A 5 Minute Morning Meditation to Lift Your Spirits and Put a Smile on Your Face

BAM VP - Be A More Vibrant Person in 2012
A daily energizing routine of Breath work, Affirmations, Meditation, Visualization and Progressive Relaxation will help you meet each day more Bold, Awesome, Motivated, Vibrant and Powerful.
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A 5 Minute Morning Meditation to Lift Your Spirits and Put a Smile on Your Face

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandhi

Set your alarm five minutes earlier tomorrow.  When you get up, find a quiet place to sit and gaze out a window.  Look up at the sky.   Really notice the color and expanse.   Follow the shape and movement of the clouds.

Let your thoughts drift as you enjoy the morning stillness.  This is your time to focus on what is good in your life - not the worries of yesterday, today or tomorrow.

Begin your meditation by focusing on your breathing.   The rhythmic rise and fall of your breath.  Since breathing has a strong effect on emotional change, it is a natural bridge to begin to meditate.  Slow measured breathing has a calming effect.

Gently close your eyes and tune into your body.   A word will come to you that describes what you are feeling.  Calm, relaxed, peaceful, happy, confident.  That is your relaxation keyword.  Spread the word throughout your body.  From the top of your head to the tip of your toes.

Put your relaxation keyword in a phrase that inspires you to handle stress differently today.  For example, "I am calm and relaxed" when you are feeling tense and anxious.  Use this phrase whenever you need it throughout the day.

*Inhale slowly and  mentally repeat, "I live with a happy heart, a peaceful mind and a playful spirit".  Stay with it for a minute or two.  Inhale deeply and in the privacy of your own mind quietly shout, "I deserve health and happiness!"

Just before you are ready to open your eyes, begin to stimulate that positive energy that is a smile by recalling something you enjoy.  Something that makes you feel good.  Let the corners of your mouth turn up.  Smile.  Send this smiling energy into every bone and every organ and every nerve and every cell in your body.

Now take that smiling energy up into your heart.

Decide what you would like to take with you into your day.  Something of a positive, inspiring nature.  Open your eyes and start a day you look forward to!


*From Quantum Focusing - Finding the Zone by Michael Ellner and Alan Barsky.

Empowering Self-Talk: How to Make Affirmations That Inspire Change

BA MVP - Be A More Vibrant Person in 2012
A daily energizing routine of Breath work, Affirmations, Meditation, Visualization and Progressive Relaxation will help you meet each day Bold, Awesome, Motivated, Vibrant and Powerful.
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Empowering Self-Talk:  How to Make Affirmations That Inspire Change

"Change Your Thoughts and Change Your World" - Norman Vincent Peale

"Every day in every way I am getting better and better".  You probably heard this famous  affirmation popularized in the 1920's by Emil Coue, a French pharmacist and psychologist.  After observing his patients heal faster when they focused their mind on positive healing images, Coue developed this therapeutic method he called optimistic autosuggestion.  His belief that, "you are what you think" proved to have great success in rehabilitating the thousands of patients he treated each year.

You might ask what makes this deceptively simple affirmation so powerful.  And how can I duplicate it?

• Start with the area you want to work on.  Emil Coue addressed the health concerns of people who were ill and wanted to get well.  Your challenge may be with finances, career, family, relationships, physical or emotional health, etc.  Define your source of stress.
• Make your affirmation simple and specific.  Coue's autosuggestion is a simply stated imagery for healing.  Yours may contain specific relaxation instructions, or suggestions for improved self esteem or a mantra for success.  Make sure it describes exactly what you want to achieve.   For example you want to ask for a raise, "I am clear and direct asking my boss for a raise".
• Powerful affirmations are positive and carefully expressed.  Phrase them as if they are occurring now.  Notice Coue says, "I am getting better and better."   Avoid negative statements.  For example instead of "I will not be nervous asking for a raise".   Use a positive version such as "I am letting go of tension when I talk to my boss" or I am calm and assertive asking for a raise".
• An affirmation works best when combined with an image or mental picture.  So write it down, close your eyes and visualize the touch, taste and feel of the change you want to create.
• Repeat your affirmation throughout the day, every day.  The more you say it the more connected it becomes to your desired outcome.  Routine repetition was an important part of Coue's method.  He recommended his patients repeat "Every day in every way I am getting better and better" upon awakening, throughout the day and before going to sleep at night.  When he put the power of healing into the hands of his patients Coue had great success curing them of illness and disease.

Affirmations are good for your mental health.  Evidence proves that serotonin and endorphins, those feel good hormones, are released when we focus on positive thoughts.  This scientifically based evidence works even if you are a skeptic.

So take a cue from Emil Coue.  Practice positive thinking.  Make  affirmations that work to improve your life.  You have nothing to lose but time and everything to gain.  Like a happier outlook on life, less anxiety, and better health.  The power to change is in you.