by Linda-Ann Stewart

A Sage once said, “Man is what he thinks about all day long.” How true that is. When we think about how much we’re struggling, we experience more struggle. When we contemplate how bad we feel, we get to feel worse. When we focus on our problems, we perpetuate them.

“But,” you say, “it’s in my face all day long. How do I not think about them?” That’s the challenge. To find a way to change your focus.

When we keep our attention on one aspect of our lives, generally what we don’t want, we are impressing our inner mind with that very thing. Our inner mind can’t reason. It gets the impression and creates the outer result from that imprint, just like a rubber stamp. Our creativity carves a star in a block of wood, and then our inner mind stamps it on the fabric of our lives.

“Energy flows where attention goes.” We follow wherever our vision looks. In baseball, the batter keeps his eye on the ball so he can hit it. A basketball player wouldn’t dream of looking at the stands when he was planning to sink the ball in the basket. The same is true of our lives.

So how do you change your focus from your problem to the solution? It takes discipline and persistence. Realize that the problem is simply an outdated creation of yours, an empty shell of an earlier choice. Make a new decision of what you want. Write it down. Cut out pictures of it. Feel yourself having it. Whenever you think of the original problem, substitute what you now want. “That was then, this is now.” The old will begin to crumble way, like old parchment.

No matter how long it takes, keep at it. You’ve had the problem a while. It may take a few months to build the new structure. It may form slowly, or suddenly arrive. Don’t fall back into the old vision, that will delay the new shape. The most important thing, though, is that you are in the process of creating it, whether you see immediate results or not.

In this way, your life is becoming what you consciously think about all day long. So remember to focus on what you want, and keep your eye on the ball.

Copyright 2009 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

A nationally known coach, hypnotherapist, writer, and speaker, Linda-Ann Stewart empowers people to discover new possibilities and realize their full potential. Visit “Secrets To The Law Of Attraction” to download your copy of this free ebook.

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development, motivation

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More and more, science is catching up with what many of us have known for years. This discussion between Dr. Wayne Dyer and Dr. Bruce Liption touches on many of these facts, showing how science is proving that the mind is powerful. It was recorded on December 11, 2008 on the Hay House Radio Stage at the I Can Do It! Las Vegas.

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Question: Will hypnosis be dangerous if I misuse it?

Answer: If misused, anything in life is dangerous. Electricity powers our computers, lights, appliances, but if you put your finger in the electric socket, you run the danger of being killed.

In the case of hypnosis, it’s a normal state of mind that you’re in and out of everyday. Whenever you focus on anything, you’re in a state of hypnosis. The only way to misuse hypnosis is to give yourself negative suggestions that would decrease the quality of your life. But we do that whenever we make any kind of negative statement about ourselves, put ourselves down or say “I can’t.”

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development

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by Linda-Ann Stewart

I’ve been watching the unfolding of the James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge (near Sedona) tragedy with horror. It was totally preventable. According to an article I read on the Internet, in a previous Warrior sweat lodge of his, an unconscious participant was taken to the hospital. That should have been a clue that it was too extreme.

I believe James Arthur Ray needs to walk his talk about personal responsibility. The people in that lodge had a responsibility to leave the lodge when they realized they were feeling bad. However, James Ray also needs to take responsibility for keeping them in there too long. If he doesn’t step forward and cooperate with the investigation, I believe he’s lost all credibility.

I’ve experienced a sweat lodge, and know many people who have done so. You’re not kept in there for two hours (as James Ray did) without taking a break outside of the lodge. The body can only take so much heat before it begins to shut down. It takes years, not days and weeks, to train the body to overcome physical stresses. Monks spend years (not days) training their bodies to increase their core temperature and melt snow around them while meditating.

I know there are other retreats and trainings that are as physically rigorous as James Ray’s, with promises of overnight transformation if you attend. And I know that people get injured at them. And unfortunately, many times they’re shamed because they were hurt. This is where the shame that came from more orthodox religions has been translated into the New Age consciousness.

If you fall ill, aren’t wealthy, get injured, or your life isn’t perfect in every way, then you hear, “What’s in your consciousness?” You’re judged for not being perfect. Your life is a work in progress. You wouldn’t be on this physical plane if you had already transcended all your issues. When you have problems, it just means that’s someplace you need to fill with light.

These physically demanding trainings are an attempt to break you down in order to build you up. Just like in the military. But the military takes several weeks in boot camp to do it. And you’re monitored better there than in these trainings. The military have very few deaths as a result, whereas several of these abbreviated trainings have had deaths.

There was one such tragedy with a local group a few years ago. Several people were taken hiking up a mountain, carrying 40 pounds of rocks in a backpack, with very little water. One member died of dehydration and heat exhaustion.

I’ve been to retreats and had amazing experiences, but the high tends to fade in the day-to-day demands of life. That’s normal. You’re able to retain some of the transformation, but what you do with it, such as discipline in meditating, practicing compassion and awareness of your thoughts (not as exciting as “an experience”) is what moves you along.

You may have an experience in a weeklong training, and be able to remember that experience to propel you further, but it takes spiritual practice and discipline to sustain any spiritual progress. A spiritual experience can advance you a ways up your path, but you need tools to continue your evolution.

Part of society’s attraction to these experiential retreats is the desire for “instant enlightenment.” We all want the flash and show of a vision, the bliss of meditation, or the contact high of being with many people of like mind who are going through the same experience.

But you don’t become a concert pianist after a week of intensive training, even if you already knew how to play. If you go to a weeklong yoga retreat, you’re not going to be able to twist your body into a pretzel as a result. It takes time and practice.

That’s not to say the short retreats don’t have their place. They give you something to aim for, a taste of what it can feel like to be aligned with Spirit, and tools that can help you stay motivated and keep going. But I don’t see the value in the extreme, physically demanding, endurance type trainings that can leave people broken at the end of them.

It would be much better to have a series of gentler retreats that lead a person to a higher awareness. Instead of a pickax to break the attendees into chunks, and then glue them back together and send them on their way, a more permanent way would be to sculpt them a bit at a time.

I think this has been a warning to us all. Be careful of what you attend. Don’t mindlessly follow a leader when your instincts are screaming at you. Listen to your intuition and body signals.

And, for the leaders of these types of trainings, take responsibility for your attendees, monitor them better, and don’t shame or judge them when they don’t live up to some unrealistic perfect standard. Leaders lead by example, and I believe that James Arthur Ray needs to fulfill his leadership role by helping the authorities find out what happened and take responsibility.

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Question: Why is it so hard to break a habit, whether mental or physical?

Answer: Habits were created when you thought and/or performed an action repetitively. Imagine it as if you’re forming a groove in your psyche. Afterwards, you don’t have to think about that particular area. The mind does this to help you, believe it or not. When you have habits, it frees your mind to focus on other things. If, every morning, you had to think through every detail of how you dressed, it would take you hours to get ready for the day. Habits allow you to do things automatically so that you can contemplate more important things, like what are you going to have for breakfast.

When you try to change a habit, the subconscious objects. It figures that the original one was created for a purpose, so why
mess with success. If there’s emotion attached to the habit, such as eating dessert because it represents nurturing to you, then the subconscious feels that changing it would be harmful to you, and makes eliminating desserts difficult. The subconscious operates much of the time on outdated information.

The way to change a habit is to make the new habit more desirable than the old one. You have to let the subconscious know that you mean business, and be committed to your desire. Attach a really good emotion to the new habit, such as wanting to feel healthy, so it impresses the inner mind. When the new habit, and its associate emotion, is stronger than the old one, the subconscious will accept it. You are simply giving the inner mind new information.

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development

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On Saturday night, under the full moon, Jeff and I attended the monthly Jerome Art Walk. It happens in the early evening of the first Saturday of the month, and we try to get up to the ghost town’s event whenever we can. We visited the galleries that were open for the evening, checking out the new pieces and enjoying the works we’ve seen before.

Eventually, we made our way down to the Jerome Artist’s Cooperative. As we wandered through the store, we simultaneously turned around, and said, in unison, “Wow!” The artist, Mary Jardine, walked up and replied, “That’s what I like to hear.”

We discovered that she’s the featured artist of the month at the Coop, and  creates landscapes from fabric. I’ve seen this done before, using fabric sewed together to make lovely tapestry type pictures. But what Mary does is unique and innovative. She uses paper mache, fabric and recycled materials to form 3-dimensional landscape hangings that stand out and look amazing. Her work, and the other artists from the Coop, can be viewed at JeromeArtistsCoop.com.

While we were at the Coop, I also bumped into my writing teacher and former neighbor, Bennie Blake. I hadn’t seen her for several years. In 1983, a couple of months after I moved to Sedona, I joined her writing class through the local community college and studied with her for several semesters.

Her class was wonderful, enlightening and educational, and I met many people there who became my friends. It’s where I learned to edit my work and to freewrite (or what’s also called “journaling) to break through blocks. Every time I write an article for my newsletter, magazine, or write a chapter of a book, I send mental thanks to that class and to Bennie for what she taught me. It was such a gift to reconnect with her again.

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by Linda-Ann Stewart

As you learn how to consciously use the Law of Attraction, one of the areas to attend to is the way you communicate with yourself and others. You don’t just attract through your beliefs and what you think. You also attract through what you say and how you say it. For instance, notice if you tend to criticize yourself or others unmercifully. Criticism repels good and diminishes positive feelings. Therefore, as you keep your words uplifting, those upbeat feelings attract positive energy.

There are two extremes of communication styles to avoid. Both are used by people concerned with being true to themselves and being spiritually responsible, but their approaches are actually rooted in fear.

One extreme comes from people who think they can say whatever they want without a care, figuring they aren’t responsible for how the other person takes it. And the other are  those who are so concerned about hurting someone’s feelings that they don’t say anything. The first is aggressive, the second is passive.

You attract what you feel in your deepest self. And the way you express yourself communicates how you feel and what you fear. The thoughtless communicator will attract feelings of being out of control and helpless, because that’s what they’re trying to prevent. For the timid communicator, their intention of avoiding confrontation will manifest by attracting people who walk all over them.

The people using both of these extremes need to take responsibility for the words and the intentions behind their statements or non-statements. There are times when what needs to be said may be painful for the other person to hear. But as long as they express themselves with the intention of not being deliberately hurtful, they aren’t responsible for how the other person takes it.

When you’re talking with yourself or another person, be aware of these questions:

• Are you coming from your heart?
• Are you being gentle?
• What is your intention in the way you state your mind?
• Are your words in line with Universal principles and clear of subversive agendas?
• Are you being honest and forthright, when it’s called for?
• Are you fearful or trying to avoid something when you express yourself?
• Are you being careful not to deliberately trample on someone’s feelings?

In Don Miguel Ruiz’s book, “The Four Agreements,” he tells readers, “To be impeccable with your word.” This means to keep your spiritual principles in mind even when you’re upset, hurt or angry. Say what you mean, and don’t say what you don’t mean. Words can hurt, and once said, can never be unsaid. Make sure you don’t say something in anger that you will regret later. Remain conscious of the way you state your case at all times.

Since you attract through your energy, feelings, beliefs and intentions, you need to be mindful of your words so that you are able to attract the good that you want. By being vigilant about the way you communicate, so that you’re not deliberately harmful, the energy behind your message will return to you in kind. It’s not easy, but the effort of awareness is well worth the reward.

Affirmation

I know that I’m always attracting what I experience and I now choose to be more aware about the words I speak. When I express myself to others, I remain conscious of what I’m saying and how I’m saying it. I speak from my heart, being honest, and in such a way that I’m careful of the other person’s feelings. I am also sensitive in how I speak to myself, making sure I treat myself with respect. As this pattern begins to become more familiar, I find it easier to communicate with a clear intention.

Copyright 2009 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

A nationally known speaker, life coach, hypnotherapist, and author, Linda-Ann Stewart helps people rediscover their power and sense of self-worth. For a copy of her free ebook, “Secrets To The Law Of Attraction,” visit http://www.Cedarfire.com/secretstoloa.shtml

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development

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