self-help » Empowering Your Mind

Guided Meditation to Encourage Positive Actions

Feb 112021

Have you ever been caught between two decisions? It may be one in which that you habitually take the easy path, and that undermines your well being. What if you could, in the moment, receive encouragement to choose the more difficult road? This guided meditation will help you encourage and support yourself to take the actions that lead you towards your goals.

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Transcript:

Thank you for watching. Wouldn’t it be nice to stop procrastinating, to eat and drink in a way that’s good for your health, to encourage and motivate yourself in a positive way? When you turn away from the path of least resistance to the path that is best for you, you’re building self-respect and demonstrating self-love. Treating yourself kindly, and gently guiding yourself to decisions and actions that support you and your endeavors brings you a better life.

I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, and would like to lead you through a short guided meditation to help you choose the best path that brings you long term benefits. In this meditation, you’ll be encouraging yourself to make positive choices.

If you feel like it, close your eyes. Imagine another version of yourself nearby. This version of yourself knows what your goals are, and knows the actions that can help or hinder your goals. This version of yourself also cares about your well being, is more objective and able to see things more clearly.

Now imagine that you are faced with a choice. It’s a choice between doing what’s familiar, what’s easiest, what will bring you immediate gratification, but will ultimately not be helpful for you… and acting in a more mature, intentional and reasoned way. A way that is better for you and for the outcomes you want.

Now imagine that version of yourself is encouraging you to make the more difficult, but more enriching choice. This part of you gives you reasons for for making those choices, and reminds you that you will ultimately feel better about yourself. This part’s guidance is reassuring and inspiring to you.

Imagine that you follow that version of yourself’s advice. That you make the choice it recommends. It could be to eat healthy foods, do the task you’ve been avoiding, or take action towards your goal. Imagine yourself acting on the decision and how you feel good about yourself once you’ve done so. Your choice leads to an outcome that benefits you in the long term.

Open your eyes. The version of yourself I mention can help by supporting you in making decisions that will improve your well being. In a way, you’re being your own cheerleader. When you take the time to check in with that more objective part of you, you’ll recognize the guidance that can keep you on course. Acting on that advice demonstrates your care for yourself.

If you’d to achieve a 90-day goal more easily, download my free comprehensive Strategic Vision Guide. You’ll receive the guide, as well as a training video that walks you through it with tips and directions to support you in accomplishing your goal.

Thank you for watching. What one thing can you do today that supports your well being?

Read the accompanying article, How to Demonstrate Self-Love.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

How to Demonstrate Self-Love

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Feb 042021

by Linda-Ann Stewart

I have always loved the 1927 poem by Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, and have done my best to live by its wisdom. I especially love the paragraph, “Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.” To me, this means treating myself kindly, loving myself and taking care of my needs, because I have worth by just being here.

Whenever I am tempted into some decision or behavior that isn’t for my well being, I pause. I ask myself questions like the following:

Is it going to contribute to my self-respect or erode it?
Do I need it or want it?
Does the behavior or decision support my goals?
Will the temptation be worth it, or will I regret it later on?

It’s not easy, but most of the time, I choose to avoid the lure of temptation and support my mental, emotional, physical and spiritual needs. (Full disclosure: I sometimes stay up too late at night watching a television program and regret it in the morning.)

Needs vs. Wants

Are you treating yourself well and addressing what you need for health and well being? Many people confuse taking care of their needs with indulging in what they want. Your wants may be old habits or ways of reacting. For instance, there’s a part of you that wants to eat that entire bag of chocolate candy, even though it’s bad for your health. The chocolate isn’t something you need, it’s something you want. Giving into a chocolate binge is a short term tactic to satisfy a craving. The gratification lasts for only for a few minutes, and isn’t worth the risk of weight gain, cavities or self-reproach afterwards.

Instead, healthy eating habits are long term strategies to treat yourself kindly. You show yourself love by eating fruits, vegetables, protein and getting enough exercise. These are behaviors that are necessary for a healthy and happy life. They build self-respect and self-esteem. With self-love, you take actions that may make you uncomfortable, but you know will eventually bring you what you ultimately need and desire.

Your Relationships Improve

When you show up for your well being, you demonstrate that you value yourself. Your relationship with yourself improves because you think better of who you are. This attitude translates to your relationships with other people. Because you have self-love, you love others more deeply and have more to give to them.

As you treat yourself with care, you attract others who also treat you that way. If they don’t respect you, your sense of self-worth causes you to recognize they don’t belong in your orbit. This realization includes friends, clients and customers. Set boundaries and take actions to appropriately protect yourself against those who can’t appreciate you the way you deserve.

Forgiving Yourself

Treating yourself kindly also means to forgive yourself for any mistakes you might have made. They were simply learning exercises. Mistakes are how we learn and grow. But all too often, we chastise ourselves for infractions for far longer than we should. This can create a cycle of self-abuse that drags you down and keeps you stuck in the past. Systemic self-criticism also leads to other negative decisions that shred your love of yourself.

Instead, once you learn the message a mistake has for you, any guilt from it has no further purpose. You don’t have to castigate yourself after you’ve made amends and set an intention not to repeat the error. Be gentle with yourself. Accept that you’re human and grow from the experience.

Demonstrate Your Love of Yourself

Self-love isn’t just a warm feeling about yourself. It also includes “a wholesome discipline,” as the poem says. When you demonstrate caring for yourself with actions, you prove how much you appreciate yourself. Treating yourself in a kind, gentle and loving way, and one that supports your worth, allows you to thrive and to fulfill your potential.

Affirmation:

The Universe recognizes my worth, because It put me here. I now accept my value and treat myself with respect. If I’ve made a mistake, I learn from it, forgive myself and move on. I attend to my needs, and support my health and well being. When I love myself, it translates into better decisions and actions.

Watch the accompanying video, Guided Meditation to Encourage Positive Actions.

As a vision strategist, hypnotherapist, and speaker, Linda-Ann Stewart helps women entrepreneurs and small business owners who feel stuck, immobilized and overwhelmed to to get clear, focused and on the fast track to the next level of their business. To achieve a 90-day goal more easily, sign up for her FREE comprehensive Strategic Vision blueprint at www.Linda-AnnStewart.com/setyourcourse.html. You can contact her at LAS@Linda-AnnStewart.com or 928-600-0452.

Sparks of Insight

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Jan 202021

Have you gotten stuck in a comfort zone? If so, this doesn’t help you to evolve, progress or improve your life. If you’re completely comfortable where you are, you need to do something that pushes you. There’s an old saying, “If always do what always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Life is expansion, change and if you don’t choose it willingly, Life has a habit of thrusting it on you. Step out and do something that makes you uncomfortable, like asking for some help, take a class in something you’re interested in, make that extra phone call you’ve been dreading. By expanding your comfort zone by just a bit, you’re attracting more good to you.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Sparks of Insight

Sparks of Insight Comments Off

Dec 092020

Be careful what you say when you use, “I am…” Such as “I’m sick” or “I’m angry,” or “I’m feeling upset.” Whatever you say after “I am,” you’re identifying yourself with. In other words, you are claiming it as something you choose to have in your life. When you want to state how you’re feeling, you can say something like, “I feel…” This lets your subconscious know that it’s transitory, not a permanent state for you. Be aware of what you’re pairing with “I am..” and find another way to state it that recognizes that it’s not permanent condition, but rather a situation that you’re dealing with.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

How to Stay Mindfully Focused

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Nov 172020

It’s hard to stay focused and not get distracted in our frantic, fast-paced lives. But focus is the best way to achieve your goals and be productive. Focus is one of the most important skills a person can develop. Learn a simple technique to learn how to be more focused and get more done, more easily.

Transcript:

Thank you for joining me. In our frantic day-to-day lives, it’s hard to stay focused, isn’t it? We’re pulled in so many different directions. But being able to focus on a task or project is the way to get it done and done well. I’d like to share a simple technique for you to be able to hone your attention, to be more single-minded, and get more done, more easily. Wouldn’t that be great?

I’m Linda-Ann Stewart, a vision strategist. The technique I’m going to share with you combines a couple of tactics. One is deep breathing, and the other is self-talk. Either of which is good to help calm you down and get focused. But together, they are an unbeatable combination.

Using this technique allows you to pay attention to what you want to pay attention to, to what’s important and not what’s trying to distract you. When you take care of what’s important first, you can deal with other things later.

When you want to focus on a task, first take three long, slow, deep breaths. This calms your brain and nervous system so you can focus. It also allows you to take a mental step back to make a decision on what to do next. Rather than being pushed by events, you can make a choice of what to do next. It’s the difference between reacting and responding. When you respond, you’re reclaiming your power over your actions.

Next, engage in talking to yourself to keep yourself focused. Just saying things like, “Focus” or “concentrate” or “stick with it,” will rein in your thoughts to stay on task. You could also talk to yourself as if you’re a third person, like, “Linda-Ann, continue working on this for the next half-hour.” When you say your name, it catches your attention, doesn’t it? And you’re more likely to follow your own directions.

When you stay mindfully focused you’ll find yourself being more productive and efficient, while increasing your peace of mind. As a side benefit, you’ll also be training yourself to be more focused, so the more you practice, the better at it you’ll become. You’ll be developing a vital skill that you can use for the rest of your life, in all areas of your life.

If you’d to achieve a 90-day goal more easily, download my free comprehensive Strategic Vision guide at www.SetYourCourseGuide.com. You’ll receive the guide, as well as a training video that walks you through it with tips and directions to support you in you in accomplishing your goal.

Thank you for watching. How can you use this technique of deep breathing and self-talk today? Take care.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

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