……….Manifesting a Magical 2014: Self Care
Written by: Anne Bolender
In last Monday’s post, I began this new series on Manifesting a Magical 2014 with a bonus post on Self Care. With self-care there is the understanding that the more you take care of yourself, the more energy you will have for manifesting, so manifesting becomes easier and the things you manifest can be larger. Simple.
In this post, there are two basic self-care techniques that I would like to share that will help you increase the impact that your self-care will have on your manifesting abilities:
1) clean up the self talk; and
2) your body is your temple.
1) Clean up the Self Talk
We all experience self talk. That never-ending dialogue that runs through our minds commenting on, praising, and criticizing everything we do and everyone we know. Have you listened to your self talk recently, and specifically to what you are saying about yourself? An interesting exercise is to write down everything your self talk says about yourself for a period of 24 – 48 hours.
For many people who have not really listed to how they talk about themselves, this exercise becomes a real eye opener. The negative self talk that most people say about themselves can be quite surprising!
While monitoring your self talk, ask yourself if you would speak like this, say things like this, to your child, your spouse, your friends, your pets? If not, the stop saying these things to yourself. Every time you notice that you are saying something negative to yourself through self talk, stop what you are saying and immediately say something nice – and mean it!!
Not convinced that words can impact our well-being. Try this little experiment. Buy two small plants. Put one plant, let’s call this plant “A” in one room, and put the other plant “B” in a different room. Both plants should have a similar environment, they should get the same amount of light, water, warmth. Now with plant ‘A’ only think and say nasty things to it. Tell it how fat it looks, how stupid it is, how it can’t do anything right – the kinds of things that might be part of your own self talk. With plant ‘B’ only think and say positive, supportive things to it. Tell it how beautiful it is, how well it is thriving, how you can’t wait to see its beautiful flowers. Do this for two or three-week and then bring the plants together to compare how different the are.
Plant B will be bigger, stronger, healthier looking than Plant A. If you can do this to a plant in a couple of weeks, imagine what you are doing to yourself over the years.
2) Your Body is Your Temple
OK, so maybe not a temple, for now, but definitely something worth taking care of. It is not necessary to go on a diet or to eat foods you don’t like, or to take out a membership to a gym, at least not until you really want to. For now, start with a few little things some small changes to your daily habits and routines. Are there some fruits or vegetables that you like the taste of? Try adding one or two of them to your daily diet.
Is there some way to increase your level of activity that isn’t completely off-putting? Parking your car further from your work entrance or the entrance to the grocery store; clearing out the front office that has become a free-for-all storage room; washing the living room window; any thing that gets you moving and has some tangible reward when complete.
Only wear clothes that fit well and that you feel good in. Wear scents or perfumes (as long as you do not work in a scent-free area) that you love the smell of and make you feel good.
Listen to music you love. Surround yourself in images and colours that inspire you. Only watch television shows that make you feel good.
Your ability to manifest is at its best when you practice some self-care; have an abundance of energy; when you feel good about yourself; and when you are enjoying the life you are currently living.
Next week we will look at clearing space to make room for change.
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If you are struggling to regain focus or motivation, let me help! You can either sign up for my newsletter here where you will receive monthly clarity and creativity tips and techniques, or email me for more information on my coaching options and opportunities. My email address is anne@annebolender.com.
