In a relaxed, present and heart-centred state we tap into our potential

As sure as day turns into night, what we think and what we pay attention to grows and materializes. Our thought signals an emotional state, which either propels us into action or keeps us standing still in the face of our dreams. It all depends on the thought. Creation, innovation, connection and realisation of our dreams starts with a present and coherent heart, mind and body.

In this article I will share how you can bring yourself into that state and how you can create your desired reality first in the mind. Whilst the process may be different for all of us, the principles listed here are the same.

What you think about, you create

We have all heard the famous Buddha quote "What we think, we become". Have you ever sat in present moment awareness and observed the thoughts running through your head? Try it now, take your eyes off the article and just see what comes up for you. Is it a pleasant, neutral or unpleasant thought? And how is it making you feel? We all know the power of and the influence our thoughts have on our present reality. When you think an unpleasant thought, it leads to an unpleasant feeling that you feel in your body. Your thought signals your body to release certain chemicals, so your body is aligned to the thought. Repetitive negative thoughts can cause the stress hormone, cortisol, to work overtime and this has dire effects on your body, including fatigue, headaches, increased blood pressure, anxiety, depression, intestinal problems, weight gain, so on and so forth. In these mental and physiological states, our ability to be creative, innovative, collaborative and perform at our best is compromised.

A 2020 study at Queens University in Canada reports that the average person has over 6,000 thoughts per day. What if I told you that you can mindfully regulate your thoughts and use them to tap into your potential, would you listen up?

Mindfulness

How do we get you thinking more about the things that you want, rather than about the things that you don't want? The answer, through a regular conscious mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is simply bringing awareness to what is happening right now, without judgement, and in that state you can train your attention 'muscle' to focus on the things that you want. A good place to start is to use your breath as your point of focus. Have a go now, bring your awareness to your breath, feel it in your body by placing your hand on your belly and feel the movement created by your breath. You will notice thoughts coming into your awareness and just imagine they are clouds floating over your head, not a part of you. Notice the thought, don't get lost in it, just let it float away. Practice this for 5 mins per day, sit up in your bed when you wake up and this will help train your attention muscle. Soon enough, you will be able to exercise this muscle all through the day, noticing the thoughts that come into your awareness and choosing to let go of thoughts that don't serve you, or choosing to see the lesson, forgive and let go. And when you get there you will be ready for the next step.

Create the reality you want

Now let’s just acknowledge for a moment that you are already doing this each day. At some point you set a clear vision of what your life should look like, influenced by your upbringing, culture, belief system at the time. You then created some clear habits and practices for bringing that vision to life and then you started executing those habits daily. You get up in the morning, go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, get ready for work, go to work, execute your job, etc. After a while, much of what you think and do each day is on autopilot because you have become really good at executing your daily tasks and patterns. It’s like when you learnt to ride a bike, at first you paid really close attention to every aspect of the bike, how to balance and where to put your feet and how to break and signal. It was clunky at first but after a while you didn't have to think about it, you just did it.

So back to your average day, given you've created some clear habits on how you spend your day, would you agree that these ingrained habits are creating the outcomes in your present reality? And if you want different outcomes then you have to a. set a new vision for the future you desire, and b. create new habits? Your new vision needn’t be about recreating your entire life, you can start small. For example, if you want a better relationship with your partner but you've created a habit of working late each day because of an inherent belief system and vision you set about work way back when. So when you finish your work day, your energy levels are so low that all you want to do is eat dinner, watch some Netflix and go to bed. After a while, without creating time and space in your life for a meaningful connection with your partner, the relationship suffers.

Take a moment now to reflect on areas in your present reality that you're not happy with and bring awareness to and note down your daily routines or practices that are leading to that outcome. Often, we don't take the time to reflect in this way, yet bringing awareness to it is the first step to change. Realise that your current habits are not hard wired, they can shift if you really want. It may be tricky at first, but it’s like riding a bike. To kick off a new habit, you must create a desired vision of the future, and marry it up with the will to bring that vision to life and then an unwavering belief in your ability to do so. Your decision and belief then signal the thoughts that will help you learn and create your new habits and reality. Take me for example, I recently decided to kick my coffee habit because I noticed coffee had a negative effect on my body. To get to work, I created a clear intention “I feel calm and present as I move through my work day”, I then felt a sense of calm and presence through my body when I meditated each day. This signaled new thoughts that helped me create a new reality, I enjoyed having a hot drink when I started my work day and so found an alternative to replace the coffee. Whilst it was tricky at first, I’ve stuck to this new habit for almost 6 weeks and now it feels effortless and part of my new reality.

When shifting habits to align with your desired reality, it will be uncomfortable, and you may want to quit and revert to your past ways. This is a result of our neurobiology, our brains like routine, and one of its primal roles is survival. Routines are predictable and this keeps us safe. To unlearn and relearn new routines, takes awareness, persistence, an unwavering belief in your desired future state and positive reinforcement. To do something new and different, exercise your mindfulness muscle. Realise that you are not your thoughts and you can choose to acknowledge your negative thought, learn from it, move it on and then replace it with a positive thought that will keep you focused on the things that you do want, your vision. This is how you get into the driver’s seat of creating new habits and your desired reality.

Unlimited Possibilities

There is no limit to what you can create. If you can see it in the screen of your mind, you can create it in your life. Once you get great at practicing single moment awareness, spend the first 5, 10, 20 minutes of your day creating your day in your mind. Again, only focus on the things that you want. Think about what you want to accomplish and feel the joy of the accomplishment. Feel it as though it’s happening in that moment. When we experience uplifting emotions such as appreciation, joy, care, and love; our heart rhythm pattern becomes highly ordered, looking like a smooth, harmonious wave. When we are generating a coherent heart rhythm, the activity in the two branches of the Autonomic Nervous System is synchronized and all the systems in our body operate with increased efficiency and harmony. In a coherent heart rhythm, the heart, mind and emotions are working harmoniously. It is in this state that you're able to open up to new possibilities, create new habits that align with your desired reality and take intentional steps to bringing it to life.

This article is inspired by Joe Dispenza’s Becoming Supernatural and HeartMath’s Training on Heart Coherence. For more information please reach out to me on LinkedIn.