The 6 habits of Conscious Living

Most people think that if the calendar is full of repetitive activities and busy all the time (whether social or career) they are alive. It is hard to say but most people are spiritually dead. I relate to this lifestyle in my old days. This lack of lust for life may stem from living on autopilot—living out of alignment-making unconscious,mindless,  automatic decisions that don’t align with how you really want to work and live.

Living out of alignment looks like you are not conscious about your desires and dreams, just  following others and what society and culture think you should desire or want , wanting something because you have been conditioned to want it, wanting something because others have it, wanting something because you feel inadequate and not enough.

Conscious living means being alive spiritually — aware, intentional, thoughtful —even being aware when you default to your old autopilot habits .That awareness and taking responsibility for our own actions is Conscious Living.

“To me , Conscious living goes down to self respect. It is about staying aware and connected to what I need and what would serve and support me daily.When we respect and love who we are ,we naturally want to take care of ourselves. We naturally want to fully see ourselves and embrace our importance. ”

So I want to give you some guidelines to help you a) Identify your unconscious habits b) Introduce you to 6 habits that can help you anchor in conscious living.   

A-Let’s start with some indicators of unconscious habits. Here is what unconscious habits may look like:

• Habits when you are forcing, controlling, trying too hard, creating from a place of neediness

• Habits of when you are in over-consumption mode (information, concepts, people’s energy 

• Habits of saying yes to all things that come to your plate or yes to all the people around you 

• Habits of avoiding and procrastinating

• Habits of rushing and taking too many steps at once

• Habits when you are over-rationalizing 

• Experiencing the feeling of contraction over expansion i.e tightness in your body

*Please know We are all unique and on different paths. Use these as guidelines, but it’s very important that you understand where you are in your journey and personalize this list for your needs. I would recommend to track your habits for a week including everything you do when you wake up until you sleep. Just make a list without judgment about all your habits. Then circle the ones that fits the unconscious guidelines I mentioned.

It has been proven that the way we start our days, linger throughout the rest of the day. This means if you jump out of bed and start rushing around, you’re bringing that rushing energy with you – not focused, rushed hence activating your unconscious habits. 

B-To start building conscious living, I want to share the following guidelines that have worked for me and helped me instill conscious lifestyle.

1-Meditation or Yoga for inner connection

As humans we have a basic need to feel connected. Regardless of your faith, find a practice that connects you to source energy, God, universe, or whatever it is that you believe in. If you’re a total atheist, focus on connecting with yourself (your breath!). Meditation for me and specially TM mediation is my first step to feel connected first thing in the morning. It is my source to wake up and be in alignment and conscious of my energy and habits. Yoga practice also is  great practice for inner connection. It lifts you out of the rat race long enough for you to escape the noise, find some headspace and re-tune in to yourself, giving you the perspective to reset your course.

2-Be aware of your values

It starts by investing a little time to think about what’s really important to us as individuals. What acts stir emotion in us – positively, or negatively? What do we want to stand for as a person? How do we believe people should be treated? Once you’re clear on your own personal values it becomes much easier to make conscious heartfelt choices in accordance with them in all areas of your life, and what’s more important your actions are aligned  and you'll be able to stay consistent, and stay on course. 

3-Eat Consciously

Even though I very much believe we are far more than just our bodies, Taking care of it is about self-love and self-respect. When our bodies are functioning optimally, our minds follow – we feel better, and are able to engage with the day’s activity with much more focus, ease, and productivity. This has been my focus in the last 6 months and amplified  my consciousness space. It involves being conscious about your daily meals, eating habits, exercise and movement.

4-Journal and reflect regularly

Setting aside just 5-10 minutes at the end of each day is an invaluable exercise to reflect on your day’s choices and set conscious intentions for the coming days. Ask yourself questions like: What went well? What made you feel misaligned?What have you learned? What are your wins?What will you do differently in future?What goals are you working towards? What new habits or behaviors do you want to introduce to help you live more true to your values each day?

5-Understand your rhythm and what time is best for you 

Planet Earth has its own rhythm. We can see this in the seasons, and every morning when the birds start singing just before or as the sun starts to rise. Schedule your daily and weekly tasks, goals according to your energy level daily and weekly.  For ex: Mornings are a more spiritual and a creative time. It’s when we’re most calm and focused. The hour before sunrise is the most optimal time for connecting with source energy.Afternoons are more anxious – when our minds are the busiest. It’s when the sun is at it’s peak! 1st week of the month is basically for me about reflection, 3rd week is more about action taking. Schedule your activities according to your daily or weekly energy.

6-Fill your plate with high yield tasks vs low yield 

Too many of us let others fill our plate with things that we wouldn’t choose ourselves. Obligations. Things we feel we ’should’ do, but really would rather not. Things that steal time and energy from the things we’d much rather be doing. Become ware to fill your plate with everything that are aligned with you, goals that are aligned with your purpose, goal that yield energy, service and feeling good feeling. You can ask yourself What is my  priority value at this time ? What are the five highest priority action steps I can do today that will increase the probability of living my value, of  achieving what I want?

Finding this article helpful but still feeling a bit overwhelm when it comes to implementing?

I’d love to support you. My Coaching and mentoring containers will support you step by step to start making more conscious aligned, heartfelt choices that will allow you to feel vibrant and fulfilled now, and achieve your goals in a way that doesn’t attach your worth or value or happiness to your results. I will support you in applying the Consciously you method so you can live fuller-more vibrant, authentic, calm and abundant. Learn more about my coaching/mentoring services here and schedule a time together , so we can chat about how we can map out a conscious living strategy that works best for you and your business!

Consciously yours,

Ghada