Visualisation.....The power of your imagination

I knew about about visualization for a long time, so it wasn’t necessarily new to me, however I did not fully understand how it worked or how to do it properly, so in my limited perspective it did not work for me. Who can relate to that?

Fastword, and I now have the missing links to visualization…and that is not only to bring about the image, but the associated FEELING with it.

We do this every day unconsciously, to bring about more of what we don’t want. The reason for this is that we keep replaying the movie and images from the past, so we end up getting more of the same.

Instead, lets use it get more of what we DO want.

The important psychological premise here is that:

“All images or mental pictures tend to produce corresponding physical conditions and reactions”

Every image or picture that we hold in our mind will create a physical reaction in our body and as a result will impact our behaviour and experience.

Visualisation is also known as Mental Imagery or Visual Mental Rehearsal (VMR) and is a specific technique that has been proven to be incredibly successful in producing a specific outcome.

This technique has grown significantly in the last few years and studies have shown that the brain does not know the difference between something imagined or something real, so therefore it is in our best interest to become incredibly aware of the images we are holding in our mind.

“Visualize the most amazing life imaginable to you. Close your eyes and see it clearly. Then hold the vision for as long as you can. Now place the vision in God’s hands and consider it done.” Marianne Williamson

This technique is widely used by many leaders, sport athletes and NASA to improve outcomes.

Visualisation is usually completed by having focused attention on various imagery and includes aspects of all of our senses, such as taste, touch, smell, feel etc.

The aim here is to DELIBERATELY put images in your mind of what you DO want rather the unconscious images on repeat that we are unknowingly presenting the brain with, which inevitably keeps you stuck in a repetitious pattern.

How to visualize:

1.      Consider an area of life and the VISION you wish to hold for it

2.      Bring to your mind an image of the vision achieved in terms of a crystal clear image with associated feelings

3.      Repeat this process of bring the image to mind, married with the associated feelings (work of Dr Joe Dispenza) one to several times a day. The repetitive action of this is what installs the neural pathways in your brain

You can do visualizing just by the simple act of closing your eyes and visualising, as part of your meditation practice (ideal) or use a guided visualization script. Which ever option you choose, ensure that you become present moment aware and intentionally relax.

The secret sauce here is to marry the vision, with an image and associated FEELINGS as if it is already achieved.

Visualize this thing that you want. See it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint, and begin to build.” Robert Collier

Enjoy this practice and have fun letting your imagination run free.

If you would like to learn how you can unleash your imagination, get in contact for a free 20 min chat by emailing, info@chantalkhoury.com.au.

Chantal is an Accredited and Certified Nutrition & Wellness Coach, EFT & NLP Practitioner that helps empower and inspire mums and women just like you to lovingly nourish and nurture their body and mind so that they can show up as the VERY best version of them self, authentically, on purpose and by design.

Making triggered emotions your friend and 5 ways to SHIFT a mood!

Can triggered emotions or feelings be your friend?

Absolutely it can, in fact it can be the doorway to your inner peace, calm and joy, BUT only when you know how you are feeling in any given moment.

Most people have become so accustom to feeling like rubbish, that it has become the norm, and I’m here to say that is absolutely BS.

Feelings are transient in nature, they are just energy in motion, and if we allow them to be, they will shift far quicker. Instead, we do all sorts of activities to stuff, repress, distract or avoid feeling, which in time causes untold damage to our bodies.

“Never make permanent decisions based on temporary feelings”  - Unknown

In complete honesty, feelings were not my friend, and I focused all of my attention on being logical, fact and data based and had no time for any shade of grey. No wonder I was so highly strung. I refused to acknowledge any triggered emotion and did whatever I could to stuff it down, and instead became hyper highly functional to just “get on” with the job at hand. Whilst this seemed to serve me and work for a long time, the cracks were starting to appear and I could not longer just stuff these feelings down.

What resists persists” Carl Jung

When I finally allowed myself to acknowledge how I was feeling, boy did the flood gates open up. I never even knew I could have that many tears, but in this journey, whilst painful at times was so liberating to finally, not only allow myself, but give myself permission to feel.  I felt comfort in knowing that this triggered feeling or emotion was just held up by a repeating self limiting belief that I could easily uncover through self inquiry, and once uncovering that self limiting belief, I could transcend the emotion with ease.

Through this process I discovered I had a repeating set of emotions regardless of the situation or event that triggered it, and if you engage on this journey, you’ll notice this pattern as well.

This, my mighty friend is YOUR POWER, as it brings about awareness, empowerment and CHOICE, so I could either drown in the never ending cycle or make a choice to show up differently. In time, this broke the repeating cycle of events, and what seemed like magic, was actually very predictable. When I changed, my outside environment changed, so what used to trigger, just no longer did.

I would like to preface though, just because we can easily identify and acknowledge how we feel, it does mean we get to use the triggered emotion as an excuse or identify with it. For example, “I did this because YOU made me so angry” or “I am just so annoyed and frustrated”. Instead, we recognize that an event triggered an emotion that was already inside of you, there is the age old quote of, “Nobody can make you feel anything, unless you allow them”. Instead of identifying with the feeling of “ I am”, we use language of “I feel X in this situation”.

Once we have acknowledged the feeling, and done some self inquiry to identify the self limiting belief that was propping the feeling up, we need to make choice whether we are going to drown in the emotion or shift and release it.

The many tools that are used in a coaching session to facilitate this process, however there is plenty that can be done on your own.

“Feelings are much like waves, we can't stop them from coming but we can choose which one to surf.”
Jonatan Mårtensson

5 ways to shift a mood:

1. Blast your favourite music and dance like nobody is watching

2. Drink water – our brain is made up of 60-70% water, so it could also by dehydration that is keeping you stuck

3. Tap, Tap, Tap – using EFT to tap on the emotion so that the body can shift it

4. Get some fresh air, by going for a walk, standing barefoot on the ground or engaging in your favourite form of exercise

5. Close your eyes, in your mind, take yourself back to a time when you felt unstoppable, joy and happiness. Your brain does not know the difference between a real event happening or one imagined in your mind. In NLP we have amazing tools where we can neurologically program resourceful emotions into parts of your body that you can activate when needed.

In summary, triggered emotions are your doorway to inner peace, joy and calm ONLY if you do the inner work to uncover the root, i.e. the self limiting beliefs holding it up,  and transcend the repetitive nature of reacting. Instead you can become aware, step into your power and choose again to respond in alignment with the truth of who you are.

If you would like to learn how you can go from constantly triggered to calm and chill, get in contact for a free 20 min chat by emailing, info@chantalkhoury.com.au.

Chantal is an Accredited and Certified Nutrition & Wellness Coach, EFT & NLP Practitioner that helps empower and inspire mums and women just like you to lovingly nourish and nurture their body and mind so that they can show up as the VERY best version of them self, authentically, on purpose and by design.

3 Steps to show up and BE your best self

The fact that you are reading this article means that you are curious how to be your best self. So, let’s first understand what it means to be your best self, and this definition will differ from person to person, however in a generalised essence it means to be whole and complete within yourself. When you feel this way, you will possess characteristics such as, but not limited to:

• Unshakeable confidence

• High self worth

• Healthy self esteem

• Fiercely authentic

• Self sufficient

• Self validated

• Peace

• Calm

You were born with these innate inherent qualities, however somewhere between the ages of 0-7 years of age you developed a set of self limiting beliefs that you took as factual truth (which it is not), and it took you away from this truth, or your best self.

So your best self is not something you are searching for, it is who you are now, you just have a set of limiting beliefs or otherwise known as blocks that is keeping you from being your best and truest self.

These limiting beliefs form the basis of our thoughts, feelings, behaviours which directly impacts our current state of reality, therefore to solely work on the basis of changing behaviours is a futile exercise IF you are looking for long term sustainable permanent change.

In order to BE our best self in every aspect of our life, be it a mother, wife, sister, CEO, employee, friend or just YOU, we need to identify what the limiting blocks in mind are that are preventing you from showing up as best authentic self in every aspect of life.

The 3 Steps to show up as best authentic self:

1. Identify what is in the way, what self limiting beliefs, thoughts or behaviours are blocking you from being your best self

2. Transcend these limiting blocks via healing practices such radical self acceptance and forgiveness

3. Choose again in alignment with you are at your core essence, i.e. deliberately decide to BE and act differently.

Doing this is a continuous process using what shows up in life for us as a diagnostic tool to where we are not being our best self. It requires patience, self compassion, but most of all GRIT. The grand prize on the table is of enormous proportions, therefore it stands to reason that there will be some bumps in the road.

If you are keen to start not only BEING your best self, but also showing up as your best self in each and every aspect of your life, then why not reach out for a quick 20 min chat to identify whether any of my coaching packages are a good fit for you.

Chantal is an Accredited and Certified Nutrition & Wellness Coach, EFT & NLP Practitioner that helps empower and inspire mums and women just like you to lovingly nourish and nurture their body and mind so that they can show up as the VERY best version of them self, authentically, on purpose and by design.

The truth about Self Limiting Beliefs

To start off with, let’s first understand what a belief is. Beliefs are the truths we hold about everything and they shape our perceptions, they are held within the subconscious part of the mind.

Beliefs are also the filters of reality and our experience, we do not see reality as it is, we see it through our perception. They are nothing more than an interpretation of events, circumstances or life experience.

Beliefs determine how we live on a daily basis and we consistently act in accordance with them.

Beliefs can be either resourceful (empowering) or unresourceful (limiting):

• Resourceful beliefs – helps us move forward towards a desired state and strengthen our sense of personal identity

• Unresourceful beliefs – holds us back, limits or blocks with our progress to our desired state of being

Where do beliefs come from:

• Our earlier childhood between the age of 0-7 years according to Morris Massey

• Rapid Life events

• Looping and repetitive thoughts

Beliefs are the foundation for our thoughts, feelings, behaviour and outcomes, therefore placing SOLE focus on behaviour change is a very futile exercise if you want to experience long term change.

How to identify self limiting beliefs:

• Self Awareness and observation of our language is key, both verbally and internally. We tend to speak our beliefs unconsciously. E.g, “I am so bad at tennis”, “I am not good at organizing myself”, “That will never work for me”.

• Journalling – Asking self inquiry questions – to get you started on this process, you can get a copy of my journalling prompt guide here.

• Work with a coach to help you spot your limiting blocks

How to change self limiting beliefs:

There are a number of ways to change beliefs, below are some of the methods I use in my coaching, but not limited to:

• Self inquiry through a specific questioning sequence

• EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to release the old belief and install new ones

• NLP and Timeline Therapy to delete and install beliefs as well change the representation the mind currently holds of a belief.

In summary, beliefs are running the show in every way possible and according to Dr Bruce Lipton, they are affecting our biology 95-99% of the day. Therefore it stands to reason that it is in our best interest to uncover all of the limiting beliefs that are blocking you from revealing the truth of who you are, which is perfect, whole, innocent and worthy RIGHT Now.

If you would like to start uncovering your limiting blocks to discover the beauty and power of you now, then feel free to reach out for a free chat or check out my coaching services.

Chantal is an Accredited and Certified Nutrition & Wellness Coach, EFT & NLP Practitioner that helps empower and inspire mums and women just like you to lovingly nourish and nurture their body and mind so that they can show up as the VERY best version of them self.