‘Power Thought Deck’ on my desk
Can We Elevate Our Thinking?
Negative self-talk is real. However, in today's world, we rarely notice the 5K - 80K thoughts we have every day. Many of these thoughts are negative, playing on repeat in our subconscious mind. When was the last time you stopped and actually listened to your thoughts? Even though we might not consciously hear them, our thoughts play continuously in our subconscious mind and you may be surprised when you stop and listen.
The other day at Unplug, we conducted a group experiment and asked participants to sit in silence for 5 minutes and write down every thought they noticed. Then, we prompted them to cross out the thoughts that were untrue, unkind, or unnecessary and circle the ones they wanted to nurture and develop further. The results? On average, there were 10 crossed-out thoughts for every circled one.
But here's the good news: you can change the way you think simply by using affirmations. You may be thinking this is "TOO WOO WOO," but who cares if it works, right? And it does! You can start by using the Power Thought Cards, an affirmation deck featured above by Louise Hay. I keep these on my desk at work and have a second deck at home.
Me with the card - where inspo begins.
I Love My Body (Even When I Don't)
This brings me to the concept of loving your body, even when it feels challenging. When I pulled the "I love my body" card, it made me laugh. It was hard for me to even think it. But then I, on the spot, created a meditation live on Instagram and realized that even if my body is not my idea of visual perfection, it is highly functional, and I absolutely love it. Here's a practice you can try, and I would love to hear in the comments if it works for you:
I Love My Body Meditation
Close your eyes.
Slow down your breathing and place your hand on your heart. Express gratitude to your heart for beating and sustaining you, all without any conscious effort on your part. It's astonishing to think that our hearts beat about 100,000 times in one day, keeping us alive and running. Truly, that's a miracle.
Next, place your hands on your chest and stomach. Feel the rhythm of your breath. We take an estimated 20,000 breaths a day, yet most go unnoticed. How many can you notice right now? Say thank you to your lungs for the effortless act of your body breathing for you. What a gift.
Now, shift your awareness, starting at your feet, moving up to your legs, arms, shoulders, neck, and then to the features of your face: the mouth, ears, nose, and eyes. Express inner appreciation for this gift of your body that was given to you for free. Your body is worth billions, and it's yours. How much do you cherish your body, and how lucky are you to have one? Spend the next few minutes reflecting on this incredible gift — our bodies, which were given to us freely and belong solely to us. Our bodies enable us to go through life, experiencing a wealth of sensations: sight, smell, taste, touch, and movement. I love my body, and I hope you love yours too.
Would love to hear your thoughts.
That was SO powerful! I found SO many things on my body to love and be grateful for. I know it's so easy to take these things for granted and this is a wonderful reminder of all the functions and gifts our bodies offer us without question. I realized that not only do our senses provide us with incredible gifts in their own right, they give us the gift of having memories from the smell of my mom's perfume, to the pictures of times passed by that I can see in my mind's eye. Or how our hands give us the ability to literally grasp concepts while our mind processes what we're seeing and feeling with our hands. All our senses work in tandem and are interrelated. I have a friend who lost both arms from the forearm down. So things like having the ability to open up our phones or storing passwords using our fingerprint is something he can't do anymore, but I take for granted.
Thank you so much for this exercise. I'm going to buy those cards now. ❤️