Manifesting with the Law of Attraction

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~Winston Churchill.

Gee, we have all heard enough about the power of positive thinking, right? You only get about 4 million hits when you type in the key words of ‘positive thinking’ in an I-net Google search. Positive thinking—easier said than done? Of course it is and that is also why any real worthwhile ‘how-to” advice costs a second mortgage on a 6K sq-foot, ocean-front house in Malibu.

It is Christmas time and ‘tis the season for giving. So I am going to offer a few very good inside tips about this highly touted positive thinking thing, free for the reading. How’s that for a great holiday deal? At least write back and tell me they are useful!

I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t believe in the power of positive thinking (even masochists view pain as positive!) but then again I don’t know many experts who can tell you how to do it (or are at least willing to do that for free). That is because it is all a common sense thing and common sense is always difficult to explain or teach. You see it when you see it and use it when you have it.

Here are some very valuable insights for those who would like to get a better handle on their own ability to think more positively.

1. Most thinking is unconscious. Opps, we start out with a formidable obstacle. Brain research tells us that most of the physiological/mental thinking we do is unconscious, so how do we analyze the content of our own thinking to determine where it is positive or negative? Slowing down long enough to think about your own thinking is not easy in this nanosecond instantaneous world we live in, but you will get nowhere by continuing with the speed game. So like it or not, you must discipline yourself to slow down at times to think about what you are telling yourself about another person or event, and then slowly notice the results you are getting with your own feelings and outcomes. Once or twice and you are on the right path.

2. Things aren’t always as they first appear. You might be thinking your thoughts are positive when they are actually subtly negative, or at least negative enough to attract negative, undesirable consequences. Wanting to get over an illness, lose weight, beat out another person for a promotion, or rid a marriage of conflicts are not positive thoughts that will get positive results. Thinking about good health, getting to the right weight for you, becoming an excellent employee who deserves a promotion and doing something to create a happy marriage are positive thoughts. Of course it takes a lot of discernment of your own thoughts to finally notice the sometimes subtle difference between these separate thinking styles. Again, once or twice starts you on the right path.

3. You must have ‘negative’ to appreciate ‘positive.’ The Yang and Yin of life involve both positive and negative things, or at least this and that dualistic categories, against which we compare and contrast our experiences. We probably carry things a little too far with over-ascribing good and bad-like qualities to these opposite things like wealth and poverty, beauty and homeliness, and truth and fiction. Lessening the tendency to over-flavor things as positive or negative is a very good way to release the iron-like grip that negative thinking may have on you. After all, if you don’t experience dark dreary rain you probably can’t appreciate the brilliance and warmth of sunlight. As it turns out, they are both just different sides to the same coin, just like positive and negative thinking.

4. You usually fail before you succeed. Nobody that has mastered the art of positive thinking was born that way. They had to overcome lots of negative thinking before they could succeed at being able to influence there own thinking to be more positive and get more positive results…(in becoming an over night success during a ten-year trail period). It is hard work and a gradual process, so be patient so you can be more sensitive to recognizing the moment of transition between failure and success. If you are presently failing with too much negative thinking (or getting too many negative results from your thinking), it is mainly so you can learn to succeed with more positive thinking, maybe sooner than you think.

5. Questioning basic assumptions is good. Personally I believe common sense starts when you finally wake up to the unavoidable realization that what you think you know may not necessarily be so. Then you start questioning your own basic assumptions and other things you are certain to be so, only to find out the real truth, like some of these other useful insights. One good assumption to question in your pursuit of positive thinking is the real value of the consequences you are getting from whatever thinking you are doing. When you don’t like the results you are getting, just trace them back to the thinking that created them.

6. You don’t get what you want until you want what you have. This is so true that it is boring, but never-the-less there is a lesson that must be learned. One of the best caveats of accessing the power of The Secret (Law of Attraction), is that it is a very good practice to show appreciation of what you do have. Even when I was homeless, jobless. loveless and penniless, I did have good health humor and friends. I certainly don’t have it all now, but I do have much to be thankful for that I am not bashful or frugal in acknowledging and appreciating (or as our back door sign says. “We may not be all together, but together we have it all.”)

7. Don’t be too hard on yourself (unless you really deserve it!). Most of the time we are doing better than we imagine and are in fact making good progress at growing up and improving into our best self. This includes doing what we need to do in taking advantage of the power of positive thinking. Probably the only time you should beat yourself up is when you fall asleep at the wheel or forget to return from your break. Onward and upward.

Now try any two of these solutions to positive thinking and double your mind pleasure. Try them all and show others your enjoyment radiance. And if you have the time and generosity, tell them how you did it. Merry Christmas.

Tags: common sense, feelings, Positive Thinking, positive thoughts, power of positive thinking, winston churchill, Yang, Yin

People will tell you that in order to be prosperous you have to have a certain level of education, intelligence, knowledge, know the right people and so on and I am telling you it is simply not true. There are more rules around money and how to make, spend and manage it, than any other subject and when someone gives advice they are generally telling you about their rules.

The most important thing you need to understand about money is that it is energy, nothing more, nothing less. How much abundance you allow into your life is always your choice. I say this with great conviction because not only did I change my own financial circumstances using the prosperity principles I teach in my Money with Soul course, I have helped tens of thousands of other people change their lives as well.

During the seventies I was a single parent and my children and I lived below the poverty line. I am so grateful to have had such an experience because it enabled me to discover just how powerful I really am.

Each week my best friend would visit us and she always brought me a book on prosperity. Authors such as Catherine Ponder, Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone became my coaches, and I knew way back then that I was meant to teach prosperity principles one day.

I know a lot of people say you have to have a plan in order to succeed but I have always found that all I have to do is make a decision, and obviously support that decision with my thoughts, words and actions, and opportunities come to me. Nine years after my youngest child was born I was living in a lovely home and running a women’s investment advisory business. Not only that I was regularly quoted in newspapers and asked to talk about money matters on radio. At every step in my journey from poverty to abundance I simply invoked another prosperity principle.

Eleven years after reaching my lowest point I ran my first course on prosperity. I needed that length of time to learn about myself and life before I could start teaching others. Some of the things that I have learnt are:

There are only 2 emotions that block money coming to you and they are fear and resentment.

Understanding your money values can make it so much easier to achieve your goals.

If you don’t ask you don’t get.

One girl recently wrote to her credit card provider and asked them to reduce the interest on her credit card, they wrote back saying the rate had been reduced by 8%. Another asked her bank to reduce the interest rate on mortgage and they did. A woman wrote to me from the Maldives just after it was hit by the tsunami a couple of years back. She wanted to help the Maldavian people but she didn’t have the money to do my life coach training course. I gave her the Ten Step process at no cost, saying if she applied the principles she would manifest the money to pay for the rest of the course. She did. She is now doing some extraordinary work and reaching a large number of people in her country.

When I look back on those early days one thing I recall is how easy it was to go from where I was to where I wanted to be. The only time my life has ever been a struggle has been when I have gotten stuck in my emotions and when I’ve let the good habits that supported me slip.

Tags: abundance, Anne Hartley, Catherine Ponder, money, money matters, napoleon hill, prosperity, w clement stone

In its simplest description, meditation can be described as a process of quieting your mind so that you can come into contact with quiet and peace that is always available to you inside.

A regular practice of meditation offers many benefits including: overall stress reduction, activation of the parasympathetic nervous system (relaxation response), clearer thinking, more creative thinking, helps to quiet the mind, fosters an increased sense of peace and contentment, helps to balance the emotions, provides a connection to your Spirit. An ongoing practice of meditation also helps to provide a context for observing thinking patterns and emotions as well as an opportunity to cultivate peace and relaxation. Hundreds of modern research studies now confirm what the yogis new 5000 years ago!

There are various ways to meditate and they usually involve as point of focus such as your breath, a mantra or visualization. A variety of techniques are explained below.

Before you try them there are a few guidelines that are helpful to be aware of. The first has to do with time and place. It is ideal to meditate at the same time and the same place each time you meditate. In this way you create an association of meditating and peacefulness with the space you have chosen. Each time you come back to this space, you will anticipate the experience of meditation. Additionally, by using the same time and space, you will be developing a habit. This is important to nurture as the consistency of your practice is most important, even if it is just ten minutes a day. Dawn and dusk are traditional times to meditate, but anytime can work. Begin with ten to twenty minutes and work up to forty-five minutes if possible.

Another consideration regarding time is knowing when to stop. Some people just let their inner clock guide them while others prefer to use and alarm clock so they don’t have to be concerned about the time. If you practice regularly, you will most likely find that your sense of time becomes exquisite, and you will automatically know when it is time to stop meditating.

A comfortable and stable sitting position is also important. The classic meditation posture is the lotus position. The reason for this is that is quite stable and the spine held erect. However most people in the West are not comfortable in this position. The truth is that any stable seated posture can work – even sitting in a chair. Placing a folded blanket or meditation cushion under your sitz bones also makes sitting more comfortable. Some people find that their back muscles aren’t strong enough and begin to ache when they sit in one position for more than a few minutes. If this is happening to you then sit near a wall and when you feel you can no longer hold your back upright comfortably then move against the wall and you will get the support you need. Whichever way you chose to sit just make sure it is stable, comfortable, and that your head neck and spine are in one line, and erect.

As you begin meditate it is common to have any or all of the following experiences:

1.You mind wonders. This is quite natural and expected. Just bring yourself back to your point of focus.

2.You are not sure if you are doing it right. You are most likely doing it right. Meditation is pretty simple to do – more challenging to stay with.

3.You will have memories, images or thoughts that you may have not thought about in years. Just acknowledge them and bring your awareness back to your point of focus.

4.You start to analyze yourself. Remember this is a time for meditation not for psychotherapy. Analyze later, meditate now.

5.You have certain revelations. Again, acknowledge these and then bring yourself back to your point of focus.

6.A body part is sore or itchy. The first time you feel something in your body, just acknowledge it and bring your awarness back to your point of focus. Often, it will go away. If it continues to irritate you then change your body positions.

Meditation Techniques

Below are two classic meditation techniques. Feel free to try both and see which works best for you. Ideally you will want to start with ten to twenty minutes and overtime you can work up to forty-five minutes if you like. A daily practice yields the most benefit and progress. It is better to practice for fifteen minutes every day than to practice for one hour once a week.Your mind is like any other muscle – the more your exercise it the stronger it becomes!

Focusing on a sound or mantra

In this method a sound or “mantra” is repeated over and over and over again, either silently or outloud. The mantra becomes a point of focus or “object”. A universal mantra is “Om” which is said to be the sound of creation. Another is “Ham (pronounced “hung”) “Sa” which means “I am that” – referring to spirit. Ham is said as you inhale and Sa as you exhale. The breathing is relaxed and easy through your nostrils Just keep bringing your awarness back to the mantra as you find your mind wondering. Remember, there is no need to beat yourself up for this as it is a natural phenomenon . Overtime you will find that mind wonders less and less. Some people like to use their own words such as “peace”, “love” or “let go”. If you have a special word or short group of words that has meaning for you, try using it.

Focusing on your breath:

Breathing in through your nostrils and though your nostrils, notice the feeling of the breath at the very point it enters your nose and follow the feelings of the air moving into your nasal passage to appoint where it ends. As you begin to exhale, notice where in your nasal passages you first notice your breath again and trace the feeling of your breath to the point where it exits your nostrils. Continue to notice your breath in this way, gently bringing your attention back to your breath when you catch your mind wondering. Another version of this technique is focus on the feeling of your torso moving in and out as your inhale and exhale.

One last point. It is sometimes very helpful to practice with others. Consider finding a meditation class at a nearby yoga studio or parks and recreation department. Practicing with like minded people and a good instructor can be very inspiring!

Tags: creative thinking, emotions, mantra, Meditation, mind, peace and contentment, relaxation response, stress reduction, visualization