When you cycle repeatedly through thoughts and fears, you continually keep your mind and your emotions on the PAST. What went wrong, what could happen, what you did or didn't do, what he said or she said, what you should do or say next, . . . there is no end in sight. What a miserable place to be!
From that place, can you ever progress to feeling better? Can you take positive action? Actually, all you will attract into your life while stuck in negativity is more of the same. I challenge you to recall a time when you were successful in making significant progress while remaining stuck in obsessively negative thoughts.
Nobody wants to stay there. But sometimes, exiting this vicious cycle may be easier said than done. Most of us are familiar with The Secret, the Law of Attraction, affirmations, and positive thinking. Which are all ultimately about pulling your attention out of the negativity of the past and focusing on the positive experiences that you want to have. Has having this 'enlightened' knowledge made a difference in your life? Or do you continue to rehash the same old negative garbage from the past? Lots of people give themselves a hard time because they know all this stuff, yet remain stuck.
This single blog entry is insufficient for comprehensively discussing the topic of accomplishing the miracle of releasing the past. What I can do is give you a couple of simple and concrete things that you can do when you are stuck.
Simple & Concrete Things To Do
Become Aware
This is the very most important thing that you can do. All of the other steps described are dependent on your success in accomplishing this.
Until you are consciously aware of the nature of your thoughts and feelings, you will be absolutely unable to redirect them in positive directions. Only when you know that you are stuck in a morass of misery are you able to do anything to pull yourself out of it.
Intend to Change
Once you are aware that you are stuck, the next step is 1) to realize that it is possible to shift to a different perspective, 2) to want to shift, and 3) to intend to shift. This is actually several steps, which it could take you quite a lot of practice to get through. Keep at it.
Power & Freedom of Choice
More times than I could guess, I have been aware that I'm rehashing an old situation, and I even consciously think that I could just choose to stop being upset. But in that moment, I don't want to give it up. Part of me is invested in being pissed off, in being right, and in having what I want. I am consciously choosing to remain upset. Then when I'm tired of it, I choose to let it go and return to feeling good.
There is a huge difference between having awareness and consciously choosing to be upset, and reacting automatically and without awareness. Before I learned about this, I used to get really angry and frustrated, and I'd stay upset for weeks. Now, the relatively infrequent upsets I have are brief and mild. Because I am much more consciously aware of how I feel, and I always give myself the freedom to choose how to feel. I am ever so much happier.
The Power of Now
Eckhart Tolle's best selling book by that title discusses the value of keeping your attention on the present moment. It is really only from within the present moment that we can live truly consciously and intentionally.
It is impossible to have your attention on the present moment 100% of the time. Other thoughts will come. However, you can repeatedly bring your mind back to the present moment, so that over time, you are living in the present for a larger portion of the day.
Here are some simple ways to bring yourself into the Now. (I recommend Tolle's book, which covers far more than what I describe below.)
Awareness of Your Physical Body
The simplest and most basic way to bring yourself into the present is to focus your conscious attention on your physical body and its sensations. You can be ONLY in the present moment while you are focusing on these sensations. You cannot think about the past or the future, and you cannot remain angry, worried, or upset.
Here are a few of the countless methods for doing this. I encourage you to experiment and bring yourself into the present. Right Now.
1. Grasp one of your hands with the other. Put all of your attention into feeling the texture of your skin, its temperature.
2. Touch your face, your hair, your leg, etc. Put all of your attention into the experience, feeling every aspect of it.
3. Feel the weight of your body in the chair. Focus your attention on the meeting of your body and the chair's surface.
4. Take a deep breath. Feel the movement of air into your nostrils. Feel the air filling your lungs.
5. Feel the pulsation of your blood. Put your attention into feeling the pulse at your wrist. You may also be able to feel the movement of blood throughout your body, just by focusing your awareness on it.
Awareness of Objects & Other Beings
Bring yourself present while interacting with objects outside of your body.
1. Hold a pen (or any object) and put all of your attention into feeling its texture, shape, density.
2. Place your hand into running water. Feel the water and its movement.
3. Look at an object. Your hand, a book, anything. Bring yourself fully into the seeing, noticing everything. Texture, color, shape, size.
4. With all of your attention, feel the warm or coolness of the air around you.
5. Be fully in the hearing of a sound.
Here is a really amazing experience for you.
6. Hug another person or a pet. With your full attention, thoroughly experience the sensations and the emotions of this experience.
Have fun exploring the infinite ways of bringing yourself into the present moment.
How was That?
How did you feel when experimenting with these techniques? Had you been distracted or bothered before starting? Do you feel better now? Is your mind more clear? Are you more focused?
Doing this, what I am most aware of is Aliveness. I feel alive, aware, awake. I feel love, gratitude, happiness, peace, calm, . . .
Beyond Being in the Present
Are you ready for another step? Combine bringing yourself into the present with actively releasing stuck emotions and energy.
Breathe It Out
Are you able to identify the emotions that you are feeling? Do you know what is bothering you?
Now, are you ready to let it go?
Imagine that the emotion, the upset, the negative energy of the situation is stuck inside your body. Take a nice deep breath. As you breathe out, release the emotion and the negativity with the air. Maybe you can imagine, see, or feel that the energy being released is dark, heavy, sticky, . . . Breathe in nice clean, clear, light air. Breathe out heaviness and stuckness.
Wash It Away
This is similar to breathing it out. Wash your hands or take a shower. Release the stuckness and let it go down the drain.
Infinite Possibilities
There are widely varied techniques for healing, clearing, and/or reprogramming the past. I encourage you to explore and discover some that attract you. Skills you develop through practicing the basic techniques above will serve you well with whatever healing methodologies you choose. (Some of the healing methods that I use personally and have discussed in blogs include The Emotion Code and The Healing Codes. Feel free to contact me, if you have questions. sandra@MiracleInspirations.com)
Practice, Practice, Practice
Give yourself plenty of time to practice. Incorporating healing practices into your life takes commitment to yourself. Eventually, you will notice negative thoughts and feelings as they appear. They will come up less frequently, and you will release them quickly and easily.
Breathe! Live Now!
Sandra
Sandra Lynn Lee
Certified Healing Codes Practitioner
Miracle Inspirations
www.MiracleInspirations.com
sandra@MiracleInspirations.com
Everything in this newsletter is the opinion of the author and is provided for informational and educational purposes only. When information is drawn from outside sources, both credit and access to the source are given, when available.
Copyright 2009 Miracle Inspirations. All rights reserved.
