Thrive through the power of positive thinking

Life is wonderful!  Thrive through the power of positive thinking.  An inspiring success.

This was the text on the Archangel Power Tarot Card I pulled for myself this morning.  It was perfect for me today as I spent the weekend learning more about the power of gratitude.  There are so many people talking and teaching about gratitude and it is so needed in our lives when the world has such a huge negativity bias.  

Sometimes we forget how much we have to be grateful for...even if it is only that we are still alive and can experience whatever we set our minds and more importantly our hearts to.

Gratitude is the opposite of want.  Wants pull us out of our inner wisdom and make us doubt our abilities.  When you are grateful you are present in your body and you shift toward happiness and optimism.  Life seems more possible.  When we fall into a trap of negativity and wanting things to be different than they are, life becomes a drudge.  We feel that everything is an uphill battle.  

Gratitude creates a sense of safety within yourself.  When I am grateful, it is easier to go with the flow and let go of the stresses in my life.  So many of these stresses are just a story in my head.  If I let them, these will actually effect my health and well being.

The institute of Heart Math has a really simple technique that I use all the time.  It is based on the same heart focused breathing that I was teaching in my last blog.  They call it Quick Coherence.  The difference is that you add a positive feeling.  Care or appreciation are the feelings that are best.  It needs to be a feeling though, not just a thought.

Start as usual by slowing your breathing to a level that is comfortable for you.  Shift your focus to your heart and feel the breaths deep in your heart.  Now add care or appreciation for someone or something in your life and keep breathing for a minute or two.

You can do this with your eyes open or closed, for just a minute or for longer.  It has documented health benefits of lowering blood pressure, stabilising blood sugar and better cognitive function among other things.  Coherence is when your heart rate is aligned between your heart, mind and emotions.  Quick coherence is a wonderful thing to do if you are in the middle of the day and you feel like everything is going too fast.

If I am struggling to find a feeling of care or appreciation, I usually start with my dog! Dogs are great for this.  Remember a time you were greeted by a dog.  Our Flapjack does this to everyone he meets.  He is so sure that anyone that comes toward him has arrived on his side of the road just to see him and he welcomes them accordingly!  If I go out, even for 3 minutes, he greets me with an amazing welcome.  Even thinking about him now puts a smile on my face.

So grab a piece of paper and write down a couple of situations that you have coming up in your life where practicing the quick coherence technique will make a difference.  I'd love to hear about them if you feel like sending me a quick email or posting on my Facebook page.  There are a couple of Facebook icons on this blog page that will bring you through to my Facebook page.

 Photo by Ayana Wyse on Unsplash