Your mind has the power to change your experience

Friends,

The power of the mind never ceases to amaze me.  It has the power to completely transform how we feel, what we see, how we relate and what happens to us.  There is power in each and every word, with each and every thought.

It’s so exciting!  

And terrifying…

Why?  Because to accept that we have that much power requires an exorbitant amount of personal responsibility!  Believe me, there are times I HATE this truth.  It can feel overwhelming to face it.  Heck, we have parts of our brain that specifically store all of that subconscious material so we don’t have to face it!

But true transformation takes awareness.

Deep healing requires we look our subconscious straight in the eyes.

But it also requires a softening around all the places we wince and constrict.  When we feel shame, pain, sadness, and discomfort of any kind, often we react in one of 2 ways—we contract and push it somewhere (into the body or onto someone else) or we hyper-focus on it, exacerbating it.  Sometimes we layer in more discomfort, just for “fun”.  

An example is this:  You feel anxious.  It’s really uncomfortable.  You start telling yourself you shouldn’t be anxious.  You feel ashamed of your anxiety.  “It shouldn’t be like this.  I shouldn’t be like this.”  You try to hide it or ignore it.  It doesn’t go away.  You get mad at it.  It gets worse.  You take a medication or supplement for it.  It helps a little but if you don’t take the thing the anxiety is high.  You start getting headaches…and a cycle is formed.

Here’s a Jedi-mind trick for anxiety, physical pain or any feeling you don’t like.  Name it sensation and see it as a part of the array of sensations you get to feel as a human.  See if you can suspend judgment or categorization about what it is or isn’t.  But be honest and compassionate with yourself about your wish to feel it less.

Try saying this to yourself:  “Wow, this sensation (anxiety or pain—-but don’t call it anxiety or pain) is more intense than I’d like it to be.  I’d really like to feel calm (place word here that you want to feel, and say it to yourself with real feeling).  I’m going to turn the volume down on this sensation for now.”

Repeat as needed.  Start to think of it simply as sensation, not judging or boxing it up as anything else, not layering more feeling on top.  Frame it as interesting, or dynamic, or informative.

“Wow, this sensation has an interesting flavor/color/tone to it. It’s a different experience than that day at the beach this summer…Interesting…”

Your mind has the power to change your experience.  Your thoughts can give it space to express, shift, and move in a new way.

Try it out!

With love,

Dr. Alli