8 Steps to A New Reality

By Chris Stauffer

I live in a magical place. In my world the universe hands me beautiful gifts, surprises me with wonderful moments, and renews my imagination by allowing me to view the world through the eyes of a child. Every trip is an adventure to a place of power. Each wrong turn is an exploration of somewhere new.

I used to live by a different set of rules. I made decisions based on another's opinion of what I should do. I chose my next step based on society's rules. I wasn't following a path with heart. I began suffering from anxiety attacks and I thought I might die at any time. I constantly worried what others thought of me. I formed rigid opinions that I considered facts. I touted myself “a realist”.

Then I started listening to myself. Negativity seemed to be all that came out of my mouth. I was getting tired of being around me. I noticed my mind's constant chatter of negative dialog. It spewed “should's” and “shouldn'ts” like a broken record seemingly on auto pilot. I started to draw a parallel between my mind and a parasite. I was desperate for a treatment. I had to take my mind back.

Each time I noticed feelings of sadness, fear, or depression I hit the instant replay button in my head. I traced the feeling back to the thought I had just micro-seconds earlier and undoubtedly heard a sad, scary, or self defeating thought play back. I quickly took the message and transformed it into a positive version. Low and behold...it changed my whole perspective!

The more I practiced, the more empowered I became. I recognized the fluidity of reality. My world changed with my thoughts. It seems crazy doesn't it? My very reality had transformed. I decided that since I seemed to control my version of reality in the world, why not make it a world of magic, a place of happiness? I started to see everything differently. I began to question all I had been taught and recognized the fragility of the “real world” only to find a place of powerful magic and adventure.

You can live here too. Below is a list. Think of it as the beginning of a journey to self discovery and the basic ingredients of a recipe to freedom from anxiety and stress, the beginning of a new world.

1. Recognize the fluidity of reality & the internal commentator's role in its interpretation. If we set up 1,000 spectators to witness a single event we would have 1,000 stories of what occurred. Why is this? Each one of us has the internal commentator, or the mind which influences our interpretations of our world. When we witness an event, our commentator adds, defines, and judges what was witnessed. We then feel the emotion from that interpretation. Once we recognize this patter we can take back the mind by changing the interpretation. Look for realistic, positive interpretations of the same event.

2. Learn body scanning and progressive muscle relaxation. With body scanning we can learn to recognize tension in the body. Once recognized we can trace our thoughts and locate when the thought originates from. We can then recreate the negative thought into a more positive and realistic thought. We can then employ strategies for tension release. Stress leads to tension and tension leads to anxiety and depression.

3. Practice a variety of meditation techniques. Meditation is a way to train our attention. Certain techniques will allow us to act as a spectator to our thoughts without them affecting us. Meditation can bring a sense of relaxed attention to our lives and will increase our sense of well-being.

4. Learn to use visualization. Visualization exercises have been used by great athletes to help perfect their sport. Visualization works because once you are able to picture something, you can make it a reality.

5. Use breathing exercises. Breathing exercises also provide a way to center and ground yourself. When we get tense we can change the way we breathe to a more shallow upper-chest type breath. By changing our physiology to a slower, deeper belly breath our body will begin to relax.

6. Stretch. With daily stretches we can relax our muscles and release tension we didn't even know we were carrying.

7. Practice spontaneity. Do something you've never done before or have not done in a while. When you're not constrained by schedules try doing something different. Take a different way home. Explore roads you've never been on before or drive further to see what you see. Make up little goals for yourself like finding a piece of flint or a feather. Challenge yourself to learn something from your spontaneous trips.

8. Laugh Often. Look for reasons to laugh. Laughter has been proven to increase overall health. Try laughing for no reason for several minutes. At first it will be forced and then your laughter will become genuine.

I'll leave you with this quote...

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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