Map the Beliefs You WANT!
/Are you ready for some serious creation? Last week you identified some things you really want – maybe it had to do with how you look, attributes you’d like to develop, material possessions you’d like to own or income you’d like to make, experiences you want to have, or relationships you want to improve (or even start). This is the fun part….
Under each goal on your list, write down the beliefs you imagine someone who ALREADY has this goal accomplished has (and which you may need to adopt in order to get to the same place). For example, if you are looking at making $20,000 more per year, maybe some of the following beliefs might show up on your list:
I am capable.
I am worthy.
I am open to possibilities (meaning that your next $20,000 may not come from where you think it will come from)
Everything works out for me.
I am confident.
Money is neither good nor bad; I can choose to use it for good.
Wealth magnifies who I am, it expands my influence.
I provide value.
Anyway, you get the idea.
If you’ve followed the steps each week, you’ll be able to compare the list that shows where you are coming from (Week 1) with the list that contains the beliefs that can help you get to where you want to go. Chances are, your past and future belief maps look different. Do you find that’s the case?
You’ve actually just created a road map to get to where you really want to be, can you believe it?
But how do we go about changing our beliefs, which are often formed in the deepest parts of us?
If you are a thinker, here is an exercise that might help you. On a sheet of paper, make two columns. On the one side, list your old belief (the one that has not served you.) On the other side, write your new belief. Under your old belief, list all the evidence that that belief is true. (Note: you should have a pretty healthy list – once we adopt a belief, we literally instruct our brain to prove that we are right. Your brain should have gathered plenty of evidence to support your old belief.
Let’s say you chose to find evidence on the belief “I’m not worthy” (since it’s in direct opposition to the belief you want to adopt). If you are having a hard time coming up with evidence, you can always switch the pen to your non-dominant hand. Remember that we are looking for specific examples, not generalities. Let’s say this is what comes up:
My family doesn’t even like me or want me around; not only did they not invite me to the family reunion, but they didn’t even let me know it was happening.
In the 4th grade, the only way I could get invited to a party was to “buy” my way in by doing someone else’s homework.
My girlfriends at school excluded me once they got to know me.
Ouch! These are hurtful things to bring up….but they are the things that fuel our subconscious beliefs, those tapes that we play that keep us from getting what we really want. Interestingly, not only does the brain dutifully give us the evidence that our beliefs are correct (that’s its programmed job), but it ALSO records the ACCURATE information that we can access whenever we want.
Now I’m going to access the evidence that I AM worthy.
Who am I to decide who’s worthy? I can’t come up with a definition of a worthless person. Homeless people are valuable. Even most people who have committed crimes are valuable to someone. I try.
The way other people treat me defines them, not me. It simply gives me insight into where they are at the time. Just because someone says the sky is green doesn’t make it so.
Maybe I should strive to be around people who recognize what a great person I am…maybe my problem isn’t that I’m not worthy …. Maybe my problem is that I simply don’t act like it.
Maybe my not feeling worthy influences the way I don’t train others to treat me how I want and deserve to be treated.
Whoa. There are some pretty big insights coming here. Notice that in the second example, you may not have specific situations listed….this is because as this individual was listing support for their new belief, they came to a MAJOR realization that worth isn’t something someone else can bestow on you like a title. Worth comes from within and your higher power – once that realization was made, the person no longer gave credence (at least on paper) to what other people thought.
Do you see how truly liberating it is simply having awareness that there is evidence in our own lives for both the old belief (validation that we’re not crazy!) and new belief (Set me free!)
Just sit with this one for a bit. You don’t have to do anything with this information except love yourself for doing the best you could at every stage of your life before this. You have more light and awareness now than you did before…when we up level this way, it’s important to not judge our “younger selves” for making decisions based on less light and awareness. Love yourself. Be grateful for your experiences, because they have brought you here.
Bergamot, grapefruit, jasmine and lemon are all oils that foster self-acceptance. Breathe one of these beautiful oils in and just focus on loving yourself the way you are. Focus on the amazing insights you have just discovered about yourself. Breathe in wild orange or Douglas fir and sit in deep gratitude. Did you know that awareness is the first step of change? You don’t need to do anything more. Just ponder.
If we had just one word that was synonymous with yoga, it would be “awareness.” Yoga shines the light of awareness into every corner of our being which needs our attention. Whether through asana, breath-work, meditation, or any of the other 8 limbs of the practice, we can understand ourselves better once we slow down, use these self-reflective practices of yoga and begin from the place where we are today, without judgment. Need a starting place? Try Shavasana, corpse pose, with or without props, like a blanket or bolster to support any part of your body that needs extra care. Once you are comfortable, bring your focus to your breath, notice any held patterns of stress and begin to release them. These places of tension are connected subconsciously to habitual stress, old traumas, negative beliefs… and the more you practice letting go of these constricting areas, the more you are creating new patterns of freedom with your awareness. For more direction, see the 6th “sequence” section on Restorative Poses, in the book or the DVD of Essential Yoga Practice: Your Guide to the New Yoga Experience With Essential Oils.
Do you need to do ALL your beliefs today? It’s probably too much. Just choose one or two and sit with those. Let them make an impact. Your tapes are changing. Change is coming (and maybe change is something that you’d like to map out another time).
Get ready to learn more about powerful ways you can combine essential oils and yoga in your everyday life and practice, by joining us for our 2-week online event using Essential Yoga Practice as a text. If you are new to either practice, you’ll get a great jump start. If you are a yoga teacher, we have some great insights for you – and you can opt into getting all your online credit with Yoga Alliance. Save the date for Oct 15, and watch the website this week as the registration link goes live.