After exploring Secrets One and Two – working regularly with the ‘light shower’ and inviting the attitude of gratitude into your life – you should be feeling pretty good every morning!
How would you like to feel empowered, grateful, expanded, healthy and wise every minute of your day? I most certainly do!!! That’s why Secret Three is so crucial to your total health and wellbeing!
To become a master at anything – even living – we need practice. We need small doses of consistent effort.
We all know that going to the gym once a month and doing a 4 hour workout – is not going to get you far in achieving your ultimate fitness goals. But a small amount on a regular basis is what will get you there. The same applies to living a successful life!
In this third secret we’re going to explore how you can – very simply – bring your awareness into your day – helping to prolong the amazing feeling of light and gratitude from Secrets One and Two (if you haven’t done these yet, please follow the links and spend a few days exploring these concepts – it will make this technique even more powerful and effective!).
GOOD HABITS… BAD HABITS…
Have you noticed that things and times of day can become habits? How we brush our teeth, which shoe we put on first, how we make our tea…. Habits are often given bad press – especially if we think they are not ‘good’ habits. However, habits can also be really, really helpful! If we could get into the habit of taking a walk everyday… of attending a yoga class once a week.. or even of checking the diary before you book the holiday… we would be creating a much healthier lifestyle, and reducing our stress levels!
For Secret Three to work we need to create a positive habit to help us expand our awareness beyond those few minutes after waking up. To do this we need some kind of trigger. Here are some examples of triggers we can use:
> TIME OF DAY: Every day at 7.30pm or 15 mins after you get in from work etc.
> PHYSICAL PLACE: Every time I walk into this room, sit on this cushion, walk past this tree…
> BODY SENSES: Every time I see this picture, hear this bell, listen to this piece of music, smell a rose, light this candle…
CHOOSE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO…
The second thing we need is an action – a small something we’ll do when triggered by whatever it is we choose. This can be a wide range of things – but keep them small and easily achievable to start with. This action should be tied in with your long term visions, dreams and goals. So if you are actively wanting to work on your health – make your action correspond!
There are 3 main areas of action which can help you get started:
> P
HYSICAL MOVEMENT: when you’re working on your physical health think about using a short movement based action for example; a yoga posture or sequence, dancing or a quick run up and down the stairs!
> MEDITATION & PRANAYAMA: if you are looking to focus more on your energy levels and reducing stress, why not have a simple breathing exercise (pranayama) where you focus on your breath for 3 or 4 minutes? This can be done sitting or standing, and is very effective for bringing you back into the present moment and building your inner energy levels.
> AWAREFUL LIVING: when you can’t just ‘stop’ what you are doing, how about choosing to be totally awareful in all your actions for 5 minutes? Every foot step, every word, every mouse click… what does it feel like physically? Then try to feel a sense of gratitude permeating through your body – “Wow! I have hands that can click the mouse!”
Advanced option – a higher purpose
A powerful practice is to dedicate your action to someone/ something else. You can dedicate your action towards a specific person or a group of people. You can also focus on peace between communities and nations and also towards the earth and animals – whatever is close to your heart and needs your energy and love.
How do I hold an intension?
Just before, during and as you complete your action, have an intention that this person/ situation will feel happier, more loved, healthier as a consequence of your action. If you can’t quite ‘get’ an intention simply use words or a feeling of gratitude or giving. You might also be able to visualise the final ‘happy’ or ‘resolved’ situation. This is a very powerful technique in the process of manifestation.
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS!
Start small and get good at doing one small action regularly! Try to choose a trigger that you are not going to be doing ALL the time (for example putting on the kettle, getting into the car). Thinsg we do too regularly are not likely to be good triggers as we often won’t have time/ remember to do the action. By not doing the action associated with you trigger – you will dilute the process, and it will no longer be an active trigger. If you find this happening – choose a different, more unique trigger.
Once you’ve chosen one action and you do it regularly – try adding in another one! Build an array of good habits so that they soon become integrated, natural and spontaneous!
Remember you need to be committed to doing the action EVERY time you see/ interact with the trigger. For example; sitting on ‘that’ cushion means its time for you to do ‘X’ or every time you get the hoover out you take 3 deep slow breaths and fill your home with light and positive vibes for the benefit of your family.
You can also choose to do a certain action for a time period of days or weeks, and then replace it with a different one. This helps you to work with a variety of different actions and can certainly keep you on your toes!!!
This technique is a very powerful way of combining your mind, thoughts, emotions and body. Integration in this way helps us to find a more positive balance in our lives and live a more congruent lifestyle. These small changes on a regular and consistent basis are what will add up to make BIG steps forward in your personal growth.
Good luck in bringing your awareness more fully into your day!
Anouschka Dack
Dru Yoga Online 