Lana Nahawi Shares Simple Self Care Exercises For Everyday

Honesty- Meet Yourself Where You Are At!

Awareness is the first pillar that leads us towards a deeper understanding of who we are and what we desire. We need to dive deep before we set out in a direction, and without this step we can easily get swept away into unconscious, uninspired and automated living.

Let’s start with making a small assessment to illuminate the general state of where you’re at:

a) What are you feeling generally? A sense of vitality and joy, or malaise and laziness? Purpose or purposelessness, or out of control and lost? Relaxed or burned out etc. Write anything relevant to your current state.

b) What are the actions contributing to the way that you’re currently feeling, be it positive or negative.

c) What is your current reality and capacity? Physical, mental, emotional, energetic, financial, structural etc. You can answer these questions broadly, or choose one aspect of your life (relationship, work, parenting, fitness, finance, health, spiritual etc.).

You may also respond to them specifically with your current sense of empowerment in mind. The next step is to take just one aspect that you can dedicate attention to, first on the emotional level and then on the level of action. For example, I feel that my energy is directed in multiple places, leaving me burned out rather than fueled. What I need is a slower pace and the chance to luxuriate and feel present with those I love, and that which fulfills me.

There are multiple strategies that I can take from here, solely after I’ve identified that I’m feeling burned out, what’s driving the burn out, (why I’m pushing and trying so hard), and what my heart and body prefer instead.

Empowerment On Your Own Terms

Empowerment is a loaded word. It’s worth describing it to better understand what we’re trying to live up to.

How do you picture an empowered person? I used to visualize a ‘superwoman’ all suited up on the top of the corporate ladder, while being on top of her personal matters with a supportive and loving partner, A-list kids, fit, joyous, healthy, adventurous, comfortable financially, loyal friends.. and on and on and on!

The description I was trying to live up to at some point is a trap of multiple standards that I had set for myself. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to elevate one’s own experience, but it is worth questioning our capacity, and also where we get our ideas on fulfillment from.

I remember awakening to the fact that I was walking a prescribed and linear path that I was not ready for at certain points. I was not ready to leave to university so young, I wasn’t even sure of what I wanted to study back then. I wasn’t ready to marry when I had, etc.

Now one can argue that we’re never truly ready for such large life transitions, but how much of that boils down to blindly surrendering to and following society’s expectations versus developing a sense of self that is rooted in examined truths?

So let’s redefine Empowerment on your own terms. First, take 10 deep breaths with your eyes closed before answering these questions. Connect with your breath by placing your attention on it, and begin:

a) What does empowerment mean to you?

b) Where did that idea come from? Family, culture, society, religion, patriarchy, capitalism?

c) How would you like to feel?

d) What kind of life is aligned with the way that you want to feel? What actions do you see yourself taking?

e) What capacity and personal energy can you direct towards your responsibilities?

f) Do you like to move slow, or fast?

g) How can you balance independence and interdependence?

h) What is perhaps a new definition of empowerment that is closer to your nature? One that you would like to replace the current paradigm with?

Once again, reflection without action keeps you floating. Identify one action step towards living and being more authentic, based on the responses and feelings that were unearthed in this exercise.

Self-Regulation

When I’m honest with wherever I’m at, then identify a few key aspects that require my attention (either on an emotional level or through action), I then schedule practices or self-care rituals that can keep me sane, anchored, unwavering and fueled to keep on keeping on.

I typically employ embodiment practices that include awareness, breath, movement and sound. This ranges from meditation, to dance, to breath work. It could take the form of a formal and dedicated practice, or micro practices sprinkled throughout the day.

a) What practices help you remain anchored? Which ones resonate with you enough for you to employ consistently, either as ‘micro’ or ‘formal’ practices in your day?

b) What will you start today or tomorrow?

Support System

I support myself first, but am not enlivened by independence solely. I much prefer to collaborate, to support, and be supported by community and a more inclusive way of being and functioning.

In some indigenous cultures, community is a vital life force sustaining the individuals within it. If one member of the tribe is in crisis, the greater whole partakes in collectively supporting the individual’s healing, as though the crisis is their own.

a) Who are your greatest supporters? What type of support do you need? From whom?

b) Create your own flow chart/ grid/ list/drawing of your support system.

You Are An Artist

Navigating life is largely an exercise of unknowns. Even after reflection and subsequent action, there is a degree of uncertainty in the outcome. We truly cannot control every aspect of our experience, and our artistry lies in our ability to shape shift through unpredictability and change.

What anchors me amidst constantly moving parts, is one simple and profound idea: We are ALL LOVE, and life is about consistently remembering and returning to THE LOVE.

Practically what this looks like, is constantly creating time to revisit where I’m at generally, to process incidents or triggers and interactions with other people, and to ask myself if in any of these situations- am I being driven by love or fear? I then adjust myself and my thinking accordingly.

There’s so much that expands and fills my heart, and I try hard to remain connected to those aspects that keep my heart open. I also have a long laundry list of all that disempowers me! My practice is to lean into this list and view it as the challenging parts of my experience that call on some form of course correction to once again return to the road to LOVE.

What brings me back from a disempowered place is that underpinning everything I think, believe and do, is the commitment and desire to remain rooted and connected to the sole true path. The path of LOVE.

For me, this is True Power.