Promoting positivity

“It’s not hard to grasp the idea that our negative thoughts and feelings can create a negative reality,” explains Helen Johnson, founder of Goddess Acumen. “However, running from the ‘negative’ – and forcing the ‘positive’ – can actually be more uncomfortable than the overtly negative! The thing about our negative thoughts and feelings is that on some level they are trying to communicate with us. They have a function, even if they are going about things the wrong way. Rejecting the negative only makes it persist and disconnects us from ourselves (hello fans of the movie Inside Out!) So how do we let the positive emerge more naturally?

Here are my top tips:

1. Learn how to do Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT) – even better work with an EFT practitioner – to release negative thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

2. Practice noticing your negative thoughts and taking them lightly. Offer yourself humour, acceptance and perspective. Say to yourself: ‘Oh, ha ha, there I go again. It’s probably not true but I really do try to convince myself don’t I?’

3. Ask yourself: ‘What positive thing are these negative thoughts trying to do for me?’ Start simple – thank yourself for trying to do good and then give yourself permission to let anything else go.

Goddess Acumen offers Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT), hypnosis and Neurolinguistic Programming to aid women to release negative energy, learn new skills and acquire greater insight about themselves. Visit www.goddessacumen.com

The power of affirmations

“Your thoughts are very powerful and act as magnets to attract experiences,” explains Sarah Jones, a holistic and lifestyle expert (www.sarahjonesuk.com). “The Law of Attraction says that ‘like attracts like’ and you can take this a step further by using affirmations. Basically affirmations are specific words or phrases that you repeat over and over to bring about what you want. You can say them to yourself mentally, verbally or write them down and read them as often as you wish.” Here are some affirmations you might like to try: “I am always vibrant and full of energy”, “I feel healthy and strong every day”. Remember to keep your affirmations positive and in the present tense.

The path to inner peace

Our modern lifestyles are so hectic and fast paced that it can often be difficult to relax and calm our minds. The Little Pocket Book of Meditation by Stephanie Brookes features short, step-by-step guided meditations written in a down-to-earth, accessible style. This book will show you how even a short meditation can reduce stress, ease tension and set you on the path to inner peace. Priced at £9.99, it’s published by CICO Books

Acceptance can be empowering

“There are times in life and careers where we find ourselves in conflict of some sort, whether with another person, or yourself,” says Sarah Lane, an executive and personal career coach (www.coachinglane.co.uk). “Either way we can sometimes miss the fact that for each of these battles we have a choice whether to engage. We are the only mammal on the planet that has been gifted with the ability to choose our response when something happens rather than reacting immediately with fight, flight or freeze.

Although attempting to change others’ actions may seem like a solution, you may find that accepting that ‘the only person you can change is you’ can save a huge amount of time and effort. For any change to take place there are two key elements that need to be present: being willing and being able.

Without an individual’s desire to be both willing and able to change, nothing will happen. A far more effective approach can be to change your own behaviour. I’ve seen and experienced for myself the magic that can happen when we make a change. Whether it’s down to mirror neurons, the human desire to fit in or our in-built copying to learn habits from childhood, the old saying of ‘smile and the world smiles with you’ seems to hold true.”

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