Hey there: I'm Eden, and I'm so glad you're here. Taking action for yourself for at least a few minutes within each day is already so worthy of admiration.

This is a long one, but is extremely important so please take the space to read! Every other day will be just a few sentences-- we will keep it simple.

The day's prompt will become available when the day begins, and you will receive an email reminder to log in to Teachable to view it. I recommend downloading the Teachable app for your phone-- the platform is great and streamlined. If any technical difficulties arise for you during our time together, please reach out. We're all learning together here :)

This challenge is simple: Make space every day to slow down, so you can tap in and reflect. The only expectations are to harness your curiosity, and to actually write. Our thoughts, speech and written word are all from different areas of the brain, so even if you think about the prompt, I guarantee something different will come out on the paper. Allow yourself the space to follow through. It will amaze you what can move through you in just 5 minutes of journaling a day! Do your best to also just keep writing: even if you don't know what will come out next. Even if you write the last sentence again. Just, keep, writing :)

You may notice some people sharing in the comment section below each prompt. You are always welcome to use this space to share your experience with this community, but you do not need to. Connecting with others can help you tease out ideas that arise during journaling, and sharing can help take the weight out of the words we are shedding. But this is a personal journey, so however you choose to embrace it is already perfect.

This mini-course is designed to tune you into your body so that we can release patterns from the mind. For a long time, I thought to heal my mind I needed to get out of my body. Reiki taught me that the body is actually a gateway into the mind, and we can use it to rewrite anything which we are evolving through. But the first, largest and hardest step is to notice what is actually going on in our bodies. Once we notice, we can ask our bodies to move differently. We know your nervous system can be in charge of your muscles and breathing patterns, but so can You. Using this to our advantage to rewrite the nervous system reactions, so that you can live less reactively and more fully aligned to Self.

For example: I have some driving trauma. I started by noticing: What happens to me when I get into a car? Or when my partner accelerates? Or when I switch lanes? My heart would start pumping, I'd stop breathing, I'd get tense in my legs, shoulders and feet, I'd likely say something without thinking, and more.

Instead of going to therapy and talking about the driving trauma I had experienced (getting into the mind to heal the mind, which is also totally awesome and worthwhile in its own way), I chose the other route (where I am more in charge, and can do anytime).

Into the body, to change the mind.

Whenever I got into the car, I reminded myself to breathe deeply and slowly. To open my shoulders. To relax my muscles. Asking my body to act in a way that signals to my nervous system that I am OK. Safe.

I slowly rewrote my own reactions by making my body do the opposite of what it kept wanting to do when I would get into Fight or Flight mode.

And by reminding myself to relax and breathe before and during every lane switch and acceleration, my body started to be less reactive towards those initially terrifying stimuli. I had my life back, because I had my nervous system back.

The key here is curiosity. Sitting in this space of noticing your emotions and sensations is how you will then begin to change them. We can't change anything if we don't first notice. Sitting in curiosity allows all other judgements, fears, insecurities, stories, impatience, discomfort and more to be secondary. Say "Hm... so interesting that my mind is freaking out when I ask it to sit in silence for 5 minutes. I wonder where that comes from? Let's see how these 5 minutes feels and what shifts during it" instead of "wow that sounds terrifying so nope, no thanks, this journaling challenge ends today!!!!".

Let's take a second to practice what this will be like. Sit up tall, feet plant on the floor, roll your shoulders back and down, and gently lift your chin. Take a few, deep, slow beautiful breaths. This is your baseline. Now, with all of your attention focused on the body and not the mind, invite the opposite of a story of yours that you're working through. So if your story is that you aren't deserving of happiness, what you invite in is that you are. If your story is that you're not enough, invite in the thought that you are the most beautiful and full being there is. Perhaps it's that you can't achieve XYZ. Invite in the thought that it is actually achieved already! I know this will not be comfortable-- and that's the point.

As you invite this positive thought in, notice what your physical body does to morph itself away from the baseline you just set. Does your breathing stop for a moment? Do your shoulders close or move towards your ears? Was there a pit in your stomach, even for a moment? How about a small course of adrenaline? Or your inner thighs, throat, chest muscles tighten? Even so minutely that only you, inside your body, can notice, and no one watching would be able to tell?

If you are resisting this thought, your body changes. It is as simple as that.

Your job is to hone the skill of noticing the shifts in your body. Most people can only notice changes down to a few microns, but with training and practice, you can hone this down to the a level that is so minute, only you can sense it. But you know it's there, because you feel it. And it's your body. And there is truth in that. Your truth. Our body doesn't lie, because it can't. That's the mind's job, and we aren't here for that ;)

As a side note: this is also what leads to body autonomy. To knowing your body's specific answers. The world is not black and white. The magic is in the grey areas. We are starting to prove with science that there is not one diet or workout that fits all. That slowing down is good for us. That health and life are not linear. These are all deeply personal answers that most of society externalize to a quick google search or whoever they follow on social media. I'm here to tell you that the answers are within you, and they are yours, if you're willing to listen.

So when questions ask you where you feel a thought or sensation, these little shifts are the answer. Putting words to them and weight to them is the other job here. It is the next step of noticing: of allowing your brain to come online and label them, so that you can know how to then move past them.

This bodily shift and open baseline is what people talk about when they talk about properly manifesting. If you can't feel the manifestation to be true already, it cannot come to you (we can talk more about why that is, if you'd like!).

So we are here to show you the steps to allow yourself to feel it.

It is through noticing. Asking. Relaxing. Breathing.

It may sound too simple, but I'll counter to say: The best things in life are simple, but they are not easy. This process is no different. The work is never over, we just unveil more to let go of as we evolve.

Needless to say, it's not easy and it requires consistency and noticing that can feel uncomfortable. But your healing, longevity, and best self are all worth it.

So we're here to focus on the first step. To learn how to listen to our bodies. To hear what it has to say. To notice when we open and close, even when we may not think we are. Micromovements, small changes, little moments of noticing. And remember, when you think you can't feel a thing or don't know what's happening in your own body, that is OK. And, relax more. Presence yourself more. Let go of the judgements more and step deeper into just your curiosity. Your body is full of tiny shifts that you can learn to notice when you try. Nothing comes easily the first time. Give yourself grace, release doubt, and keep going. This is both the magic and the work.

Let's begin <3

Eden of Roaring Fork Reiki