around, notice people, colors, smells, etc. The more you put this into practice, the more present and connected you will become with the present moment and ultimately with yourself (and others). This will ultimately help you take note of the subtle messages that your intuition and/or the universe is giving you.
- See imperfections as PERFECTIONS and learn to quiet your inner-critic. An imperfection is only an imperfection because that’s how you choose to see it. And remember, if you allow your inner critic to take the driver’s seat in your life, you will always be insecure and afraid. But if you make the effort to change your perspective, see that “imperfection” as beautiful, you will have more confidence, self-respect and courage.
- Know your personal VALUES. And be AUTHENTIC. What do you believe in? Remind yourself constantly and stand true to those values.
These tips/rituals are choices we make in order to establish the HABIT of being consistently tuned in to our femininity and our truest self. We need to keep making these choices on a daily basis, and keep in mind that we have the ability to achieve whatever we want.
So eat well, move your body, dream big, smile and keep moving forward.
IF YOU WANT MORE IDEAS AND ACTIONABLE SUPPORT TO REACH YOUR GOALS (and live in Nicaragua) come to my Workshop next Saturday March 17th 10:45am in Balance Studio for a special interactive chat on Reconnecting to Your Inner-Self and Cultivating Confidence, followed by a special 1 hour barre class.
Love and reconnecting to your inner-goddess,
Mariana