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Arete Warriors – spirit, mind, body strong

Manifest

Words are just sounds.

Have you tried using positive affirmations before?

When I am not playing well on the tennis court & facing a big point, I will try to talk positively to myself.

“You can do it.”

“You’ve got this.”

Sometimes it works. It always works better than “Come ON you idiot!”

But sometimes, it doesn’t.

My nerves take over… my brain scrambles too many instructions, my muscles can’t smoothly perform all the instructions my brain is firing, & I mess up YET AGAIN.

“See? You are terrible.”

I don’t trust myself. This same “bad” result has happened too many times for me to be able to believe I have what it takes to create a different result.

This isn’t just true on the tennis court. I feel it when I catch myself once again snapping at my kids, picking my cuticles, or shoving food down my pie hole, long after I’m no longer hungry.

But recently I read the book Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza. He writes,

I could not agree more.

Let’s Prepare – the warm up

Generally, our thoughts create our emotions, which lead to our action or inaction, & that produces the results we have in our lives.

However, if this was all there is to it, positive affirmations would work. Thinking positively would change everything.

But it doesn’t.

How many times have you tried, unsuccessfully, to pull yourself out of a funk, break a bad habit or change the trajectory of your life?

You think positively, you set all the best of intentions, you may even write them down, put them on your mirror & repeat them aloud, but you end up right back where you started.

It’s like your body has a mind of its own.

Dr Dispenza explains.

Did you catch the key in there? “… if you can’t think greater than how you feel…”

It is super effective to bypass our thoughts & generate elevated emotions FIRST, instead of waiting for someone or something outside of us, to give us a reason to feel those emotions.

This is the truth behind the advice to “Fake it ’til you make it” or to “Act as if…”

Truly, we can all agree that our energy changes everything right? Our outlook, our mood, our thoughts, actions, word choices…

I have experienced proof of this many times on the tennis court. If I can pair my positive self- talk with the elevated emotions that come with self-confidence, my outcomes are MUCH better.

Let’s Work – the exercise

This may be the most welcome assignment I’ve ever given you. I’m going to ask you to be happy. Feel wonderful.

That’s basically your assignment.

Watch this this video of Dr Joe DIspenza explaining, scientifically, how elevated emotions can change your physiology, & therefore your whole state of being.

At the very least, this is a case for keeping a gratitude journal. If you’re not doing that already, maybe this is your invitation to start the practice.

Part of what gratitude is supposed to do for you, is remind you how blessed you are, so that you can FEEL that elevated energy.

Set a reminder on your phone to ding at you every hour. That will be your cue to conjure up some elevated emotions. Gratitude. Love. Joy. Bliss. Inspiration. Hope!

FEEL it in your body.

Then pair it with some positive statements. I’d suggest picking a few simple ones to repeat to yourself.

I am worthy. I am capable. I believe in myself. I am loved. I am enough. I am confident… I am created in the image of God.

What do you most need to to believe in order to change or enhance your life right now?

Your body is most open to suggestion when the prefrontal cortex is quiet. This ideal state happens during heightened emotional states, when someone is tired (right before bed), & under stress. Interestingly, children & older adults are also more susceptible to suggestion as that part of their brain is developing (in children) & declining (in older adults). Also, individuals with low self-esteem are more susceptible which could be a GOOD thing if the right things are being suggested! Unfortunately, their self-talk is likely not very positive.