It’s human nature to live authentically, but it’s something that’s taught out of us. Babies, for example, aren’t taught to be authentic, they just naturally are. As we get older, though, we start suppressing our authentic selves and have to work to find them again.
So, what can you do to find your authentic self again and live with it?
Be Aware of Your Body’s Needs
The most basic step in authentic living is listening to what your body tells you and understanding what it needs.
This might sound easy, but sometimes the idea of listening to your body is taught to you. For example, you may ignore your body’s need for movement, stretching, or exercising because you’re really busy, or you may be eating foods that make your body feel gross because they’re convenient. These things grow into habits, but those habits can be broken if you make them a priority.
Take moments in the day to stop and just assess how your body feels.
It’s called a body scan.
Make a conscious effort of taking note of each individual part of your body and how it feels. It becomes easy with practice. If something is sore or you feel tired, take note of those things. Once you’re aware of those things, you can use that to learn what to do to help ease that or what you’re doing that’s causing those things.
Journaling can help with that, too. Writing down the things you’ve eaten, how much you’ve slept, and how you’ve moved each day can help you understand your body. Once you understand your body, that’s when you can start giving it what it wants.
Through body awareness, you can learn what kinds of exercise your body needs and what kinds of foods make your body feel good, how much of it it needs, and when it needs it. Everyone is different, so the best way to properly look after yourself is by listening to your body.
Get in Touch With Your Inner Self
You’ve gotten in touch with your body, now you need to get in touch with your mind.
The most major part of this is being able to assess your emotional and mental state each day and knowing what you need to do for yourself to take care of that.
How do you get in touch with your inner self? One of the most common ways to do this is through meditation. Through this strategy, you can help yourself be aware of negative emotions and guide yourself through them. Awareness also means knowing what you need from yourself and others to deal with your mental and emotional state, such as if you need support, or you need to be left alone for a certain period of time.
Don’t like meditation? Well, journaling is a good strategy to get in touch with not only your body but your inner self too. Reflecting on your emotions can help you get in tune with what is causing them, and then help you determine what strategies you can put in place to help process through them.
It’s important to remember that getting in touch with your inner self isn’t about controlling or stopping your emotions, it’s about understanding where they come from and letting yourself feel them in a healthy way.
Know Yourself and Own Yourself
Finally, to live an authentic life, you need to know yourself and own that authentic side of yourself. You need to understand your values and your truths and own them without letting others push them down. If you’re surrounded by people that try to shove away your authentic self, it’s your job to remove yourself from that situation and find people that accept your authenticity.
Remember though, owning yourself doesn’t mean changing your mind or opening up to a different side of things. Being open to learning and change is vital. There is a difference between changing your values based on new knowledge and changing them because someone else simply doesn’t like you for them. Authentic people are constantly growing and changing. They accept the person they are and the person they’re becoming.
To live authentically, you need to find the balance between understanding who you are in the present and being open to change and the person you will be in the future. Take the time to listen to the needs of your mind and body. It may take time to build this connection, but with practice, I promise it becomes easier. In the end, you’ll be living a truly beautiful life.
