There are many physical benefits to organization, but did you know that organizing your space can also have positive mental and spiritual benefits?
Purging your home and workplace of clutter and unnecessary items can symbolize a deeper process of cleansing and purification. As you toss old, useless clutter and better organize what’s left, you are in effect creating a sensation of lightness and freedom that can benefit you both mentally and spiritually.
On an energetic level, the effects of cleaning and de-cluttering can be even more profound because the process clears stagnation and calls in a flow of fresh, invigorating energy (also called “chi,” “ki,” or “qi” – which means “universal life energy”).
What does this mean for you and your space? More peace, prosperity, harmony and success!
Below you’ll find some quick tips on how to organize for a more serene atmosphere:
1) First and foremost, clearing away clutter is crucial. Clutter drains your energy, scatters your focus and leaves you feeling overwhelmed and restricted. Take as much time as necessary to remove items that are no longer needed and put away items to be kept. However, don’t toss them carelessly into drawers and closets; be sure to organize and place them neatly where they belong. Clutter is clutter, and you’ll experience the same negative effects even if it’s hidden away.
2) Once your surroundings are ordered, it’s time to do a physical cleaning job. Grab a vacuum cleaner, mops, buckets, dusting cloths, glass cleaner and any other supplies you’ll need, and clean like you’ve never cleaned before! It’s important to do a thorough job because you are not just cleaning away visible dirt – you are also removing any residue left by stagnant, negative energy. You may not be able to see it, but you can still be affected by it on some level if you don’t remove it completely.
3) Finally, take a breather and look at your surroundings. Notice that they look better, but also notice the difference in the way the environment feels. Does it feel lighter and calmer? Most people can feel the difference right away.
You’re not done yet, however! Now you’re going to call in some beneficial energy to take the place of what you just cleared out. There are many ways to do this, and none of them are better or more effective than the others. Choose one or more that appeal to you.
One of the most common techniques is to “smudge” the area using a bundle of dried sage leaves. (These can be purchased in herb shops or online.) Light the end of the sage stick and blow out the flame so the leaves smolder and release fragrant smoke. Walk through the rooms of your home and waft the scented smoke into the air. As you do, state aloud that you are removing negative energy and inviting a flow of fresh, beneficial energy to take its place.
Another technique is to simply light scented incense and candles in every room. The scents don’t really matter except that they are pleasing to you, but some popular choices include: lavender, rosemary, lemongrass, sage, sandalwood, myrrh, frankincense and rose.
Finally, you can use meditation and visualization to call in positive energy. Simply sit comfortably and perform deep-breathing exercises to bring yourself into a meditative state. Then imagine brilliant white light infusing every room of your home. Imagine that it fairly hums and crackles with an electrical charge, zapping any negativity that still lingers and replacing it with peace and harmony.
Doing this process just once can create quite an impressive change in the atmosphere of your home, but doing it on a regular basis can be even more effective. Try it once every 3 months for starters, but do it as often as you need to if you sense the atmosphere becoming heavy and sluggish again.
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Did you know that you talk to yourself all day long? No, not the mental chatter about activities and chores that you need to remember throughout the day. That’s a form of self-talk too, but I’m referring more to the things you say to yourself on a regular basis; and more importantly, the tone in which you say them.
When you make a mistake, do you berate yourself angrily? Do you put yourself down or call yourself derogatory names? When you have a hard time making positive changes in your life, do you bemoan what a “worthless” person you are and conclude that you’ll never do anything right?
Negative self-talk can be incredibly damaging to your self-esteem, especially if it’s a big part of your daily life. When you keep saying things like that to yourself, eventually you begin to believe them!
Most often these messages begin as statements uttered by the adults in your life when you were a child. They may have said something negative about you when your actions displeased them, or perhaps they had a habit of saying unkind things even when you didn’t deserve it. As painful as these experiences can be, even worse is when you pick up where they left off and keep repeating the same negative messages to yourself over and over!
The good news is that you can change your self-talk any time you want. You just have to know how to become aware of the tone of your messages and consciously replace them with more encouraging ones.
Try these simple steps for starters:
1) Develop awareness of your self-talk. It may take practice, but if you keep “listening” in to your inner voice, you’ll begin to notice when you talk negatively to yourself.
2) Challenge the negative messages. When you notice yourself saying something negative such as, “You’re such a screw-up, you can’t do anything right” – stop yourself and challenge that belief. Is that really true? Maybe you mess up sometimes, but do you ALWAYS mess up? Probably not.
3) Replace the negative messages with positive messages. When you realize you’re saying unkind and untrue things to yourself, simply turn it around in your mind. Using the above example, you might say, “Wow, that’s not true at all! I do plenty of things right. It’s true I make mistakes, but so does everyone. I’m a good person and I try my best. That’s good enough for me.”
Over time, your efforts will pay off in the form of stronger self-esteem and respect for yourself and your capabilities. It probably won’t happen overnight, but the more you work at turning your self-talk in a more positive direction, the better you’ll feel about yourself.
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Loving yourself can be difficult when you have limiting and derogatory messages playing in your subconscious mind. Most of these messages are recorded during childhood, but their effects can be far reaching! Did you know that you’re still being influenced by the things your parents and others said to you decades ago?
When someone told you that you were no good, you believed them. When someone told you that you’d never amount to anything, you believed them. When someone told you that you were stupid or learning disabled or weird, you believed them. And you still believe them to this day – even if you’re not consciously aware of these underlying beliefs.
Is it possible to overcome old messages and replace them with new, empowering messages? Yes! Here are three good ways to start:
1) Romance yourself. Think about the last love affair you had. At the beginning you and your partner probably devoted a lot of time, attention and affection to each other, right? You felt passionate and swept away by the beauty of your partner and he/she probably felt the same about you. One of the best ways to learn to love yourself is to enter into a similar process – with yourself! Treat yourself like royalty! Do things that make you feel happy. Hug yourself. Sweet-talk yourself. Buy yourself nice things. Spend quality time with yourself simply because you deserve it.
2) Explore your existing beliefs. You may suspect you have old, limiting messages rattling around in your head but still be unsure about what they are exactly. In order to discover the beliefs that are holding you back, you may need to go on an expedition. Begin exploring your existing beliefs by writing in a journal. Give yourself prompts or questions like these: “My earliest memory of feeling stupid was . . .” “My mother always made me feel . . .” “My father always treated me like . . .” and so on. The idea is to think back to an earlier time in your life and see if you can discover when and where your limiting beliefs got started. Then, challenge those beliefs. Are they still true? Were they ever true? Decide what you WANT to be true, and begin to replace the old belief by focusing more on your new and improved beliefs.
3) Emphasize your good qualities! When you have low self-esteem, you tend to keep focusing on the things that are “wrong with you,” and dismissing the things that you have going for you. Start to turn this around by praising and encouraging yourself in your self-talk. When you accomplish something, congratulate yourself! Say things like, “Wow, I’m really proud of myself for doing that. It wasn’t easy, but I pushed through the rough spots and gave it my best shot.” You can also make a point of simply giving yourself positive self-talk daily. Recite affirmations like these: “I am a valuable person. I have a lot to offer the world. I’m talented and successful.” The more you do it, the more you’ll come to believe it!
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One of the most common goals people set when first learning about the Law of Attraction is to attract more money into their lives. They’re sick of struggling, sick of not having enough, and they’re eager to find relief. Unfortunately, attracting money is often one of the most difficult objectives, simply because money carries such heavy emotional weight in our lives. There’s a lot riding on the success (or failure) of our goal to attract more money! Namely, our peace of mind, happiness, security – and much more.
Unfortunately, placing such strong emphasis on the outcome of money attraction only creates more blockages. The more you think you desperately “need” more money; the more you believe you can’t be happy without it; the more frustrated you get when it isn’t showing up – the longer it’s going to take to attract it.
The good news is that there are a few simple things you can do to make the process easier:
1) Lighten up!
The more tense and serious you are about attracting money, the harder it’s going to be. If you instead look at it like a fun game, you’ll be devoting a perfect mixture of light, positive energy to the process – which is a natural prosperity attractor! In fact, make it your mission to be lighthearted and easygoing about money and everything else in your life from now on. Not only will you end up attracting more money, but also more love, joy, peace, fun and passion in all areas of your life.
2) Be what you want to attract.
Another common blockage is the perception of “here and there.” You believe you are HERE, in the midst of lack and struggle, and you are trying to get over THERE, where there is peace and abundance aplenty. What you’ll eventually realize is that there is no “here or there.” There is only right now, and whatever you are communicating to the universe right now is what you are creating in your physical reality. Rather than focusing on trying to ATTRACT more money, BECOME a person who has all the money they could ever need. Think, feel and act as if your goal is already achieved, and the universe will make it so! Focus daily on feeling happy, abundant, peaceful, secure, and grateful and you will attract life circumstances that correspond with those feelings.
3) Let go.
Don’t worry about “how” your money will come. Don’t focus obsessively on winning the lottery, receiving an inheritance or anything else specific. Let the universe decide how it will come. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to receive more money and act on them if you see them, but otherwise detach and know that it’s on the way! This is easier said than done, but the more you try to control “how” your abundance comes, the more blockages you create.
Additionally, be sure to let go of WHEN money comes into your life. You might be tempted to set a deadline, but the universe has its own timing and wisdom. Be willing to trust and let go, and you open a gateway for immense blessings to flow into your life.
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When it comes to your quality of life, attitude is everything! In fact, it could even be said that whatever you focus on the most, you tend to bring into your life, whether by choice or circumstance. Have you ever known someone who had a terrible attitude? Perhaps they were extremely negative and pessimistic and not much fun to be around; or they complained non-stop about how terrible their life was. Did you find it draining to be in their presence?
A negative attitude will not only make you miserable, but everyone around you too!
A positive attitude, on the other hand, turns you into a person that everyone wants to be with; a person that constantly experiences great things, and a person who loves their life! Do you want to be that kind of person? If so, read on for some easy ways to develop a positive attitude.
1) Do what you love. This applies to hobbies and fun activities, but it also pertains to one of the biggest parts of your life – your work! Do you enjoy your job? Are you spending most of your time on something that makes you feel purposeful and fulfilled? If not, consider exploring other career options and moving toward a job you’ll love. When you regularly do things that make you happy, you can’t help but feel better about yourself and your life, which fosters a positive attitude.
2) Expect the best, always. It’s easy to get into the habit of seeing doom and gloom in every situation, but doing so keeps you forever focused on the negative. Instead, make a conscious decision to expect the best, even if your first impulse is to think negatively. Affirm as often as you can, “This is going to work out great! Wonderful things are going to happen today!” The more you do it the more you’ll begin to believe it, and the more you’ll begin to experience just that.
3) Build yourself up. Think and speak positively to and about yourself every day. Most of us are in the habit of talking down to ourselves, which leaves us feeling hopeless, frustrated and pessimistic. Get into the habit of building yourself up with positive self-talk and positive thoughts. Affirm your good qualities and downplay your negative qualities. Affirm that you are a work in progress; not perfect but great nonetheless!
4) Build others up. As often as you can, make an effort to encourage, support and compliment the people you encounter each day. That goes for people you know as well as strangers you meet in your daily travels. The more you focus on emphasizing the positive in others the more likeable you’re going to be, and the better you’re going to feel about yourself too!
5) Think strength. The more you worry about your weaknesses and “failures” the more pessimistic and negative you’re going to feel. Instead, consistently affirm your strengths, talents and capabilities. You’ll end up feeling empowered and in control of your circumstances, which cannot help but improve your attitude!
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Have you ever felt overwhelmed by fear – so much so that it prevented you from doing something you wanted to do? Believe it or not, this is a common problem faced by many people daily.
Fear has the power to hold you back from taking risks, following your dreams, or becoming successful at anything you attempt to do. If you allow it to control you for long enough, it can eventually erode your quality of life and keep you locked in a prison of inactivity.
What many people fail to realize is that fear is nothing more than a conditioned response. It’s a natural reaction to a frightening or unfamiliar situation. While it is usually automatic, there are things you can do to overcome it.
1) Check your expectations.
One major contributor of fear is the prevalence of negative expectations. Do you usually find yourself expecting the worst in every situation? Do you worry obsessively about what could go wrong, rather than focusing on your strengths and capabilities?
If you make a conscious effort to expect the best, see the positive side of each situation and keep reminding yourself that you can handle more than you often think, you’ll find yourself with much less fear to deal with. Even if feelings of fear do manage to creep into your consciousness, you’ll still be able to keep them in perspective and balance them against an underlying sense of confidence.
2) Discredit your fears.
Experts will tell you that the majority of things you fear will never come to pass anyway. While this may be true, it sure doesn’t feel that way when fear has a chokehold on you! However, if you look a little more closely at your fears when they arise, you may be able to dismiss at least a few.
For example, if you have a fear of public speaking and your boss wants you to give a presentation at work, you might feel like your life (and perhaps your livelihood) is on the line. You may fear getting fired, or worry that your colleagues will lose respect for you if you don’t do a good job.
But is any of this likely to happen? In most cases, no. Rather than worrying about what “might” happen if you don’t give a solid presentation, you might brainstorm ways to help improve your performance, such as being well prepared, practicing your delivery on friends and family members, writing notes to yourself and so on.
3) Do the very thing you fear.
When you remember that fear is simply a feeling, it loses much of its power. It can’t harm you and except in truly threatening situations you can choose to ignore it and move forward anyway.
If you weigh the pros and cons in any situation, you may decide that the possibility of negative consequences is minimal so there’s nothing to stop you from ignoring your fear and going for it! This will be determined by you on a case by case basis, of course. The point isn’t to become reckless with your decision-making but rather to empower yourself to know when a fear is groundless and easily overcome.
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