I usually focused my attention on the length of the transfer zone, where I would smoothly receive and hand off the baton but this time the coach’s words filled my thoughts. I turned and faced the start line. A loud CRACK from the starter’s pistol and they were off. As the sprinters pounded toward me, one thought repeated in my head: “DON’T DROP THE BATON.”

52 seconds later, our fastest runner streaked across the finish line; dead last. I had dropped the baton.

What went wrong?

We had raced as a team for two years and not once in the hundreds of practices and competitions had I dropped the baton. What had gone wrong this time? Had the coach inadvertently planted the thought in my mind? Would the result have been different if his final instructions were “most of all, pass the baton smoothly and safely”?

I had fallen victim to one of the most fundamental laws of the universe: What you think about most, becomes your reality. It is as certain as the law of gravity.

How affirmations work

Affirmations are verbal declarations, which have a powerful effect on our conscious and subconscious minds and ultimately our actions. They must NEVER be stated in the negative. We must choose our words carefully. Psychologists, neuroscientists and metaphysicians all agree that the subconscious cannot understand or acknowledge a negative. The affirmation, “I don’t [negative] want to be fat” is heard by the subconscious as, “I want to be fat.” We cannot help focusing on the word fat. The positive alternative, “I want to be slim” would be much more beneficial.

Don’t believe me? Close your eyes and repeat this statement three times. “I am not afraid.” Open your eyes. Which word stands out? We cannot help it; even though afraid is what we do not want to be, it is certainly the dominant word our mind focuses on. Now try repeating, “I feel safe.” Notice the difference? What we think and focus on the most becomes our reality. This is true in any aspect of life.

Archimedes formulated the principle of flotation in 200 BC. But Dr Wayne Dyer rightly observed, “The law of flotation was not discovered by contemplating the sinking of things.”

Success follows your dominant thoughts

I have read biographies of many great achievers. They all share a single trait—their thoughts, and thus their actions, are dominated by what they want to achieve. How they might achieve it is secondary. Since they keep thinking about succeeding most, success becomes their reality.

I spend a great deal of time in group homes and institutions talking to seniors. “What is your purpose, your goal, your dream, your worthy cause?” I ask. Sadly, many say they have none. Then I ask, “Well what is important to you, what do you want in life?” More silence. “OK, tell me what you don’t want in life?” Within seconds the responses pour out.

“I don’t want to be sick.”
“I don’t want to be poor.”
“I don’t want to be lonely.”
“I don’t want to be fat.”
“I don’t want to die.”
“I don’t want to die alone.”
“I don’t want to be senile.”

The sad truth is, most people are much better at telling you what they don’t want in life than at telling what they do want in life. What they focus on and think about most is what they don’t want and that becomes their reality.

Can we think your way to sickness? You bet!

Does this hold true for our health? Certainly. Our brain controls every part of our body. The science of biofeedback has conclusively proven that thoughts have the power to control the physical states of our bodies. We can raise or lower our temperature, change our heart rate and blood pressure, and direct blood to different body parts all by our thoughts alone.

Our thoughts can also have devastating effects on our health. The most destructive and toxic element unleashed on the human body is stress. Where does it come from? It’s not a bacterium, a virus, an amoeba, a fungus or mould. Nor is it a burn, trauma or pressure injury. We cannot see it, touch it, cut it, isolate it, weigh it, grow it, inoculate against it or transmit it to another person. It exists only in the mind, but its devastating effects are felt in every physical system of the body.

Stress is produced by what we think of most. Our stressful thoughts manifest themselves in the physical plane and show up in every organ and system.

Most people pay little or no attention to their health until something goes wrong. When the episode passes and the body heals, they often go back to their old habits, thoughts and lifestyles until the next time their body’s defence systems get overwhelmed again. Some, however, heed the warning and start considering and practising disease prevention.

Although this seems like a positive step in the right direction, it can be greatly improved. The problem is we are still focused on disease, even though it is the prevention of disease.

A far more successful strategy would be to focus on wellness. This is not simply semantics. Dominating thoughts of wellness can only lead to wellness.

What are you focussing on?

Do you think any great general in history ever won a battle by focusing on how not to lose?

If your sole goal in life is to accumulate great wealth [I feel sorry for you if it is], do you think there is any chance of attaining it by focusing on how not to be poor. Does the circus performer say to himself, “Don’t fall,” as he steps onto the high wire? Will you ever find love by filling your mind with thoughts of how not to be lonely?

What you think about most becomes your reality. Do not be against illness; rather direct your thoughts toward complete and total wellness and it will become your reality. You possess the power. It’s all in your head.

The post What you think about most becomes your reality appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

The golden rule they forget to highlight

The most important secret to making all of this work is: Consistency. No matter what the obstacle, it takes complete dedication and commitment to making visualisation work for you. So after you write the goal, be absolutely sure to read it every night, until the goal is achieved. It is imperative that you do not stop mid way; I cannot emphasise this enough. Without you following through every single day, the universe will not conspire to make it happen.

My first experience with visualisation

I experienced the power of visualisation firsthand, when I was working as a young executive in a large multinational company. My son who was very young at the time, was admitted to the hospital for a week as a result of some infection. There he watched a programme on TV, featuring Disneyland and made me promise him that we would go to Orlando for the summer vacations. With my meagre salary at that time, it would have been impossible for me to fulfil his dream. But I promised him and visualised every night that I am with my son in Disneyland. A few months later, out of the blue, my boss walked up to me and said I was to be deputed to USA for a while—and could take my family with me. Suddenly, my dream became a reality. That was my first brush with visualisation.

Today, I take this exercise many steps further by making the audience in my show take some random decisions on the stage. Using visualisation, I predict who will come on the stage and the exact decisions they will make. It leaves the audience spellbound to witness visualisation materialise, right in front of their eyes.

Using visualisation for weight loss

Let us take a simple example and say we want to lose 10kg in the next two months. We write that down as a goal and keep it next to our pillow. Chances are we will read it every night for a couple of nights, stand on a weighing scale, and when we don’t see any real change, we will quit—that’s exactly the mistake that leads to the failure of the exercise.

Now let’s assume a second scenario. You write down your goal to lose weight and you read it every single night—and do not stop reading it for at least a week. What happens is, over the week you slowly began to internalise that goal. You slowly begin to eat better and exercise. Soon you see the result of your effort. All this backed by the positive reminder every night that you are going to lose weight.

And voila, in time, your visualisation helps you lose weight.

Visualisation for professional growth

Visualisation can be used for anything, from the pettiest to the most lofty goal. Want your income to increase or to receive a promotion at your workplace? Write out the goal and read it every day. Internalise it and slowly you begin to work harder and more efficiently, read more about your industry, reach out to influencers to learn from their experiences and so on. And in time, you begin to see the growth you want in the world around you.

Thought into words and words into actions leads to results

So after a show, when I tell people this, they usually walk away dejected. Took me a while to realise why. In the world where everything happens in the flick of a button, we are hoping visualisation would also work that way. Change, however, takes time. You have to keep visualizing without losing faith but you also have to work towards your goal.

Also, remember to set realistic timelines. But, most importantly don’t quit half way. It is a process and it will work for you, like it has for the millions who have benefited from it over the generations.

The post Does visualisation really help attract your heart’s desires? appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

• Introduction: Laws of Attractions vs Laws of Creation
• If you don’t create your future, fate will
• What you accept, you experience
• Testing the limits of your potential
• Creating your own reality
• Knowing what you really want is important
• The 10-step approach to creating the reality you desire
• Learning to drive your experiences
• Reinventing your reality
• Conclusion: See what you can become

Introduction: Laws of Attractions vs Laws of Creation

The Laws of Attraction are concerned with how to draw close the things that you value and wish to acquire. This is achieved by forming the image of what you want, then attracting that within your reality. If what you want doesn’t already exist, you either need to create it or wait for someone else to do so.

The Laws of Creation are not about attracting what you want, but rather creating through desires, imagination, expectation, belief, persistence and energy the things that you wish to exist within your life.

Humans throughout the ages have created everything that can be observed within today’s physical world. Inventors, explorers, artist, architects, and others have created within reality what previously didn’t exist by using their knowledge of the Laws of Creation.

If you don’t create your future, fate will

The Laws of Creation or The Laws of Attraction are both vulnerable to procrastination, weak desires, lack of perseverance and the inability to maintain focus until what is desired is achieved. Many give up because what they wanted hasn’t been obtained within the limited time-frame they imagined. This could be due to lack of programming or not persevering long enough until what they want becomes real.

As the creator of your own perceived reality, your actions, thoughts, beliefs, and your mental and physical health, all contribute towards what you finally experience and perceive. If you don’t spend the time and the energy to create the future then fate will do that for you.

When you create the future you have choices but when fate creates your future you have to accept what comes your way almost unconditionally, at least initially.

What you accept, you experience

What you are prepared to accept is what you usually end up experiencing. Making no attempt to change or manage what is occurring means that you accept that such a state has the legitimate right to exist within your reality.

Creation is not only about bringing what you want into your life but also controlling what you wish to accept or reject. When things don’t go right, when undesirable situations get legitimacy within your life experience, the sole reason for their continued existence is that you didn’t negate or change them.

Your abilities are infinite, beyond comprehension, being limited only by your potential to perceive the possibility for success. All that is necessary are the desires, belief, expectancy, focus and perseverance, together with the application of the necessary energy levels to achieve your heart’s desires.

Testing the limits of your potential

It is important to wake up to the reality that there is no necessity for anything to be difficult, and that with the right mentality, everything does indeed become possible. Don’t be a “creation” of circumstances, challenge who you can be.

Readily accepting what has become the current condition, or surrendering to fate without even considering or testing the limits of the potential that could exist is how most people live their lives—this is a completely unnecessary state to endure.

Without searching for and pushing the boundaries of reality, the full potential of what can be achieved will never truly emerge; what is currently experienced will always be the basis of your ultimate reality. Only by testing the limits of potential is it possible to maximize life’s experience to the full.

Creating your own reality

Reality is based solely upon desires that are given perspective through imagination, and then the credibility to be brought to life by your firm belief in them. You create life from the pieces of reality that you bring together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Every moment is an opportunity to create what you desire most—by clearly focusing your imagination on what you want first, then through expectancy backed by belief to make desires legitimate.

You create each moment from the massive number of thoughts that you have, either consciously or subconsciously. Some experiences come to dominate your life, while others are fleeting in their ability to have an effect, yet they all contribute on some level towards your reality. The remainder of reality is either created by others or randomly by fate.

By taking full control of your thoughts, it becomes possible to take back the management of each element of your entire life, which can then be controlled as you specifically desire—outside the influence and manipulation of others or by chance.

The path that you create or follow does become the story of your life.

Knowing what you really want is important

Many are deluded into desiring various things that are basically just passing fantasies. There is a common trend to constantly shift desires, which change depending upon a particular infatuation at the time. Very few people stop to think clearly about what they “really” want or need, then put all their energy into pursuing that vigorously.

The decisions as to what you wish to pursue in life is your right; you should pursue those desires relentlessly until they become part of your life. Challenge the future by making changes that will come to enrich your life.

The 10-step approach to creating the reality you desire

The five pillars of creation are: imagination, clearly defined desires, positive expectations, belief, and persistence. Combining these elements of thought you are able to create in reality the things that you truly desire.

Reality is born through your imagination, which is crystallized into form by your desires, given impetus by your expectations, and made real through your beliefs. You create life from the pieces of reality that you bring together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Let’s look at each step:

Step 1: The objective

An important factor is to identify clear and precise details of what exactly you want, then to hold that image with a strong desire. Focus only on one specific desire at a time.

Step 2: Imagination

Utilizing the powerful combination of intuitive thoughts linked with creative inspiration, determine “all” the various elements that make up what you want. Remember to be thorough, for whatever is left out, fate or chance will fill in randomly. These elements are the main points to focus the imagination upon. What you seek cannot be drawn to you or brought into existence until you define it clearly.

Step 3: Desire

The energy of your desires set the stage for the potential you can attain. Desires are the basis of making things possible; to bring your thoughts into reality more clearly and precisely. Strongly desire what you want to be yours; drawing it to you with a focused intent.

Step 4: Visualization

Visualize in great detail the factors making up what you desire, then focus on those images intently, keeping the desire fixed and unchanged until what you desire actually becomes yours.

In order to gain the full benefit of what you wish to obtain or achieve, it is necessary to visualize your desires as existing in the current time and place—as if it has happened or is happening here and now.

Step 5: Belief

Your beliefs give legitimacy to your desires. The key to attracting or creating anything is by believing it to be yours, living your dream and playing the part like it can, in fact, become real.

Belief is what enables you to perceive in your mind’s eye what you desire. How quickly your desires materialize will always depend upon the intensity of your beliefs and your keen perception.

Step 6: Expectancy

Your expectations govern how your life will turn out. Have a strong expectation that what you want will become real within your reality; expectancy gives your desires energy to manifest within a reasonable time period.

Step 7: Perseverance

Persistent effort is required to keep focus upon what is desired until it is actually achieved. Don’t give up. Without changing the key elements you can embellish the various elements you isolated with more detail. Then continue the focused intent on the desire until what you want is achieved.

Many find they can’t hold the desire long enough, losing focus or changing their direction continually when what they desire doesn’t materialize immediately.

Step 8: Effort

Nothing was ever achieved without effort, both physical and mental. Determine whatever you need to do in order to create what you want within reality. And be willing to do whatever it takes.

Step 9: Dreams

Fortify your desires with dream planning. Think intently about your desire and what you wish to become real within your life. Prior to sleep follow the steps of imagining exactly what you want, together with a strong focus of desire, believe the desire is achievable, and expecting that what is desired will be yours for sure. It is ideal to cycle through the imagining, desiring, believing and expecting stages a number of times.

Step 10: The Meditation

Everyone has a favorite method for achieving a meditative state, these techniques can be quite fast, or be elaborate and take time. Meditation, when used proficiently, with suitable supervision can empower the ability to create within reality. As with dreams, focus your attention during a meditative state upon imagining exactly what you want, placing a strong focus of desire on obtaining what you want or wish to achieve, believe the desire is achievable, and expect that your desire will manifest without fail.

Learning to drive your experiences

Belief in the outcome is the fuel that drives reality

I took part in a speech contest against a number of professionals who were far better and experienced speakers than I was at the time. A few days before the event, I started imagining taking part in the contest, focusing in detail that everything would go perfectly. I imagined actually winning the contest, and visualized receiving the award. I won against all odds, surprising others and beating the favorite who had won many years in succession.

If you don’t decide exactly what you want fate will step in to rule your life

There was a man who desired a red sports car. Every day he imagined this car parked in his driveway, diligently. One morning he opened the living room curtains to find a red sports car in his driveway as if by magic. Rushing outside he met his neighbor who was very apologetic for parking his new car in the wrong driveway as there was no space in his own.

On analysis the man had gotten exactly what he wanted, simply a red sports car in his driveway. He had forgotten to add into the imagining the desire, the belief, the expectancy, that it was paid for, but most importantly that the car would belong solely to him.

Reinventing your reality

It is the combination of imagining every detail with a strong unending focus of desire, together with the belief that what you want is already yours—not will be or maybe—but already is yours; this is what will make your desires manifest within your reality more easily.

You have the sole responsibility for what happens to you in life, and are limited only by the unwillingness to take action.

Conclusion: See what you can become

The future will either be what you want, what others want, or what fate throws your way. Only by fixing your destiny clearly in your mind will you be able to achieve your dreams and life desires. Life will only give you what you demand, and then pursue.

The cost of anything is what you are prepared to do in order to achieve it. Don’t be a creation of circumstances, challenge who you can become. Open your mind to the infinite possibilities that exist for you by harnessing the powers of creation within you to make a life you truly deserve.

Don’t be so wound up in who you are that you fail to see what you can become.

The post The 10-step approach to creating the reality you desire appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Ashana had recently been diagnosed with a cyst on her left ovary. Her physicians told her that it could degenerate into PCOD (Polycystic Ovarian Disease) if she didn’t manage her overstressed lifestyle. This was a clear wake-up call. She could no longer live a roller-coaster existence, erupting violently when things got rough and popping pills to push her body to perform. It was time to take responsibility for how she was living. If she didn’t, she would inevitably become a prisoner of medication.

But there was another way.

The morning after her pain receded

When she called me the next morning, she sounded much better. I explained to her that since her body had created this condition, it knew how to remedy it too. “Doctors may not be able to reverse it, though they can control the damage you have already caused yourself. Healers cannot make the disease vanish; they can only hold the sacred space in which you choose to heal. But the greatest power to heal your body lies with you. Taking responsibility for your own healing and being motivated enough to mend what isn’t working in your life is the first step towards a medication-free life,” I explained. For the first time since I had known her, I felt she was really listening.

Many startling revelations underlying her condition surfaced during her remote therapy. There were many trapped emotions that she had obstinately denied and brushed under the carpet. These included feelings of abandonment, body shaming, worthlessness, rejection and being unloved. Whenever fear based emotions were suppressed, they invariably made themselves known through pain, afflicting parts of the body that gave insightful clues about the deeper issues involved.

The greatest power to heal your body lies with you

The emotions that caused her PCOD

Ashana had often felt like she was the odd one out in her family. She was clingy and possessive in her intimate relationships and didn’t have enduring friendships. Her negative self-talk was extremely harsh towards herself, and blaming and antagonistic towards others. She viewed the world as a ruthless place where people didn’t blink before hurting you. Hers was a fiercely competitive and unkind world, but she didn’t know that her own mind had created this worldview. Beneath her aggressive and angry exterior lay a vulnerable child who was terrified of being hurt, miserable about not having a close friend to share her intimate feelings with, and unsure if she was good enough to be noticed and loved.

If you examine the anatomy of a cyst, it involves the formation of a closed sac like structure with a distinct membrane that separates it from the nearby tissues. Ashana had unconsciously separated herself from others by believing she was a social misfit and the outsider in her family. Her ovarian cyst was simply reflecting this, urging her to address the issues around body shaming, loneliness and abandonment. In order to do this, she needed to become familiar with her emotional landscape, recognising and acknowledging her emotions when they surfaced, and releasing them whenever they were triggered. This would clear her trapped emotions, preventing them from becoming sticky. Processing her emotions was the second step in healing her body. She would have to choose conscious self-care over consuming chemicals to alter her biochemistry.

Interestingly, several associated limiting beliefs also emerged during her therapy. These included; I mark my own territory [self created rigid boundaries], I will not share what’s mine with others [non-collaborative attitude], I hate my body and how I look [self loathing], no one will ever love me [self judgement]. These beliefs manifested an unhappy life experiences and reinforced her beliefs about ‘a terrible world’. The human mind is primarily an energy programme created and encrypted by our own thoughts, beliefs, emotions and attitudes, which is why we must be ever mindful about what we are creating.

Ashana had unconsciously separated herself from others by believing she was a social misfit and the outsider in her family

This then is the third key to unlocking the body’s natural ability to heal. By bringing to light and examining our unconscious personal, familial, cultural and gender specific beliefs, we can overwrite them, choosing wholesome, collaborative and healthy mental programmes instead. Ashana carried two specific anti-feminine beliefs that were directly connected to the type of disease she was creating. The first was a deep gender denial, wishing she had been born a boy instead. The second was the fear of giving birth to children and hence not wanting them. It wasn’t surprising that her symbolic feminine menstrual flow had started to recede and the doctor’s prognosis pointed to PCOD, which interferes with conception. Her body was simply fulfilling her unconscious wish.

As humans we are all brought up with the belief that we must avoid pain. This is what causes us to deny, avoid and eventually suppress our painful feelings. In situations where we can’t avoid them, we choose instead to soothe them with addictive behaviours and substances. We smoke, drink, shop compulsively and bury our loneliness in technology, hoping to escape our suffering. But these addictions are merely signs that we are running away from our fearful, uncomfortable feelings. Popping pills temporarily blunts the edge of our pain, but it doesn’t cure us. The fourth step in cultivating a medication free life is to build a responsible relationship with pain. Simply feel it, learn from it, pray to dissolve it, and release it.

How to make sure the positive changes last

But none of the above four steps are possible unless you are willing to follow the fifth most important step, which is to live in awareness. Healing your body is primarily about how you respond to life. This involves being mindful of the three key relationships; with yourself, with others and with the world at large. If you can be more loving in your thoughts, feelings and reactions while engaging with these three, choosing to be compassionate and feeling empathic and motivated to help yourself and others, you will, in time, alter your biochemistry, rewire your brain and eventually heal your body.

The post 5 steps to a medication-free life appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

• I quit smoking, and it was really easy
• I lost 30 pounds, and kept them off
• My husband and I went from being separated and discussing divorce to having a blissful, connected partnership
• I reconnected with two dear friends I had not spoken to in many years
• I stopped taking six different prescription medications
• I found a way to stop having seizures
• I discovered and corrected health problems which had plagued me for over 20 years.

I did all of this with the proper use of the Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction (LoA), is simply this: whatever you focus on in life, you will get. Only catch is, the LoA does not understand negatives. Words and phrases such as no, not, don’t, except for simply don’t exist with attraction.

How I got my healthy body back

Prior to fully understanding how the LoA works, I begged doctors to tell me what was wrong with me. I insisted on getting as many tests as possible, and took any medication the doctors recommended. My focus for the past 20 years had been on “what is wrong with my body” and for 20 years my body was a miserable wreck. I had a cyst in my brain and seizures, and was reaching the point where I spent more time taking pills with my meals than eating my meals.

Once I understood how this focussing on ‘what you want’ really works, I declared out loud every single day: “I want to be healthy” and “Thank you for my healthy body.” Out of the blue, I got a referral to a new doctor, and a new set of tests. Now, I had gone through dozens, if not hundreds, of tests prior to this—but once I focussed on health, this test revealed that I had low B12. No one had ever tested me for that before, and it was the hidden culprit that had been keeping me sick! With the B12 shots my seizures stopped, and so did my migraines, depression, muscle cramps and crippling fatigue. The cyst in my brain went away, I started to lose weight, and my healthy body began to take over.

When the withdrawal bothered me, I distracted myself with a video game, music or a walk

Every time I tried to quit smoking prior to this, that’s what I thought about—not smoking. Since LoA and the word ‘not’ do not co-exist, it means I was really thinking about smoking. So wondering how long since I quit meant I was really just re-focussing on smoking, over and over. This time I succeeded by not thinking or talking about smoking at all to anyone. I did not tell my friends, family or co-workers that I was about to quit or that I had quit. I did not say “I really want one”, “I’m in withdrawal”, or any of those phrases I had used in the past. Instead, I simply saw myself as healthy. And I did not talk about cigarettes or withdrawal symptoms to anyone at all, ever. When the withdrawal bothered me, I distracted myself with a video game, music or a walk.

We went from ‘almost divorced’ to ‘happily married’

I had the same stumbling blocks with other areas of my life before I finally ‘got it’ months ago. Previously, I kept wondering what was wrong with my marriage. I kept telling my husband what he was doing wrong and what he was failing to do right. “You never kiss me when I walk by”, “I can’t remember the last time you complimented me” were common statements I would make, thinking I was helping things. I wasn’t. I was just bringing my attention, and his, to the negative and bad things about us, making us both miserable. So I changed that to thanking him profusely when he did something, anything, nice. I made it a point to kiss him more, and complimented him more—and he started doing it right back to me. We focussed on our strengths and the strengths of our relationship together, and we nurtured and nourished those things—and they began to grow, and the list of things to like grew bigger, and saved our marriage.

I did all of this while my brain was not working right, not by a long shot. Before that first B12 shot, my mind raced with negative thoughts all day every day. Small negative thoughts to huge horrid thoughts, tens of thousands of yucky dark nightmares cycling through—yet I managed to change my life.

A list of things that I do to help me achieve my desired results

• I have eliminated as much negativity as possible, from every area of my life. I have stopped watching television. I watch my TV shows on Netflix instead, because this way I can avoid the commercials which I feel draw my attention on what’s not right.
• I do not watch news shows, do not read the newspaper, and do not go to news websites. I turn my head the other direction when faced with newspapers and tabloids at the checkout in the grocery store. I spend time adjusting the settings on Facebook to show me less stories about death and war. I have changed the settings for my friends’ posts so I wouldn’t see when they post about negative items either.
• I spent time going through the music I liked to listen to, and made a playlist of positive songs. Some of the songs I had been listening to previously were about heartbreak, bad days, mean bosses, going crazy, anger, vengeance, guilt, grief—and I used to not only listen to this music a lot but always sang along! All that did was bring those ugly things into my life, and caused me to focus on them over and over. Now I avoid them, one hundred per cent. Instead of playing the radio, I only play my custom playlist, with my positive songs.
• Every single day, I only focus on what feels good. When negative thoughts start running through my head, I go and listen to my positive music. Or I look up pictures of kittens or babies, or read jokes, or watch an action movie. When all else fails, I go for a walk. I never strengthen my negative thoughts by talking about them, because I know that speaking is a powerful attractor. I only speak about what I truly want to have in my life.
• I have made “being happy” a priority. Nothing is more important than keeping my mood positive. I walk away from my husband and hang up on my friends if I think I am about to argue with them, tell them how wrong they are, or why they are making me mad. So I clamp my mouth shut and escape until I change those thoughts and that mood—and they appreciate that when I am around, I am much more pleasant to be around.
• I appreciate everything—the taste buds in my mouth when I take a bite of food, the soap when I wash my hands, the hair on my head, the running water in the tap… every little and big thing. Everyday, I give thanks hundreds of times for every good thing—especially learning how to use this incredible gift, and the ability to share this information with you. Thank you.

The post How I changed my life using LoA [step-by-step guide included] appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

While walking down a crowded street in London many years ago, I noticed a window display devoted to the English poet William Blake. There was a quotation on a sign in the window that I read over and over. The words seemed to touch my soul, and I was prompted by an internal calling to write those words on the back of an envelope. Blake’s 200-year-old words resonated strongly with me. I had a curious knowing that I’d one day be writing about what he’d had to say.

Fast-forward some 10 years later to the day I began writing this chapter about that most mysterious function of our human lives—our imagination. During the morning before settling in to write, I was searching for some tax records in a desk drawer. Unsought, the Blake quote scribbled on the back of an envelope, which had long ago been misplaced, appeared. As I grabbed the 10-year-old envelope, I pondered for a moment how Divine synchronicity is always working, moving the pieces around while our ego believes we are in charge. Here I was, ready to begin writing a chapter on how to use your imagination, and today of all days, these scribbles reappeared after a decade of being ‘lost.’ How could I ignore this synchronicity?

So I share these words with you from my spiritual mentor back in the 18th century:

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a Green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all Ridicule and Deformity…  and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the Man of Imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.”

The power within

The greatest gift you were ever given was the gift of your imagination. Within your magical inner realm is the capacity to have all of your wishes fulfilled. Here in your imagination lies the greatest power you will ever know. It is your domain for creating the life that you desire, and the best part of it is that you are the monarch with all of the inherent powers to rule your world as you desire.

The essence of this great gift is found within another observation made by William Blake, the intuitive poet who lived at the time of the American Revolution. Writing in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, he made this wry comment that is the great secret for living a life of creative manifestation: “What is now proved was once only imagin’d.” Allow yourself to contemplate this. As this one line of great wisdom sinks into your consciousness, your imagination will then begin to take over.

Look around you. Everything that you can experience with your senses was once in someone’s imagination. This is the great truth that you must come to realise for yourself. In order for something to get into this world where things exist and are proved, as Blake says, they must first be placed firmly into your imagination. Without your imagination as the reason for future creations, the process of creativity is halted. You have this great power within you. It is a power that is virtually unlimited, and it has been given to you as your birthright.

Form comes from the formless

Before putting this gift to work, it is crucial for you to know that virtually all spiritual teachings have spoken of the power that Blake comments on in that insightful sentence, “What is now proved was once only imagin’d.” In the year that I spent researching and living the Tao for my book Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life, this truth jumped out at me in the lines of the 40th verse of the Tao Te Ching. “Being is born of nonbeing” was Lao-Tzu’s observation 2,500 years ago. The visible world of being originates in nonbeing. Some 500 years later Jesus would tell his followers, “It is the Spirit who gives life” [John 6:63]. I could go on through all of the great spiritual traditions and offer you quote upon quote that states that it is in the invisible formless realm that the originating spark of life begins.

Today, the world of quantum physics confirms that the universe is made of formless [spirit] energy, and that particles [that is, things] do not originate from particles [things]. Everything springs from something that is akin to your imagination. You can’t touch, taste, see, hear or smell it. It has no boundaries. You can’t prove it with mathematical formulas or scientific verification. Yet we all know that it exists. These invisible thoughts that you have—these ideas that continue to percolate within you, these fanciful images that are always with you—are beyond the scope of science to prove or disprove.

Channel your imagination

I love this observation made by Max Planck, the father of quantum theory: “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and, therefore, part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.” You simply know that you have an imagination, and that this imagination is the Source of all being. It is up to you to channel and use this magnificent endowment to work in the creation of all that you choose to place in that imagination.

Excerpted with permission from the book Wishes Fulfilled by Dr. Wayne Dyer; published by Hay House

This was first published in the August 2014 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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There is a joke about a man who dreamed day and night about winning the lottery. At first he used to pray to God but it didn’t work. Then he learned about the law of attraction and he started visualising, affirming and imagining—so much that eventually the Angels felt sorry for him and approached the almighty with a request: “Lord, please let this man win the lottery, he’s doing our head in with his non-stop praying, we can’t take it anymore.” “And you think I don’t want to?” replied God, “He’s driving me crazy with all his affirmations—but someone please tell him that to win, he first needs to buy a lottery ticket!”

This is one of the many ways the law of attraction [LoA] was misconstrued. It painted the universe as a giant vending machine that will send you whatever you desire; all you need to do is insert the appropriate ‘tokens’ in the form of gratitude, affirmations and visualisations. Millions of people fell for this trap and thought that they had finally found the magic wand that will alleviate all their problems. But they also sensed that it seemed too good to be true. Not unexpectedly, disillusionment and cynicism followed.

If you google the phrase today, you will find a number of articles and posts rubbishing it as some unscientific, unverifiable mumbo jumbo. But there are still thousands who believe in the phenomenon, claiming that it has changed their lives for the better. So what exactly is the truth behind LoA? Is it really a big hoax or has it simply been misunderstood?

In this month’s cover story I have tried to answer this question. While writing it, I have resisted the temptation of glorifying LoA. Instead, what I present is the most plausible explanation of why and how it actually works in real life. I have learnt that experience triumphs over theory. My own experience supports the key premise of LoA: our thoughts create our reality. But, as you will observe when you read this month’s story, I don’t depend on some mystical explanation to build my case; nor do I use proletarian science. I prefer simple logic—and that is why I think the paradigm I offer is watertight. I have tried to take both the sceptics and the believers along with me—especially while introducing the missing link, without which LoA is unusable. I hope I have succeeded in my attempt.

I now invite you to read the story and reflect upon it; then write back to me with your views—even if they are critical. I also urge you to share your experiences with the law of attraction, if any.

Read the full story here.

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I was in a job I hated, doing work I hated and in a 60-minute daily commute I hated. My life was headed in the wrong direction—that was for sure. I knew I had potential, that I could really do great things, manifest happiness in my life and impact the world—but… sometimes knowing is not enough.

Financially I was secure.  I had a good, paying job and so did my wife. But, boy was I ever unhappy.

I felt that something was missing… but if I only knew what. I needed to make some changes BIG TIME, so I started with the obvious.

I had always dreamed of having a Sports car.  I love speed. So I bought a Nissan 350Z with 287HP—all muscle. The car was great and I loved it, but it was only a temporary patch. It felt nice to drive the car, but something bigger was still missing.

I thought the car would make me happy. It didn’t.

TRUTH #1

Anytime you rely on the outside world to make you happy, you are working with a temporary solution. Do this often enough and you create a belief system—what I call the chasing mentality—chasing after the things you want to have because you think they will make you happy.

I kept the Nissan 305Z for a few years. I drove it and enjoyed it, but it knew it wasn’t part of my end game.

I realised there must be something else, but what?

That led to an important question—a sort of mantra that played in my head as I kept searching for happiness…

“What are you passionate about and what do you want to do with your life?”

The more I asked this question, the better life got. So I kept asking in the hope of finding something better.

Then I got an idea… an idea that scared and excited me at the same time… I thought, “Why not create my very own coaching business and do it full time?”

I decided to act on the idea. I still remember the day. I was terrified. I walked right into the CEO’s office and told him that I was going to resign and start my own coaching business. I told him I was passionate about coaching and that I was also writing my very own blog.

What happened next floored me.

He gave me a big hug and congratulated me! He even did one better. He said, “Steve, if you want we’ll hire you back as a consultant after your last day as a full time employee—from that point forward you can work part-time as a consultant until you get your business up and running.”

What a shock! I was elated… I was going to pursue my dream and be able to take care of my family.

It was as if I had this magic wand and whenever I wanted something, I would just act on my ideas and the wand would wave its magic. I was so happy. Life was good.

TRUTH #2

When you get an idea—act! Don’t delay. The Universe loves speed. Release ideas such as, “I already know that” or “this won’t lead to anything” from your mind. Just move towards your goals and your goals will move towards you.

I wish this was a fairy-tale ending, but it’s not. The next 16 months tells the story of my greatest struggle and my greatest lesson on my search for happiness. As I was learning and trying to figure out how to make a good income from my coaching business, I hit another bleak reality.

It was a Friday afternoon in Toronto, 16 months after quitting my job and I went to review my bank statements for the first time in months…

• Money Going Out Each Month = $6,000
• Money Coming In Each Month = $3,000

Our situation seemed hopeless. I was completely broke and going even more broke by the minute.

Then the breakthrough moment came. My moment of realisation: I need to be financially responsible for my family and I need to do whatever it takes.

I need to do that now!

So that’s what I did. But my focus was not on the money. It was on making a contribution and giving openly. As I started to put my focus on others and what I could do to help them, I started to manifest some magical things—money and fabulous opportunities—so I kept waiving my wand.

Within a 16 Month Period…

• I went from earning $1,000 monthly to $10,000 monthly
• I moved from a 1,600 sq ft home into a beautiful 3100 sq ft home
• I became financially responsible
• I started to have more fun and feel really good about what I was doing

And most importantly—for the first time in my life—I felt I was living life on my terms. That life was up to me.

TRUTH #3

When you contribute you come alive. Contribution is the essence of your soul. When you contribute, you unlock Godly forces that bring a whirlwind of treasure back to you. Give openly and often.

The truth is that you are the change you want to see and you can create whatever you want. If you want to be happy, you can create that too.

My purpose is this—to remind you that you are the co-creator. You are the wizard. You are the magician. You are the painter. You are the Picasso of your life. It’s all you.

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I remember driving my daughter to school one morning, with my “feel-good” music playing and it had rained earlier but the sun was out, I was feeling happy and Plugged In and suddenly I sensed that there was a rainbow. I looked up in the sky and there it was. I love seeing rainbows and perhaps because it is a frequent phenomenon in Sydney skies, on some level, I knew that there would be a rainbow in the sky that morning. All the elements were there…so was it synchronicity, did I manifest it or was it nothing?

I was told by a friend to buy a pair of ceramic love-birds for good feng shui and keep them on my bedside to attract a romantic relationship. I haven’t found a pair yet, though lately, every morning when I go to turn my kettle on and I look out the kitchen window, I see love birds and I watch them going through their dance of intimacy. The female would bow and the male would peck at her feathers just around her neck and then he would bow and she would do the same with her beak. I see it every day now. Coincidence? Logical?

A sceptic would possibly call all this a post hoc fallacy. This is when people doubt the powers of manifesting, their personal power, and want to question the unseen energies.

What would it mean to you if you could use your intuition and were always accurate and guided? Even the wrong turns are the right ones, symbolically and physically. Every path introduces you to different experiences, lessons and people. Using your powers of intuition and synchronicity is just learning to read the sign-posts better, to notice the guidance that is coming from inside.

When I was not sure about a possible path to take, a business opportunity, a potential company or person to collaborate with, I went with my gut and I always saw numerous signs that led me towards following the path and going with the flow. The signs showed up everywhere—bumping into people randomly at airports who passed statements that affirmed that I was headed where I needed to go; the specific person I needed to get in touch with happened to be staying at the same hotel I was in; the book I wanted to reference almost fell on my head, off the bookshelf. There was significance at every step. Colours, music, lyrics…all in synch with what I was thinking and feeling in the moment. As if the whole world was my personal movie and every detail had been choreographed perfectly to appeal to my senses.

So what was different? I had decided what I wanted. The decision was made on all levels of my consciousness. Conscious, subconscious and super–conscious. The congruency is what turned me into a powerful magnet for all I wanted.

I was singing a song in the gym shower and as I was walking by the chicken shop on the way back home from the gym, the same old song was playing on their system. Almost like Déjà vu in reverse. Déjà vu is a sense you get of having been in exactly the same moment before while you are experiencing it for the first time and synchronicity is when you can see the thread that connects all your experiences leading up to the one you are in now. Notice the choreography of the course of events that need to take place in order for you to witness these signs.

I suggest that you write in your gratitude journal every night. A by-product of doing so is that when you look back through your journal after a few months, you will find that you have important and useful databases. One, that of people and events that you were grateful for—so you can connect the dots and see the synchronicity for yourself, and two, you will have a mind bank of things and people to be grateful for.

Synchronicity exercise: Look at your list of achievements, think of the big epic stories in your life, focus on some of your so-called regrets and list the signs and coincidences that weaved them all together. This can be a lot of fun, so take your time with it.

Excerpted with permission from Don’t Think of a Blue Ball by Malti Bhojwani, published by Om Books International, INR295. Buy from Flipkart.com

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A bit further along the road, the Zen master met another traveler going in the opposite direction, and he had the same question as the previous traveler. When the Zen master asked this one what life was like in the town this traveler had just come from, the traveler replied that people had been open and friendly, always helpful and acting with integrity. The Zen master told this traveler he was likely to find the same thing and the same kind of people in the town he was headed toward.

Both travelers were headed for the same town, but a different field of energy—a different perceptual filter—surrounded each of them. Each was attracting a particular quality of experience determined by their particular energy field.

Also read » There Is No Such Thing As Imperfection

Your Perceptions Are a Bubble

Each of us is surrounded by a bubble, which is the filter to our perceptions. All our perceptions must pass through this bubble, which filters and selects only the information we have decided is relevant to us at that time. The bubble is necessary, since we are surrounded with so much information coming in: what everyone is wearing, each person’s face, all of the details of our environment, the number of leaves on a tree, the temperature, the dimensions of each cloud in the sky, all of the sounds we hear, and so on. If we had no selection process, we would experience chaos, as though we were watching a television set with all of the channels playing simultaneously.

It’s like all of the information available in a computer. It’s not all necessary or useful at one time, but as long as it’s in the computer, we can access it when we need it. So, all of the information coming in doesn’t need to register in our conscious awareness. It passes through the bubble unnoticed, yet is accessible when it’s needed, either through conscious recall, or techniques such as hypnosis and regression.

If we imagine that each bubble is, for example, a particular color, we can say that someone is seeing the world through a red bubble, or a blue bubble, and so on.

Of course, through a red bubble, the world looks red, and through a blue bubble, the world looks blue. In actuality, the world may be neither red nor blue, but perhaps black and white. Imagine someone in a blue bubble and someone in a red bubble discussing the color of the world. Each would be certain they were right—and in fact, they would be right from their point of view, seen through their bubble. Each would be accurately reporting their perspective.

We could say that they would both be right. We could also say that neither was right, in terms of the absolute reality that each was seeing through their respective filters. We could, however, say that each was accurately reporting their experience, and then we could get a sense of the bubble through which each was seeing.

We could say that each bubble is a product of that person’s consciousness, and that the inside of each bubble is a mirror, so that people do not necessarily see the world the way it is, but rather they see it the way they are. Each person who is at the effect of their perceptions projects on to their view of the world their own intentions, and their own values.

Both Views Are Important

When people judge others, they are in effect saying that if they were that person, they would be doing something wrong. They would be measuring the other person by their own standards, and perhaps, also measuring themselves by the standards of others. The view might be quite different when the other person’s intentions, values, and reasons are known.

When others measure you by their standards, for example, deciding that you’re wrong about something, they are projecting their intentions onto you. When you are able to communicate your intentions, often their judgements disappear. They are given the view from inside your bubble.

In any interaction it would be useful to have both views—the view from the inside looking out, and the view from the outside looking in. Both views are important, and having both views gives a more complete picture for intelligent decisions.

Perhaps you know people of whom you would say, “If only they followed their own advice.” We could see, then, that they were seeing reflections of themselves projected onto those around them.

Perhaps you, too, may have noticed yourself giving the same excellent advice to several people. Would that excellent advice be useful for you to follow, as well?

We could say that we attract to ourselves people to bring out from us information we need to hear ourselves. In a way, the world is full of people walking around, talking to themselves—but only some of them are listening. After you realize this, you continue to talk to yourself, but now you can also listen. You can ask yourself whether this information coming from you is useful for you—and then follow your own advice. You could also see people who are giving you advice as talking to themselves, and giving themselves excellent advice. Only they would know, though, whether they were listening as well.

Listen to Yourself

You can tell when your advice is meant for you if you are more interested in saying it than the other person is in hearing it. The words want to come out for you to hear. It works the other way, as well, when someone is more interested in giving you advice than you are in hearing it. It could be meant for them. When both people are interested in the communication, it flows. Otherwise, just notice your perceptions, and if you were to offer advice, notice what it would be. Inwardly, thank this other person for the favor they have done you on your path to clarity. You may then notice your view of that person change, since your perceptions of the past had served their purposes and disappeared, so you could now see that person in the present.

Being aware of your own bubble enables you to know yourself and what you are experiencing in your life. When you notice that you are projecting your own thoughts and feelings onto others, you can decide to take a fresh look. You can then go ‘Through the Looking-glass,’ and see other people’s realities.

At levels of perception that most people experience, the mirroring process is not conscious, and so the people are at the effect of their perceptions. There is a level of perception at which these processes become conscious and direct experiences, and that is at the level of the heart, seen through the bubble of unconditional love, of acceptance. With a direct view of others as yourself, there is compassion, understanding, and wisdom, and you find yourself talking to these people as though they were you, speaking with them in a way that you would like to be spoken to.

When you find yourself judging, you can be aware of it and use the awareness to raise the level of your perceptions to that of acceptance. The effect then is a release of tensions from your consciousness.

When you think of someone and feel resistance towards him or her, think of the quality of that person you feel the resistance about. What words would you use to describe that person? Ask yourself whether those words could be used to describe you, whether you can remember a time when you could have been described with those words, perhaps by someone who was not aware of the motives behind your actions and words.

Realize that this other person may have exactly the same motives and you will sense a recognition and compassion for them. You will see them as yourself. It will be a new perception, and you could use that new perception as a basis for communication. Where before there was a wall between you, now there is an open door, a channel for communication. You could offer them the advice you would have appreciated getting. You could talk to them in the same way you would like to have been spoken to.

You can also recognize a person’s characteristics without feeling resistance. The resistance tells you something about yourself. If you see the characteristic without resistance, without judging what the other person should do differently, you can decide what you need to do. For example, if someone is a thief, you can see it and do what is necessary to not have something stolen from you. You do not, however, need to be upset about their being a thief. You don’t need to carry around resistance about that. They may, in fact, be a lovable thief, and perhaps even easier to love at a distance.

You Are Your Own Master

As you continue to remove resistance from your perceptions, you will be changing the nature of your bubble. You will see more and more that your consciousness has the means to answer all your questions, and give you all the guidance you need.

You will see more and more that you can be your own authority, your own guide, your own guru, your own Master, trusting more and more your own perceptions. You will more and more be able to own your clarity.

During the transformation process, you will be changing the nature of your bubble. This can be a gradual process over a period of time, or there can be a finite moment of change.

When the process of change happens in a particular moment, it can be experienced in one of two ways. There can be the experience of the old bubble suddenly ‘popping,’ sometimes with a rush of energy, exposing the new bubble. This may be experienced in much the same way as if waking from a dream, and suddenly seeing what is true in waking reality.

The second way the moment of change can be experienced is as if moving from one bubble to another, as if two bubbles—like soap bubbles—were touching each other and sharing a common membrane. Then, the point of consciousness [which is what you are] moves from the center of one bubble, through the membrane, into the second. Each bubble is a paradigm—a set of all things perceived, a reality, a certain way in which things make sense.

The movement is first experienced by the point of consciousness, as things no longer make sense in the old way. Of course, for things to make sense in a new way they must no longer make sense in the old way. In the narrow slice of time that the membrane represents, the individual might experience this as confusion in their perceptions, chaos, a lack of meaning. The individual must then not look backward at the way things used to make sense, but rather allow the meaninglessness, as movement goes through the membrane between the two bubbles. If you experience this, you can then know that it’s just the curtain, the transition, and that its presence implies the process of rebirth into the new paradigm, the new bubble, the new reality.

Also by Martin Brofman » The Shift That Saved My Life

New Perceptions, New Reality

A new meaning then emerges. Sense emerges from the chaos as movement continues into the new bubble. Attention is best maintained in the present, looking toward the future, watching the emerging process, the rebirth. [Read Strive to Stay in the Now below] The process becomes one of discovery and delight with the new paradigm, seeing how things are in fact different in a way that the individual recognizes as better.

Something else happens as well. You will discover that your bubble was not only a perceptual filter, but also a kind of selective magnet, attracting a certain kind of experience to you, and also a certain quality of people.

With the change in your bubble, the selectivity of the magnet changes as well, and you notice a different kind of experience being attracted to you, and a different quality of people. This is the direct result of the shift in your perceptions. Remember that your perceptions create your reality, as your perceptions change, your basic beliefs change as well and as you change your basic beliefs, your perceptions change accordingly.

In accord with these changes, events in the outer world change as well, and a totally different story unfolds around you. It’s as though you have become a totally different character, in a totally different movie. Not only has the view from inside the bubble looking outward become different, but also the view from outside the bubble looking inward, and in fact, also the environment of the bubble. If the bubble was in a glass of beer, now it is in a glass of champagne, or what was flavored soda becomes sparkling water.

For you, the reader, these descriptions may seem a bit abstract at first, but when the process begins for you, you will recognize what is happening. As you re-read this article later, the words will connect more with your experience, and you will know that what is happening for you is what you have waited for and wanted. You can then watch your process of rebirth with a sense of stability—and clarity.

A version of this article was first published in the February 2013 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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