Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Advanced Affirmation Techniques

Many of us have discovered the amazing benefits we receive when we use positive affirmations daily. The purpose of today's post is to give a few examples of things we can to do ramp up the effectiveness of the affirmations we use.

1. Make your affirmations command-based. - Instead of simply reciting a state of being you wish to exhibit, try telling your subconscious to be that way. In other words instead of using an affirmation such as "I am powerful and in control," try stating "I feel powerful and in control at all times." By using this tip, you give your subconscious a command that tells it what to do. Your subconscious can be effectively commanded...just ask any advertiser. I am amazed at how many affirmation videos and product on the market overlook this tool.

2. Make your affirmation commands present tense. - The only time you want to use any tense other than present-tense, is when it is part of an emotional state or conditioning you do not want to reinforce. Any statement which is present-tense tends to be reinforced within your subconscious mind. An example of a good affirmation which displays this technique is, "Whenever I'm feeling anxious, I breathe slowly and deeply for a few minutes." Notice how I am not instilling anxious feelings. I am however instilling the habit to breathe slowly and deeply with this affirmation.

3. Create infinite loops. - This tool I pilfered from computer programming. In computer coding, programmers get into trouble when they use infinite loops, as they cause the program or computer to get stuck, or crash. Essentually an infinite loop is a series of commands that lead to each other with no way out. So, if we place the following commands - if A then B; if B then C; if C then A - we can see how the computer would continue processing A-B-C-A-B-C-A-B-C... on and on. While this may be unfortunate in computer programming, it is great in programming our Self-Talk. For example, we could say, "I visualize my goals every morning. When I visualize my goals, I can take action to achieve my goals easily. Whenever I take action to achieve my goals, then I feel deeply confident with ease. When I feel deeply confident, then I visualize my goals vividly." You can see how once you enter into this loop, you would find yourself constantly feeling confident and thinking about your goals. Do you see how this could help you see opportunities to accomplish your goals that you might have otherwise overlooked? This was a simple chain of four commands. The can have as few as two and as many as you want- although I have found that limiting it to seven is the most effective. The affirmations that are part of the infinite loop chain do not have to be stated consecutively. You can also have multiple affirmations that lead into the loop, and they can enter the loop at various points (eg: A-->B, B-->D, C-->D, D-->A).

These are just a few of the advanced affirmation techniques that you will find on Mindful Measures. They are techniques that I have used with great effect for nearly a decade. I hope you find them useful.

-Josh
www.Mindful-Measures.com

Monday, October 19, 2009

The Truth Behind "The Secret"

It seems as though there are more and more people touting the value of the book and movie, The Secret. My first gut reaction after watching the movie, was that it seemed like merely an introduction to the Law of Attraction. Now I admit that I did not yet read the book, which is unusual for me, as I am more of a book-person. My opinion of the movie however was in accord with many people's opinion of the book. While The Secret seems to be a great tidbit for introducing the mainstream public to the concept of "The Law of Attraction," there are important pieces to the skills of achieving abundance that must also be taught.

Writings going back thousands of years speak to the ability to manifest through meditation. As we can see variations of meditation in every world religion. The most obvious is the meditations of the Buddhist or Yogic traditions. But we also see influences in the prayers and chanting of Hebrew, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu religions. Even the so-called "native" religious practices found throughout every continent include chanting and prayers. And we also see vestiges of this ancient practice in the "New-Age" practice of reciting Affirmations. So what is the power that these meditative practices invoke?

Ancient writings speak of the ability to manifest by creating on "higher planes." I would need to create an entirely new blog line in order to expound properly on this topic, and even then would be found ineffectual. But let me say here that manifestation on the mental and astral planes can have tremendous effects for us, even on the physical plane. However, as I wish to address those who are new to the "Law of Attraction," that is to say those who found The Secret to be brilliant and revolutionary, I will address the issue from a more physical plane level.

If you are like most people, you need practical information and tools. Meats and potatoes. Something calls to you to accept what The Secret speaks of, but how do we make it work? Well, here is how...

An essential part of the "Law of Attraction" is the effect that it has on a person to bring oneself into accord with what they want to accomplish. I know that if I want to attract healthy relationships, then I need to be willing to open up and relate with others. The "Law of Attraction" also rests upon your ability to focus your intention. By causing you to think about a goal you want to accomplish, you will begin to recognize opportunities and take action towards achieving your goal. That portion is more accurately referred to as the "Law of Focus" and the "Law of Action."

This has dramatic implications on what we do to harness the "Law of Attraction." When you pray, meditate, or recite affirmations you must be very mindful to what you are focusing on. You should be careful to focus on what you want, rather than what you don't. If one focuses on what they do not want, they create that. In the least, they recognize whenever if appears in their life. Often times however, people go further and project what they do not want onto situations where it never even existed. It would be far better to focus on what you do want. That way you recognize the abundance in your life. And if we are going to project something that isn't there, is it not better to project something positive?