How on earth have four weeks passed since my last post? Summer in this city called NYC is definitely the busiest time of the year for me. Although calling it summer in the city is a huge stretch, because I've hardly been here. In fact since my last post I have attended 3 weddings, (two outside of NYC), travelled to a conferene at Disneyland, spent a week on the West Coast (Lake Tahoe/Wanderlust Squaw Valley/wedding in Salem Oregon, wineries, food & hiking in Portland), and been to Montauk, Nashville and St Louis. There is actually more but you get the gist!
Of all these adventures, it was unsurprisingly Wanderlust that triggered the subject of this post. Although the pic above was taken on my hike in Portland yesterday.
This year at Wanderlust, I was recovering from a rib injury (that's a story for another time), which meant rather than it all being about hard core yoga (no chatarunga thanks), I got a little more adventurous. I went to a meditation workshop and took more gentle classes with positive message tracks. In fact, looking back there was a clear theme. You may have figured this out from my heading, so no surprise here.....the theme was manifesting.
Like most people reading here I watched 'The Secret' years ago. I immediately got into action creating a vision board of my ideal life (using magazine clippings, glue and cardboard). I looked at it a few times. Then I put it out of sight so visitors wouldn't question me or call me strange! I've done the exact same thing at least ten times in the years that have followed. Actually last year as part of my Health Coach training I made a virtual vision board and used it as my screen saver / background. Here it is:
Many of the things on the board above I have brought into my current reality. That is exciting. But I can't say I actually manifested them. Instead I achieved these 'goals' by investing into them (time & money).
At Wanderlust I had a realization. I haven't been doing this manifesting stuff properly. Turns out, it's actually not about looking at inspiring pictures and words. The real power is in working on your thoughts and beliefs. In actually training yourself to expect success in all you desire. On setting your intentions and gradually aligning your behavior to them.
I know this is easier to say than do, but there are tools at hand to help. The most important one being meditation. This is not the sort of meditation where you seek to still your thoughts. Although stilling the mind is part of it. Rather, the goal of this type of mediation is to paint a clear and detailed picture of everything you desire and to really FEEL yourself achieving them. For it to deeply imprint on your soul, the feeling part being the most important (hence the caps!).
Since then I have been spending at least 2 minutes a day, in a manifestation meditation. It's officially a daily practice. I have 3 things I want to draw into my life reality that I revisit in each session. It's only been a few days but I can honestly say I am already noticing a positive shift in my thought patterns. And we all know our thoughts have the power to change everything.
As you can see I am pretty excited about this realization. I expect many of you have been manifesting effectively for years. If that's true, we would all love to hear your stories in the comments below. For those who haven't, I invite you to join me on this journey. As the weeks and months unfold, I promise to share in my success.
Have a happy day.
