INNER JOURNEY - Digital Nomads Adventures

happiness

We often think that once we get the body, the wealth, the relationship, the house, the approval of others, the success… whatever it is we dream about, then we will be happy. But once we achieve it, the joy and satisfaction is only temporary and we become hungry to get something else, convinced that this time, when we get what we want, the happiness will last longer or even forever. It is an endless cycle of chase and search for happiness outside of ourselves.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally encourage you to go after your dreams. Yet it is not the dream, the destination, the partner, the money, the body, the house, nor the success we want that will bring us lasting happiness. Happiness lies within the journey itself, within the striving, hoping, dreaming, growing and becoming of the person we want to be, within the reaching for our dreams. Happiness is an attitude towards life, reflected in our daily actions, in gratitude and appreciation for what we already have and in our deliberate focus on whatever brings us joy in the present moment, while we strive for our dreams.

I find the following daily practices essential for a mind~body~heart harmony and a happy & fulfilling life.

"Happiness is a journey not a destination."

Siddhartha buddha

"It is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy."

David Steindl Rast

gratitude

Gratitude is a powerful way to increase our happiness. Practicing gratitude daily by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things we’re thankful for leads us to experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more kindness and compassion, ease depression, stress, anxiety and chronic pain, and it even strengthens our immune system. When we practice gratitude we train our brain to focus on recognizing and appreciating the good things in life rather than on our problems.

Many people focus on what they don’t have and argue that they will be grateful once they get what they want. But this kind of lack thinking only makes us more miserable and stuck in victim mode. Counting our blessings helps us to feel lucky and blessed in the present moment. Gratitude helps us to accept the life as it is unfolding, to enjoy the journey.

I keep a gratitude journal and write a few pages of things I appreciate every day. The boys and I talk about what we are grateful for often during beach walks and hikes, and it makes a great dinner topic too. The best way to reap the benefits of gratitude is to write at least one page of new things you appreciate or are grateful for daily, and you’ll soon see the shift in your happiness level.

You can get a hand writing journal for more personal experience or go paperless and check out some of these cute digital gratitude journals on Etsy.

meditation

The benefits of meditation are endless. Meditating daily reduces stress, anxiety & other negative emotions, and boosts the mood. People who meditate regularly experience more joy and feel happier. Meditation helps to increase our imagination, creativity, patience and tolerance, it generates kindness and empathy, and helps us to be more self-aware. It trains our brain to be in the present moment, helps us to gain new perspective on stressful situations and have more emotional self control.

I have been meditating every day for many years and honestly I don’t know where I would be without it. I love all kinds of meditations, guided ones, kundalini meditation… but my favorite are meditations that use different brain frequencies like Alpha, Theta, Delta and carry subliminal messages and positive affirmations. They are incredibly helpful when it comes to getting rid of limiting beliefs that keep us stuck in old habits and negative patterns. These meditations are designed to free us from the fear & self doubt that crush our ability to enjoy life or stop us from going for our dreams. They reprogram the subconscious mind, replace our limiting beliefs with new positive ones.

I listen to success meditation while working, gratitude meditation every morning on the beach, and the boys listen to self-confidence meditation every night before going to bed too. Weather you want to stop procrastinating, increase self-confidence, feel more gratitude, relieve stress & anxiety, or attract more love and abundance into your life, I recommend my favorite BRAINSYNC meditations. You can check them out here:

spending time in nature

Connecting with nature daily is one of the best things we can do for our physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. In our busy lives with overload of things to do, demands placed on us and our responsibilities, it is easy to put off the time in nature till our day off and degrade it to the bottom of our priorities. I have been there. It is one of the greatest gifts of our nomadic lifestyle that we can spend hours outside every day, hiking, surfing, walking on the beach or just admiring flowers and clouds. And yet I know nomads who don’t leave their computer all week either. It is a conscious choice and once connecting with nature becomes our daily habit, we often wonder how could we have ever lived without it.

Some of the benefits of spending time in nature are: stress relief, feeling happier, vitamin D from the sun, improved sleep, improved attention & memory, boost for immunity system, and relief from depression and anxiety. Even spending just 30 minutes a day in nature can make a huge difference in our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

I feel a strong connection to the earth, the sun, the trees & flowers, the gorgeous blue sky, the sea, lakes & rivers. All five elements of nature creating a perfect retreat for rejuvenation and a mind~body~heart harmony.

Regular exercize

Regular exercise is very beneficial for our physical, emotional and mental health. Exercising regularly boosts our mood, behavior and self esteem, increases our energy levels, concentration and memory, improves our physical fitness, flexibility, sleep, weight and overall health, reduces risk of chronic disease, and relieves stress, depression, anger and anxiety.

It doesn’t really matter what kind of exercise we choose, I like long walks on the beach, yoga, dancing, paddle boarding and hiking while the boys prefer gym workouts, surfing and swimming. So we do gym, yoga and swimming daily while alternate the outdoor sports depending on where we are. I find the combination of fresh air and exercise to be a cocktail of happiness for mind, body & heart.

"Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny."

mahatma gandhi

personal development

To say that I am passionate about personal development is an understatement. To be honest I’m a bit of a personal development junkie. Most people get into personal development when they go through some crisis or tough times, like financial problems, trauma, health problems, relationship problems, or when they feel lost and lack purpose in life. We look for answers.

Personal development helps us to find answers we seek, to understand that within each problem lies the opportunity for growth, and offers us the tools to transform our lives. It can help us understand the dynamics behind our limiting beliefs, fears, self doubt, relationship problems, self sabotage, procrastination, or lack of purpose that have been troubling our lives. It helps us grow, become wiser, happier, healthier, wealthier, more understanding, emphatic and kind, improve our self-esteem, like ourselves more and become the person we want to be. We also learn to respect, accept, and love who we already are. On our personal development journey we learn to believe in ourselves and know that we are capable of achieving growth and our goals. With the new knowledge we are empowered to break the negative patters and achieve emotional, physical and mental wellbeing.

Some signs of emotional and mental wellbeing are that we are comfortable with who we are, have a sense of purpose in life, we take care of our physical, emotional and mental health, we are comfortable saying no and have healthy boundaries, we take time to relax and recharge, we are more adaptable and resilient, and have good relationships with the people in our lives.

I have been looking for answers many times in my life. I’ve taken classes, workshops, online seminars, read hundreds of self-help books, attended Hay House I can do it conference, Wayne Dyer’s workshop, Louise Hay’s You Can Heal Your Life workshop, Marie Forleo’s entrepreneurship course, and took many Mindvalley courses. I listen regularly to podcasts and YouTube channels of motivational speakers like Mel Robbins, Jay Chetty, Wayne Dyer, Abraham/ Ester & Jerry Hicks, Tony Robins, Jim Rohn, Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra and Lewis Howes.

For all these wonderful people and the transformational impact they had on my life, I am forever grateful. Ryan and Aiden read many personal development books about passive income, self-confidence, character building and success too.

If you want to check out some of the best personal development courses out there, have a look at the most powerful life transformational platform in the world MINDVALLEY. I have the Mindvalley app in my phone and listen to my courses on the plane, train or bus, while walking on the beach or chilling by the pool. Right now I’m taking a hypnotherapy course and can’t wait to dive into quantum jumping course next month. I absolutely love the instant availability of inspiration and wisdom that I have access to. You can check out the Mindvalley website here.

"Your habits will determine your future."

jack canfield

keeping the habits

While we might be exited to start new habits and see the benefits we can reap from them, sticking to a new habit is a little trickier. Four days in and we might find ourselves back to scrolling aimlessly on social media, watching series on Netflix, complaining about all the things that went wrong in our day, making excuses that we are ‘too busy’ to go outside or to exercise. We convince ourselves that we just don’t have what it takes to ever reach our dreams and that people who did, are just lucky.

Naturally there will be resistance to new habits even if we know they are good for us and that they will get us closer to our goals. There are days when one just wants to throw it in the bucket as it would be so much easier to give up. But giving up on habits that are good for us is like giving up on our happiness, our goals, our dreams. We may wish life was easier or that someone else would come save us and give us what we want, make us happy and fulfilled, but the truth is that we are the only one who can do that.

With 2 teenagers in the house, the resistance to new habits tripled. To help us stay on track with our goals every day and stick to our habits we started using a habit tracking app in our phones. We also have a family chat once a week, when we talk about which habits we scored at during the previous week, which ones we had hard time with, what are we proud of and grateful for and what are our goals and priorities for the following week. It helps us to live our days more consciously with our goals in mind, to take small steps towards our dreams every day, to take responsibility and control of our lives instead of just reacting to whatever life brings our way and complaining that it is not what we wanted. Sticking to the habits that are good for us and lead to positive change in our lives is very empowering.

There are many habit tracking apps out there and the one we use is super simple and free, you can check it out here.

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