Okay, I don’t know about you, but some days, I literally wake up in a fright. I’m anticipating an event and feeling nervous. Maybe it’s a speech, or a meeting, or the troubles in the world! My mind starts ruminating on all the things that could go wrong. I replay these ad nauseum. It’s exhausting and frightening. Can you relate?
At times like these, I need to remember I do have a choice. It may not seem like it at that moment, but I do. I can engage in creative practices and bring a renewed mind, body, and spirit to myself, my team, audience, friends and family.
How? By feeling my feelings, refocusing my attention away from what I don’t want and toward what I do want, and freeing my mind to create a renewed me.
You can do this, too!
Because of the neuroplasticity of our brains, you can shift away from decades of difficulty to a “renewed you” by consistently applying certain mental, emotional, and energetic actions. You can eventually weaken the old mental neuropathways dictating how you will react and create new ones that support your desired change.
Follow this inside-out process:
- Realize negative feelings come from your survival brain. It perceives a threat and is reacting to it. It’s not your fault! You’ve done nothing wrong. This does not reflect on your character. It’s a biological function meant to serve you.
- Feel your feelings instead of trying to ignore them or distract yourself from them. They are there to alert you to a situation. They need to be faced and felt, not judged and squelched. (I’m not talking about dumping your feelings on someone else.) This is especially true if you are experiencing grief. I believe grief lives in our bodies, causing distress, until we allow ourselves to experience it and find peace.
- Refocus your attention. Shift into the higher functioning part of your brain so you can change your perception of the event, and thus your reactions, and begin to experience a renewed you. Focus on your sensations – your touch, breath, smell, sight, taste. Through this mindfulness technique, combined with cognitive reframing and other supports, you intercept those negative feelings and refocus your attention. This takes regular practice to feel empowered when needed.
- Use your brain’s visualization ability to create a different experience. Research affirms visualizing the desired experience gives you a much greater chance to experience it in real life! Close your eyes and bring up a mental picture of yourself living that changed state. Get a clear picture with as much detail as possible.
- Feel into that picture. Feel that “renewed you” in your body. Feel calm, joyful, happy, and free, or healthy, strong, vital, successful – whatever you want to feel. Revel in it. Let those feelings grow and envelope you.
- Choose words to affirm this renewed you. Use the present tense. Use words expressing what you want, not what you don’t want. Use “I am.” I am safe. I am relaxed. I am happy. I am strong. I am experiencing this success. I am healing and healthy. Say them out loud as you envision and feel your renewed self. When you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts about your desired change, interrupt those and replace them with your new affirming words.
- Once you’ve completely seen and felt this, express your gratitude. Gratitude grows and grows and grows, and feels great!
Remember, this takes dedicated time and effort. Practice this approach every day, several times a day, to shift your energy, and experience and attract what you desire. It will feel difficult at times. Those old neuropathways don’t shrink without a fight. Much of what you experience is based on subconscious beliefs and patterns of behavior you’ve engaged in for a long time.
We are complex, emotional beings. We’re human. When the going gets tough, it helps to have support. Going it alone isn’t necessary. The “buck up and take it” approach is old school. Be kind to yourself. You can shift out of fear into possibility. You can grow into a new and more fulfilling version of yourself while maintaining your core authenticity and presence. I’d love to support you!
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