positive thinking – Page 13 – Empowering Your Mind

Sparks of Insight

May 5, 2017 Linda-Ann Stewart

“Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life. If you continue to believe as you have always believed, you will continue to act as you have always acted. If you continue to act as you have always acted, you will continue to get what you have always gotten. If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind.” – Unknown

It’s said that the definition of insanity is “Doing what you’ve always done and expecting a different result.” You have a beliefs and attitudes about circumstances in your life, even if you’re not aware of them. You act on those beliefs when a situation arises in your life. Changing the way you react means you have to change the belief that prompted it. Therefore, when you change your belief, you change your response, and, as a result, the outcome.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Holistic approaches for depression?

May 3, 2017 Linda-Ann Stewart

Question: I’ve been taking medication for depression, but what are some more holistic ways for me to deal with it?

Answer: I’m not a medical doctor nor psychologist, so I can only give you some suggestions. But first, I completely support taking medication to start feeling better. Ernest Holmes, founder of Science of Mind said something to the effect of, “You might as well feel better while you’re getting better.” The medication will give extra energy to help think straight. And until that happens, healing can’t happen.

Studies are finding that much of depression is caused by the way we think, and what we think about. A thought always precedes a feeling, even if the thought is a fraction of a second long. It can create a downward spiral that results in depression. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David Burns, M.D. has exercises to help you turn those thoughts around. Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman, Ph.D. discusses much of the research into this.

Walking or exercise is also effective to improve one’s mood. They’ve done studies that have shown that walking 30 minutes a day 3-5 times a week (depending on the study) is as effective, by itself, as antidepressants. But when you’re feeling so down, you can’t get yourself moving, which is why medication can help jumpstart you.

One more suggestion, do some journaling. It’s been found to help depression when you write about your feelings about the traumatic events of your life. Not just about the experience, but your feelings about it. By itself, it doesn’t help PTSD a lot, but it does help. Write 15-20 minutes on at least four consecutive days, preferably in the morning.

A final note, STOP MENTALLY BEATING YOURSELF UP! If you notice you’re getting negative, so what? Condemning yourself for it will just give it more energy. Start writing down what your negative thoughts are, and then you can see if they’re valid.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Meditation to Improve Your Self-Image

March 14, 2017 Linda-Ann Stewart

Your self-image affects everything about you and your life. The way you perceive yourself filters how you view and respond to the world. It’s built of beliefs, and beliefs can be changed. Watch and listen to this short meditation that will help you start to shift how you think about yourself so that it’s more positive.

Transcript:
Your self-image is how you perceive yourself to be. And it affects your decisions, actions, attitudes and relationships. Your self-image is the filter for who you think you are and how you respond to situations around you. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy that you make true. But you can also change it because it’s build of beliefs. And beliefs can be changed. Here’s a short meditation to get you started.

If you want, close your eyes. Take a deep breath, let it out, and relax.

Consider what is right about you. Think of the things you’ve done that have been right and good. Reflect on what’s good, valuable and worthwhile about you. Contemplate what you like about yourself – your appearance, talents, characteristics. People view you as a good person. Think of all the compliments you’ve ever been given. Accept them. Allow yourself to feel the warmth of their glow. Now, consider the person you want to be. What do you need to believe to be that person? What if you start believing it now? What would change? You can start making those changes right now. How would that feel?

Open your eyes. When your negative self-talk starts to bring you down, shift your attention to what’s positive about you. This will help to improve your self-image and will make massive changes in your world.

Read the article, 3 Steps to Improving Your Self-Image, that inspired this meditation.

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Book Review-Stake Your Claim

February 28, 2017 Linda-Ann Stewart

Stake Your Claim: Exploring the Gold Mine Within
By Emmet Fox

This book was the first one by this author that I ever read. The practical, spiritual advice from it made him one of my favorite metaphysical authors. Dr. Fox was a well-known spiritual teacher and his insight is timeless.

The title of the book refers to staking your claim to the good that you want in your life. Short, to the point essays about peace, prosperity, empowerment and much more form the chapters of this book. Each essay addresses a different subject, and stands alone in its wisdom.

The counsel in this book will uplift your thoughts, help you gain a more positive, spiritual outlook on what ever difficulty you might be experiencing, and help you live a richer, fuller life. Because of the short essays, this is the perfect book to read in the morning to get the day started right, just before going to sleep, or at any other time when you only have a few minutes to spare.