How To Feel More Love, Connection & Belonging In Just 90 Seconds...

Can one, simple, shift in perspective completely change our experience of life?

And if so, what is it and how can we remain connected to that especially during times of hardship? 

Those of you that have attended my weekly classes may have heard me use a particular metaphor. It is something I regularly use in coaching sessions too, a perspective to help bring a sense of positivity, strength and magic to seemingly hopeless situations. 

Imagine a dark room, with a little light bulb plugged in and switched on. This is an everlasting light, glowing gently and continuously. Over time however, this light bulb has become covered in dust, cobwebs and comfort blankets. So much so that this light becomes harder to see, and sometimes you hardly notice it's there at all.  

Now if somebody was to enter that room and give it a good spring clean, wiping away all the dust and dirt and clearing away the junk and unnecessary items... how would that light and the room look different? Would it be easier to notice the light? Would the beams of light travel further across the room?

Over the years we can easily forget the potential within us if we neglect this connection... in the end all we see are the limiting beliefs, fears and the things we don't like about ourselves and the world. The potential and power is always there... we just need to clear away the cobwebs and shift our focus to see our life with brighter eyes. 

Personally this perspective has created huge shifts in my life too. I feel such a loving connection to myself and others whenever I use the 3 techniques I am about to share with you. 

As with every coaching session I often give a little bit of extra homework - 5-15 minutes to reinforce further what is covered during the sessions. I asked one of my clients to find some images that represented this light within them, something that they could create a visual reminder so that every day that they saw this, they could continue seeing life through this perspective.

During the next follow up session I was blown away, not only did this individual find the images that worked for them, they also wrote the most beautiful description of what this inner light meant to them.

This was one of my highlights as a coach.

Feeling so in awe of my client, seeing that spark of awakening within happening in front of my eyes as they chose to start embracing life with a brighter perspective.

With this person's permission, I felt this was something that was so beautiful it had to be shared with you too...

"Our inner light is beauty - of us showing our inner and outer beauty to the world. The power of our light is in our hands. Our light is beautiful and precious and to be handled with care. My light represents who I am. 

Our light is our spirit, our freedom, our ability to let go and enjoy, to break through barriers and limitations (limiting beliefs), we can be free and happy, have fun and enjoy life. It represents fun, vitality, spirit, freedom and being yourself. 

Our light is our balance, tranquillity, calm, being grounded, feeling at one with the world and at peace. Connected to my body, mind and soul. It is connection, peace and balance."

And yes, the power of our light is within our own hands. We can choose to ignore this spark of consciousness, ability and potential within or we can chose to embrace it. And by embracing it with love it and seeing yourself and others with this amazing potential and power inside notice how life can open up in wondrous ways.

As I usually do, I tuned in with my client after our initial series of sessions, curious to see how their new perspective has shifted things in their day to day life. "I am calmer, more self-accepting with a better understanding of my emotions and what drives me" they said, "My happiness is spreading to others, creating a sense of well-being to me and those around me". 

By seeing things from this perspective we can increase the sense of loving connection both to ourselves and others. A sense of belonging, with that a greater feeling of perceived certainty. 

And if ever you feel things are a struggle, are feeling down in the dumps or that things are just not going how you'd like them to... know this, you still have that potential within. 

It never goes. 

It is simply just a case of choosing to clear a few cobwebs and shift your focus. Notice how much freer and lighter you could feel afterwards too. Here are 3 ways to reinforce that loving connection...

3 Ways To Reinforce The Loving Connection With Yourself & Others:

• Create anchors or reminders. In other words, find an image that represents this connection for you and place it somewhere you can see it everyday, or find a song that fills you with that sense of love, light and empowerment within whenever you listen to it (more on Anchors here).

• Place Your hand over your heart (or wherever you consider your inner light to be) - Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and visualise a light within you growing brighter and brighter and brighter. Then ask yourself the following... 
• How would my inner light see this situation differently? 
• And if it was to give some guidance what would it say? Observe what thoughts come up, without judgement. If you need an extra helping hand you may wish to listen to this super quick audio which you can download here. 

• Change your emotional state by doing something you LOVE. Something that fills you with joy so much so that you just can't help but smile. Whatever that is whether a creative project, hearing great music, enjoying time with loved ones etc... the more you connect with the things you love, the more joy you will feel and the easier it will be to see life from this lighter perspective. 

Now it's your turn! 

Try the hand over heart exercise now (takes less than 90 seconds!) and ask your light for guidance on a particular area in your life. Using the comment section below, write down what action you will take now after connecting to this new perspective on your chosen situation. 

Have a friend that could benefit from this? Offer a helping hand and share this post. Feel free to discuss what does this light represent for both of you individually? 

If you would like to be the first to receive these posts plus extra bonus information that I only send by email, sign up to my monthly newsletter here... http://emmabradfordnaturaltherapy.us8.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=e15464925be59c7078b766fb3&id=2f1c8644d8

Until next time, happy connecting :-)

One Simple Trick To Deal With Overwhelm...

To do list's.

Decisions.

Worries & fears.

What can we do when thing's get too much? Is there a magic secret to reducing anxiety?

The topic of 'overwhelm' came up in conversation during a NLP meetup not long ago... a common challenge for many striving in society to be the perfect person with the perfect career, relationship, body, health etc. This image of perfection that has been portrayed in society as to what everyone 'needs' in order to be happy has it's consequences. 

Whilst it's great to move forward in life, gently challenging ourselves to step outside of our comfort zone and achieve our goals... by having too much emphasis on 'needing' more in order to be happy can put ourselves in a very unhappy place if we have yet to achieve it. 

And gives us a pretty overwhelming list of things to achieve too.

Letting go of our need for perfection can help let go of internal overwhelm.

Internal? 

Yes, there are two main types of overwhelm as I know it...

Internal...

People can feel overwhelmed on an internal basis - focusing on too many thoughts, worries, fears, regrets, not knowing what decisions to make.

It has become common human nature to regret and worry about past and future events, lack of trust and confidence in our ability and decision making. Creating a complex web of worries and fears. Jumping from idea to idea... dancing around every painful memory, possible outcomes and fears about what may happen.

Essentially everything BUT what is happening in the present moment. 

One way to reconnect is to mindfully observe what surrounds us in the present moment. Mentally noting... 'chair, table, glass' etc or whatever is in our surroundings can be a quick way to switch off the mental chatter and regain a moment of presence in our life. 

External...

People can feel overwhelmed on an external basis - sensory overload when they are in busy, stimulating situations such as in big crowds, shopping centres, city centres etc.

Modern day lifestyle has changed the way human beings live dramatically - loosing the tranquility and simplicity of being connected with nature and ourselves. Being in place of non stop hustle and bustle, noise and commotion. 

And for those of us who need our peace and quiet, busy situations can become unbearable. 

How I dealt with overwhelm...

Being a highly empathetic and sensitive person, I used to struggle a lot with external overwhelm. So much so that I experienced extreme anxiety and panic attacks in the past on a daily and weekly basis. Being in crowed places used to be unbearable. 

Whilst there were many things that helped, one simple trick that helped me the most was tuning out everything that was going on around me, shifting my focus to one point only... my thumb and index finger. 

By bringing my attention here and noticing the sensation of the tips of these two fingers gently rubbing against each other dramatically changed my focus. My breathing slowed and deepened, my muscles relaxed and I felt a lot calmer. If ever I catch myself absorbing too much external information or thinking about too many things, this simple action brings me back to the present moment quickly and effectively.

We become overwhelmed when we focus on too much at once, whether be it internally or externally.

So the trick is to simply reduce our focus to ONE thing only. 

One small physical touch or sensation can help significantly to bring more clarity and calm into our life. Some people use their breath, some use a song, an image or an object as a reminder... find what works for you. 

Something to pull us back to the present moment, one small area of focus so we can then see the situation from a more helpful perspective. 

I'd love to hear from you! What do you notice when you practice this technique in moments of overwhelm? Let me know in the comment section below.

Have a loved one who suffers from overwhelm? Offer a helping hand and forward this blog post. 

Want more? Check out my latest FREE resources, events and trainings here. 

5 Steps to Increased Confidence...

I quote these talks a lot in coaching sessions, workshops and meetups. 

Great message, amusing, and useful tips on how to increase our happiness and confidence levels.

The other week I carried out a 'The Power of The Mind' workshop in Barcelona looking at how our mind influences our body. What we think, creates emotions through our internal representations and meanings that we attach to experiences, which then in turn affect our physiology and behaviour.

I also touched on the reverse, how the body can affect the mind. Studies have shown that if we adopt a high power pose (body posture that we naturally take when we win something or are in a position of power) we actually create a chemical reaction within the body which then starts to affect our state of mind.

By adopting one of these power poses and also linking it with a memory when we felt confident in the past we can create a powerful kinaesthetic anchor to use whenever we need to. I started doing this when I completed my first NLP training in 2012, using the anchor every day. Now I find its so powerful I just have to use it for a few seconds whenever I feel I need an extra boost and to keep the anchor topped up full of energy. 

5 STEPS TO INCREASED CONFIDENCE

• STEP 1: Recall a memory when you felt totally confident, the strongest memory you can think of. As you think about this memory with your eyes closed, adopt an 'arms up in the air' position with your chin slightly lifted as if you have just won a race (see example in video).

• STEP 2: See what you see in that memory hear what you hear in that memory, and with every breath notice that your confidence levels become stronger and stronger. Notice what you say to yourself when you feel totally confident. 

• STEP 3: Increase the level of all senses making the images of your memory in your minds eye BIGGER and BRIGHTER, sounds CLEARER and LOUDER, feelings STRONGER and STRONGER with every breath and repeat your internal dialogue to yourself a couple of times...notice how totally confident you feel now!

• STEP 4: Open your eyes, put your arms down and do something to clear your mind such as listening to a song, counting to 20 out loud, watching a video clip of your favourite film. This acts as what we call a 'Break State' which helps to lock in place the anchor we created previously. Take a moment to notice how you feel now before testing the anchor, have a quick mental scan of your body.

• STEP 5: Test the anchor. Close your eyes, put your arms up in the air in the same position as you previously did and notice what changes. What is different now? How has your level of confidence changed now? Some may also start to notice changes to breathing, or thoughts of the previous memory coming back.

Use this every day for at least 30 seconds whenever you have a moment to yourself, when you first get up out of bed, when you are in the toilet behind closed doors etc and you can lock in place a powerful resource anchor to use whenever you need to in the future. Perfect to use before interviews and exams, increasing your levels of success!

Good stuff eh?!