Beliefs: Part 1
Let's talk about BELIEF - Part 1!
This month, we’ll be exploring the theme of beliefs. Our beliefs have the power to shape our reality and impact our results. Belief work involves discovering, distinguishing and changing our unconscious, limiting beliefs.
This is Transformation 101 -- the foundation of any personal growth/development work.
So, let's get back to the basics. Anytime you're not getting the results you want is a good time to look into the hidden beliefs that are affecting you without your knowledge or consent.
Here’s the plan for this month’s investigation:
Today, we’ll look at the definition of belief and start to uncover the unconscious, limiting beliefs at play in our lives.
Next week, we’ll delve into the impact of those beliefs -- how they are shaping our results and reality.
Then, we’ll explore what else we might want to believe instead.
Finally, we’ll learn some practical ways to shift these limiting beliefs and upgrade them to something more empowering and aligned with our desired results.
I’ll leave you with concrete ways to take that new belief and put it into embodied action, so you can start getting more of what you want.
Just what is a belief? According to inspirational Law of Attraction teacher and channel, Esther Hicks, a belief is a thought that you keep thinking over and over. You’ve thought it so many times that it has hardened into a belief that lives in the background and under the radar. It has become “just the way it is”.
Our beliefs are influencing everything!
Beliefs can be sneaky and powerful, because these passive, repetitive thoughts are usually neither loud nor on the surface of our consciousness. Yet our beliefs impact what we see, what we think is possible, and what we’re willing to do. Our beliefs shape how we show up in the world and interact with others.
In what aspect of your life are you not getting the results you want?
Where might you have an unconscious, limiting belief that you can work on?
Grab a sheet of paper or download this PDF to use. You might choose to explore a specific area, such as health/fitness, work/business, love/relationship -- or keep it more general. On the top left side of the paper, write “I want…” and on the top right, “But…”. Fill in the blanks. For example, “I want to feel strong, capable and light on my feet…”.
In the right column, list the reasons why you don’t have this stated desire. “But… being healthy is really hard… requires too much sacrifice… or means not getting what I want.”
Which thoughts have turned into unhelpful beliefs? Because these beliefs have probably been kept for a long time, it will likely require some deep contemplation and honesty with ourselves to uncover them.
Look for yourself -- what underlying beliefs are present? See you next week, when we’ll take a closer look at the impact of these beliefs!
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In case you missed it:
Last month's exploration on Boundaries is now available on the blog. Click here to start at Part 1 and be sure to download your free Journal Prompt.
(P.S. I'd love to hear what you are discovering about Boundaries! Chat with me on social media or reply directly to this email.)
Infusing Your Day with Gratitude
This 12-minute guided meditation invites you to expand your awareness of the spaciousness within and around you and infuse your daily life with gratitude.
This 12-minute guided meditation invites you to expand your awareness of the spaciousness within and around you and infuse your daily life with gratitude. To hold an ordinary object in your awareness and look at its details, edges, shape, color and texture with new eyes. To notice your direct experience of this object without the judgement and to sense its energy and simple beauty. To rewind your day, from the moment you woke up to beginning your morning routine to engaging in the day’s work to, finally, getting into your bed at the end of your day. How might you infuse each experience with gratitude? What can you find to appreciate? What moments would you take a snapshot of, to remember and treasure? What delighted you? What simple pleasures did you enjoy? Where did you see beauty? Open your heart to genuinely experience the gratitude.
Listen to this meditation to relax your body into the softness of your breath and let gratitude permeate every cell of your body and overflow.
Boundaries: Part 2
Where are boundaries missing?
This month, we’re exploring the theme of boundaries. Last week, we defined boundaries as drawing a line and being clear about what we will and won’t tolerate.
What have you noticed over the past week with regard to where your boundaries are clear or unclear?
Can you identify the obstacles that prevent you from effectively setting and maintaining boundaries? Do you have feelings of uncertainty as to where we or others stand in relation to an issue or perhaps a subconscious fear of being taken advantage of?
Here’s something that came up for me recently. On a call with a potential coaching client, I was asking questions and trying to get a sense of whether we’d be a good fit to work together. Frankly, she was being difficult and did not seem open to the coaching. Several comments she made and her tone of resignation indicated to me that she wasn’t ready. After the call ended, I felt frustrated and exhausted by the exchange.
When I reached out to my coach about the situation, she suggested that I take the coaching idea off the table and simply say, “How can I make a difference for you in the next ten minutes?”
I am not available to work with people who are not ready to dive in. I saw how my boundary was missing here with this potential client. Why didn’t I set that boundary initially? I wanted to believe I could make a difference for her. I didn’t want to seem unkind or rude. I didn’t want to give up on her. So the idea that I could take back the offer was a revelation to me.
Our inner work this week involves looking more deeply at the places where our boundaries either don’t exist or aren’t clearly defined. What do you notice? What is keeping you from drawing a line and saying, “This doesn’t work for me”?
Fear?
Concern for what others will think or feel?
Not wanting to seem rude, inconsiderate or ________ [fill in the blank]?
All of the above?
Something else?
Keep tuning in to where your boundaries are well-defined and where they are not. Next week, we’ll investigate the costs of not having healthy boundaries in place.
Don’t hesitate to comment below and share your thoughts on boundaries. I’d love to hear from you!
GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON PAPER; DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE JOURNAL PROMPT, BELOW!
Learning to Trust My Wants
At one point in my life the idea of going after what I wanted seemed so self-centered. I grew up in a relatively conservative, religious background and I think it was just sort of this understood or unconscious belief that if we focused on what we wanted we would be selfish, hedonistic people, and it was dangerous to do that.
And then there was this point in my life, this really critical point of change, where a trusted advisor encouraged me to notice what it felt like in my body when I told the truth. That experience allowed me to tap into something I’d never experienced before. I began to understand that what my heart wanted was VALID. That if I could trust my heart and what I knew to be true for me, life got really easy and simple.
I don't have to be afraid of what I want. I don't have to be ashamed of what I want—or going after it. What I’ve come to believe and what I now know to be true is that the things my heart desires are stepping stones to fulfilling my greatest purpose in this life.
Thank you for hearing my story. I’ve created an 8-minute guided meditation + activity to help you explore this for yourself. Enjoy! <3
Being Lived
With this 15-minute guided meditation, allow yourself to feel life being lived through you.
With this 15-minute guided meditation, allow yourself to feel life being lived through you. Inspired by Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book, The Power of Intention, I invite you to turn down the volume on your thoughts, allowing them to become like distant background music. To let your heart space expand. To notice how your body is being breathed, without any effort or action on your part. To experience being breathed and feel the life-force energy within you that causes your heart to beat and blood to flow. To experience your body as a rich, vibrant garden and pure intention fulfilling itself in you. To remember: you do not have to try to be who you are. You do not have to find yourself or figure it all out. Your life is unfolding perfectly. Let yourself feel the life-force energy breathing, moving, living you. Rest in this space, experiencing the power of life being lived through you. Know that any moment you can tap into your life-force energy and relax into it, trusting that it always has been and always will be there for you.
Do You Let Yourself Have What You Want?
Listen to the blog HERE.
What do you want?
What does your heart most deeply desire?
Is there something you say that you want, yet you are neither attaining it nor taking inspired action steps toward achieving it?
This concept of moving toward our heart’s desires can be likened to a sort of internal GPS. In order to effectively use a GPS or any kind of map, you first need to know your exact geographic location.
Where are you currently on the map?
Secondly, you need to know exactly where you are going--or, at the very least, to have a good sense of the general direction in which you are heading.
For example, I want to run a business that positively impacts my clients’ lives and is fulfilling for me, as well. I may not know every single step I will take to get there, but I feel certain that this is the general direction in which I’m moving.
Of course, it is ideal to know exactly where you’re going so that life can take you there.
Where is it that you want to go?
If you’re not taking inspired action toward getting what you want, here are a few possible reasons why:
You’re simply not telling yourself the truth about what you want.
Have you perhaps become confused into thinking you desire something that society, your family or your friends think you should want and have? Dig deeper and explore what it is that you actually want.
An unconscious belief is keeping you from trying to achieve this desire.
Maybe thoughts like ‘it will take too much time and effort’, ‘I don’t know where to begin’, or ‘I can’t actually make this happen’ are running in the background of your mind without you even realizing it.
An underlying/competing want is preventing your want from coming to fruition.
For example, a woman says she desires a more peaceful, loving relationship with her partner. Further probing reveals that what she really wants is to be ‘right’. This underlying desire is sabotaging her stated wish for her relationship.
The things our heart longs for the most are valuable clues leading us to our real purpose here on the planet. When we pay attention to what we desire, we learn more about what matters most to us and what we want to prioritize in life.
Tune in and ask yourself, “What is it that I want?”
You already have everything you need to get it. It’s all within you, and awareness and dedicated action will bring it forth. Give yourself permission to receive what you want.
May you have everything your heart truly desires today!
Thanks for listening and reading! Click here to access a free 8-minute guided meditation and PDF worksheet to further explore this idea
3 Easy Ways to Invite More Joy into Your Life
Where in your life do you experience joy?
The answers may change from day to day. Sweet children, loyal pets, a mug of warm coffee and being out in nature are just a few examples of things that give us joy. Animals and young kids are naturally present and joyful, which makes them great teachers.
Joyful experiences give us that feeling when the sun’s rays breaks through the clouds on a gray day. It’s feels as if joy finds us suddenly and without warning, that we don’t have control over our joy, that it just happens when it happens. In reality, joyfulness was there all along, but we didn’t realize it because we were so busy fixating on the endless chatter in our minds.
The good news is that we can actually cultivate joy by inviting it to show up more in our lives. We can intentionally part the clouds. In this analogy, the clouds represent the repetitive, compulsive thinking and all the mind’s activities that we can’t seem to shut off.
If you’re interested in bringing more joy into your daily life, the key is to quiet the mind and create a break in thinking in order to allow joy to emerge.
Here are three simple practices for quieting the mind and truly arriving in the present moment:
1. Recognize the noise in your head as noise.
This creates an opening. When you become aware of the noise and can even say,
“Noise, I see you”, the thinking automatically loses its power and momentum.
2. Recognize that this compulsive, repetitive thinking is not yours, nor is it your enemy. It is the human condition.
Appreciate that the monkey mind is actually trying to keep you safe in its own special way, and don’t fight against it.
3. Come into your body; get out of your mind.
There are many simple methods to allow yourself to fully arrive in your physical body. Take a deep, conscious breath. Feel your feet on the ground. Even stomp your feet, if you want, and feel a sense of groundedness. Place your hands on your belly as you breathe. Feel the air touching your skin. Find the habit that works for you.
Joy is your true nature. It is always there, like the blue sky and sun behind the clouds. It’s as simple as that, yet easier said than done! Practice noticing the noise, accepting it, and letting it go by bringing awareness and intention into your body and feet. In this way, we can invite more joy into our life and experiences, moment to moment.