In our last post, The Power of Meditation, we discussed the value of meditation in helping to raise awareness and create a meaningful connection between the body and higher consciousness.

This week, we want to help you go further into your practice.

This mindful exercise, developed at The School of Creation, will enable you to observe stagnant beliefs that are stored in both the emotional and physical body, and empower you to move through them to free yourself from their limitations.

The steps below will guide you in this practice:

1. Sit in a quiet, comfortable place where you feel at peace and won’t be disturbed.
2. Slow down your breath, quieten your mind and begin with a few minutes of mindful meditation.
3. While focusing on your breath, draw your attention (or consciousness) to the place of discomfort or pain in your body. It may help to put the palm of your hand there or apply gentle pressure with the fingers.
4. Though mantra and focused breath, calm your mind and keep focusing on the area in question. You may start sensing a feeling or emotion related to the pain, or start seeing flashes of memories that begin to reveal themselves. These will often turn into clearer memories from a specific experience, period in time or emotion that affected you deeply or left you with a lasting impression.
5. Allow any feeling or emotions stored there to come to the surface of your consciousness. The physical body is a great messenger in communicating to us when we have stagnant or misaligned beliefs, as these will always show up as physical pain or discomfort if left unchecked.
6. Allow yourself to observe the situation more deeply and re-experience the emotions or beliefs that you felt at the time. If you bring up distressing feelings or negative emotions, know that you are in a safe space, and continue only as you feel ready. You may find yourself wanting to cry, but see this as a positive release of emotions.
7. See yourself in the situation and observe your feelings: is there any fear, anger, sadness or disappointment associated with it? How did this event shape you, and what were the long term consequences of your beliefs?
8. Looking at yourself with compassion and without judgement, begin to understand the nature of the beliefs or coping mechanisms you created to deal with what happened. Do they still affect you now, and do they help you or hold you back in your present life?
9. If you see that a belief or coping mechanism no longer serves you, hold the space of light and Unconditional Love and ask yourself what would this belief be if it was aligned with Universal Truth and your Divine Self?
10. Breathe in this new belief and let it fill your heart. Breathe out and release the negative belief and visualize it leaving your body.
11. When you are ready to stop, gently open your eyes and continue to breathe mindfully. If you have stirred up some strong emotions it may be a good idea to take a walk, have a cup of tea and reflect on how you feel before going back to your day.
12. You may need to repeat this practice a few times in order to fully block the belief and replace it with a more positive one. These kind of beliefs are often stored for many years, and we sometimes begin to associate them with the very core of who we are, so it is not surprising that they may take a few attempts to release.

Making a shift in your belief system will not only help alleviate your physical symptoms, and improve your emotional well being, but will help you reassess how you see yourself and the world around you. Knowing that you have the clarity to observe, and ability to release, the beliefs that no longer serve you is very liberating. Make a conscious effort to reinforce a new belief by observing your reactions in similar situations and changing how you react to them. You may find yourself repeating the old belief at first, but don’t get discouraged… if you are mindful and consistent, your new belief system will begin to take hold and become second nature.