Secrets of Mind and Reality

Do you ever feel uncertain about your purpose in life, or wonder if there’s something more you should be doing? Feelings like this are common, and many people aren’t sure how to handle them. They can search for years for a sense of purpose and meaning – or worse, live their lives forever feeling dissatisfied and empty!

Whether you believe there is a specific higher purpose for your life or you’d simply like to feel more purposeful in your daily activities, visualization is one tool that can provide insight and guidance for a more meaningful existence.

Before you begin visualizing, first take a few minutes to relax and let go of tension, stress, fear or frustration you may be holding in your mind or body.

Then, bring to mind an image of your higher self (also known as your authentic self, your spirit, etc.) in your mind’s eye. See this part of yourself glowing with light and radiating confidence and joy, knowing without a doubt what he or she is meant to be doing here. Take your time viewing this inner you, and allow your vision to gradually expand until you can see yourself doing something that brings much joy and passion to your life.

If nothing comes to you at first, just take your time and enjoy the visualization process. Don’t try to force it because straining will cloud your focus. Eventually (even if it’s on a later day), you should be able to see an image of yourself doing something that’s meaningful to you.

When that happens, usually one of two things will happen with it: Either you won’t be surprised because you’ll simply remember that you’ve always felt a connection to this particular activity; or you’ll realize something surprising that you never would have thought of doing, but which makes you feel very excited now! Either way, you’ve got a strong clue from your subconscious mind about something that would give you the sense of purpose and meaning you seek!

Once you have this clue, take some time to think about it more completely. Can you see yourself doing this thing? It doesn’t have to be your career unless you decide to make it so; you can choose to keep it as a hobby or recreational pursuit. However, this is a sign from your inner wisdom that such an activity would bring you great joy and satisfaction so you should take it seriously and come up with ways to bring it into your life in some form.

You can also use this same process to visualize a higher purpose in anything you do. For example, let’s say you’re not thrilled with your job but circumstances prevent you from obtaining another one right now. Simply enter into a daily visualization exercise where you can see how your current work benefits you and others. Imagine yourself gaining greater enjoyment and satisfaction from your current job, and feeling good while you’re there.

This process can also be used to realize greater enjoyment and meaning from any and all activities, such as your exercise routine, your relationships, or any other aspect of your life.

The more you practice “seeing” yourself with a sense of purpose in whatever you do, the greater contentment and satisfaction you’ll gain from them – and that sense of emptiness and aimlessness will vanish forever.

It’s easy to overlook the power of limiting beliefs and spend years wondering why you can’t seem to move forward and make lasting changes in your life. Though you might have grand dreams of living a better life, limiting beliefs will keep prodding you to act in ways that are counterproductive to those dreams.

Everything you do (or don’t do) is based on an internal set of subconscious beliefs. In some situations these beliefs can be helpful, but they can also cause big problems by placing limitations where none really exist. For example, if you hold a subconscious belief that you don’t have what it takes to create a successful career, you’ll find yourself taking jobs that offer little opportunity for promotion or advancement – or even satisfaction. No matter how badly you want to experience more success in your career, you’ll continue to think and act in ways that make it impossible to do so.

Limiting beliefs can be difficult to change because we often don’t realize they exist! They reside in our subconscious minds and rarely make themselves known in obvious ways. Rather, we usually become aware of them when we decide to make changes in our lives and keep bumping up against invisible walls.

Visualization is one powerful tool that can be effective in changing limiting beliefs, because the process of visualization speaks directly to the subconscious mind and plants more empowering messages – which can override the limiting beliefs.

Before you enter into the visualization process, it’s a good idea to figure out what kind of limiting beliefs you suspect you may have. Asking yourself specific questions and writing down your answers can be an illuminating way to find out. Try questions like these for starters:

• Am I making as much money as I want? If not, why not?
• Do I love my career, or would I rather be doing something else?
• Am I happy with the size and state of my body? If not, why not?
• Am I happy with the things I’ve achieved in my life so far?
• What else would I like to achieve?
• Do I really believe I’m capable of doing these things?
• If not, why not?

As you write down your answers to these questions, you’ll likely notice some limiting beliefs popping up in response. For example, when you ask why you’re not yet making the amount of money you desire, your answer might be, “I’m earning as much as I can at my current job, and there are no other prospects for me to get a better job right now.” As much as that might appear to be true, it’s a limiting belief! In other words, you THINK it’s true, but it’s simply your perception.

Once you’ve identified a limiting belief, write it down like these examples:

• I don’t believe I can make more money than I do now.
• I don’t believe I deserve a healthy, loving relationship.
• I don’t believe I can have a better career than I do now.
• I don’t believe I will ever be able to lose weight.

Once you’ve got a list of limiting beliefs, perform a visualization exercise daily and imagine that the opposite is true. For example, call up mental images of yourself receiving a great new job, or stumbling upon unexpected opportunities to boost your income in other ways. Be sure to actually move yourself into the feelings of these visions as if you were really experiencing them rather than just “seeing” them in your mind.

It will take time and consistent effort to change your belief in what is possible, but the more you focus on consciously believing in the possibilities, the more you’ll begin to let go of your inner limitations and open to better circumstances. Even better, the greatest part about this process is that you don’t need to know “how” something is possible – you just need to be willing to believe it is, and that is often enough to attract new opportunities that will change everything.

Visualization can be a powerful tool to help you improve your life circumstances, but it can also serve as a handy technique for transforming stress and anxiety into peace, happiness and confidence!

Stress and anxiety can quickly become a vicious cycle that keep you feeling powerless and frightened. The more stressed you get, the more your thoughts and emotions will move toward the negative side, which only makes you feel more stressed!

Using visualization to transform these feelings can stop the cycle by switching your focus to something more positive and uplifting.

First and foremost, it’s helpful if you can remove yourself from the stressful environment and engage in some relaxation techniques like meditation or deep breathing before you begin your visualization, because your mind will be more receptive if you’re calm and centered.

Once you’ve moved yourself into a more relaxed state, bring to mind a scene that soothes and calms you. You can choose a natural setting like a beach or forest, or imagine a place that is representative of relaxation such as a spa or temple. Imagine yourself being in this place, feeling balanced and calm.

Rather than simply “seeing” the images in your mind, make an effort to mentally transport yourself to this calm setting and engage as many of your senses as you can. Imagine that you can smell the fresh air or incense in the temple; imagine that you can feel the rich earth beneath your feet, hear the roar of ocean waves or bird song, and feel the cool breeze moving through your hair. The more you can involve your senses, the more “real” the scene will seem to you, and the more effective it will be in calming you.

Stay with the visualization for as long as you like, making an effort to fully relax your body and let go of worrisome thoughts. If you’re not used to visualizing or meditating, you may have trouble keeping your focus. Your thoughts may keep returning to the situations that made you feel stressed in the first place, or you may struggle to “see” these soothing images in your mind. This is completely normal. Just keep gently returning your focus to the visualization as often as necessary, and keep in mind that once you’ve made visualization a regular practice it will get easier to stay focused.

You can keep your visualization sessions brief at the beginning, but as time goes on you may want to lengthen the time you visualize up to 30 minutes or so.

Then, whenever you find yourself feeling stressed or anxious, simply recall a mental image of your calming scene again and make an effort to mentally transport yourself back to it. You’ll probably have to exert a fair amount of effort to achieve a calmer state of mind at the beginning, but eventually you’ll be able to shift immediately to a calmer state just by thinking about it.