A Guide to Self Awareness
The Beginners Guide to Self Awareness
Self-Awareness is the foundation to creating a powerful and secure relationship with yourself. Healing the wounds of your past brings relief so you can finally move forward to experience the joys of life.
To step into Self-Awareness, is to grant yourself the freedom to leave the past behind, embrace the fullness of yourself in the present, and to dream about the future you will create. Awakening your Self-Awareness is the shift from living in a place of constant reaction to your environment to a place of conscious decision making that creates your environment.
Life is the courier that brings you challenges and opportunities to advance your growth from who you are to your fullest potential. From a young age I’ve faced many adversities that gave me the ability to empathize with others and guide them through their painful shadows to unwavering light.
I’ve lived in many towns with 20+ moves in 2 decades, had my own experience with childhood abuse, withstood the tumultuous relationship with my father and navigated the trauma of my mother’s suicide. It felt like life constantly gave me rubble, but with self-reflection and perseverance, I came to notice what great qualities I gained from each experience.
Each strained turn of life’s wrench was an opportunity to recognize what was being built for me; within me. Years went by before I recognized the pain within me was actually where my strength was formed, my character buffed to a gleam and my heart shattered opened. Life gifted me an awakening.
What is Self-Awareness?
The definition of Self-Awareness is the state or condition of being aware; having knowledge; consciousness.. Each individual person carries their own resistance that holds them back from moving forward with life. Self-Awareness is the first step to removing that resistance through identification.
Resistance is represented in our lives through continuing self limiting beliefs and habits, cyclical behavior patterns or stagnancy in areas needing growth. Resistance is generally stored within the body as Fear created from the ego to “keep us safe" from uncharted territory. The Ego prevents resolution of the past by convincing us the unknown isn’t safe, the pain will be too great to bear, or if we remove the story we won’t have an identity.
It is common to view the story of your past as a minuscule piece of life that doesn’t need rehashing in order to move forward, but it’s quite the opposite. Some may claim it’s not a big deal to experience difficult situations or that everyone has a story because “that’s life”, which downplays the harm you feel you’ve experienced.
Minimizing upset emotions caused by painful events dismisses their importance and amplifies the long term burden the emotions will have. Much like an illness or disease, if ignored, will worsen over time becoming more difficult to treat or heal. Others argue it is a fact of life or how they were raised to see things, but this is just a continuation of Inertia’s cycle, disconnecting individuals from growing beyond what they were taught, to become more than they thought possible.
How to get started with Overcoming Inertia
The first thing you need is a strong desire for change and improvement, along with a decision that you are intolerant of your own “b.s.” and refuse to do things the way you always have.
You will need an open, non-judgmental mind to absorb new layers of yourself, an open heart to love yourself with and a level of self awareness that keeps your eyes wide with curiosity.
Patience, compassion and understanding will be your greatest company through the course of discovering who you are and are not.
Tips for Success in overcoming your inertia
Overcoming your Inertia becomes successful when your desire to change your life overpowers your reluctance to do the work.
Create a habit of self-reflection to gain more self-awareness of who you are and who you’d like to be.
Commit to doing the necessary work to change your life and don’t give up.
Show up for yourself at every point of the journey without judgement of where you are, challenge yourself to be an observer, not a critic.
All inner work must be done through a filter of self-love and compassion. Bring love with you everywhere you go and you will endure anything.
Common Questions About Inertia
To help you through your journey, I’ve compiled some commonly asked questions about Inertia and how it pertains to self-awareness and ultimately, healing.
WHAT IS “ Internal Inertia”?
Internal Inertia is the tendency to continue reacting to life the same way you always have. Thinking thoughts about yourself that are negative doesn’t allow you to grow because they limit the belief you carry about yourself.
Internal Inertia is any habit of thought or behavior that robs you of the joy of being yourself. It is the work we would rather not face, but know if we overcome would propel us into the freedom we are seeking.
What is Self-Awareness?
Self-Awareness is an intimate understanding of yourself as the individual being that you are. It’s an exploration of the many layers of your character, your overall feelings, underlying motives and desires. Self-Awareness is an unshakable knowing of self, a secure and healthy relationship forged between yourself and the deeper pieces of you.
Do I have to do the work everyday?
Choosing to walk the path of self-awareness is just like dressing for the weather conditions on any given day, you do it to increase the positive experience of your day. Checking in with yourself will give you the upper hand in navigating any day that comes. Just like wearing a winter coat is more defense against harsh winter winds than your birthday suit, better to be prepared and in the “know”.
Does the work ever end?
Loving and learning about yourself is a life time adventure without an expiration. To become the observer of yourself is to form a never ending relationship or friendship with your soul that you will always look forward to feeling.
Why would I do this work? How is it beneficial for me?
Doing this inner work is the untying of the knots that anchor you to your past pains. Shadow work encourages you to face the difficult emotions deep within you, to feel them out, express and release them. It brings a shift of perspective that eradicates the toxic way you treat yourself and inspires you to create a mental/emotional space you want to be a part of.
Why do I have to heal myself when my past isn’t my fault?
You may feel like you shouldn’t have to clean up the messy story someone else left you with, that it shouldn’t have to be your responsibility, but within that messy place there’s a gift waiting to be discovered. Within every experience you’ve ever gone through, remains an opportunity, for you to uncover an imparted piece of wisdom that will become an inner strength.
Resolving your past doesn’t remove what happened, but it does bring you the chance to nurture your own soul, soothe your own pains and use your own power to remold yourself and life in a way that feels good for you. Healing is your opportunity to rearrange that mess inside you into a place that feels more like home.
The Last Thing You Need to Know about Overcoming Inertia
Your freedom exists and is gained through using self-awareness on your healing journey. The more things you are aware of, the more influence you have over the decisions you make, which creates more power in your life. Becoming curious about the “why” behind everything you do, is your path to discovering your truest self, without the burdens of inertia. Becoming yourself sets you Free.
Let’s work together to relieve you of your burdensome past and meet your greatest self as you Overcome your Inertia.
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