The Power of Positive Affirmations

I woke up a few nights ago in the middle of the night. I was having a restless night and when I woke up I distinctively heard a voice in my head, saying 'Are you really adding value?'

I had been dreaming about my job, about a presentation I was to hold in a few days to the CEO, giving him an update on the projects I am leading.

The weird part was... how much the voice was clear, how clearly I heard it in my head but as if someone was inside my head whispering it to me. With hindsight, this brought back to me memories of the book 'The power of now' by Eckhart Tolle (http://eckharttolle.com/the_power_of_now). In this book, Eckhart describes how one day, lying in bed, during a rough stage in his life, he heard a voice constantly repeating in his head: 'I cannot live with myself any longer.' He then realised how peculiar this thought was and questioned himself: Am I one or two? If he could not live with himself, than he must be two. the 'I' and the 'self' he cannot live with!
This realization stopped his mind, suddenly he was fully conscious but with his mind free of thoughts. Full of energy, no fear. This was a turning point, recognising this incessant chatter in his mind.

We all suffer from it. I've realised it from time to time, the incessant flow of thinking in our minds... sometimes critical, sometimes afraid, sometimes buoyant. But not real.

I am still learning how to deal with it. Becoming more mindful is also about quietening your mind chatter. About just being, in a state of full acceptance, in the present moment.

Preparing for my presentation, what I found really helpful was repeating to myself positive affirmations! Ideally, we should aim for mindfulness but since for most of us 'non awakened' this is hard... a good solution is to fill the mind with positive affirmations!!!
If the mind is to talk, might as well be positive!!!

PS - My presentation went really well and yes, the voice in my mind was deceitful... I proved how much value I was adding to the business.

Binaural beats: holosync and holothink update

The latest on the use of holosync and holothink:
- I've now been using holosync for quite a while. The key impact on my life is how much it does relax me. I listen to it everyday before going to bed and usually I have a good night sleep. Sometimes I do fall asleep while listening to the tape, but somehow wake up as it is finishing. Regarding 'issues' coming up, as it is claimed by holosync (that issues that are on the back of your mind will come up and this will enable you to solve them), no, no experience whatsoever on that field. Most times I am listening to the tapes lying down, mostly in bed, and maybe this does reduce the effectiveness of the tapes. Ideally you should do it sitting down or in other meditation posture, but this can be a bit hard...
- With holothink I had amazing first results with the laser focus demo. I did then go on and purchase the full length laser focus tape and... I am quite disapointed. It is an 1 hour tape, which is much more difficult to listen to than the 10 minutes samples. The sample was great, you just listened to it in the begining of the day and it was like a productivity burst! Now, the 1 hour tape not only takes a lot longer to go through (and you can't really spend 1 hour just listening to a tape at work, not in most regular jobs at least) but above all - I am not experiencing the same results as I did in the begining...

Anyway, I'll keep on using them and write another update later on.

Holosync update! And what about holothink?

Ordered the holosync tapes and been trying them for the last 3 weeks. Learnings:
- it's great to relax at night. There's a tape 'The Dive' which is easy to get intoand really relaxes you, seems to clear your brain. After listening to it, I seem to be sleeping better, a heavier undisturbed sleep. The way centerpointe recommends to use it is to sit down, close your eyes and listen to the 30 min track. I don't find it difficult and time just flies. I recomend it.
- after 2 weeks, you're supposed to add the 2nd tape, called immersion. I'm doing it but it's a lot harder to listen to, I get itchy and raring to get up... so no real effect so far...
As I was experiencing some success, I've looked more into this world of binaural beats. It's getting huge really, though no real big player has jumped in, I think it misses a big player that will give it credibility. Anyway, as I researched it I came across other company, holothink, and gave a go to one of their tapes, called laser focus. And it was absolutely amazing. It's supposed to increase your focus and concentration and you can listen to it while doing something else. It's a rough sound, not easy to listen to but in the 1st day I used it... I did have a really fantastic day, got a lot of work done!!! All that stuff that I was dreading doing, I just got up and did it! It was amazing!! After that, I wondered if I just had had a good day or if it was down to the tape. So I listened to it again, and though not as good as the 1st day, the results were still really good. I've used their 10 minute demo (get it over the internet here at http://www.focusoptimizer.com) for a few days and it's good. Will consider buying it.

Centerpointe's Holosync: 1st impressions

Ok, so now I've been using the Holosync demo tape for about 3 days. I've used it at home (at night), and also in the office.
Still first impressions but I wanted to share them.

During listening to the demo, I don't really feel a thing. In the begining, I did get some visual patterns, but not anymore. When I listened to it at night, I got quite awake after it, for about twenty minutes and then plunged into a good sleep. Had some weird dreams though with strong feelings associated, someof enthusiasm but also some of deep sadness. Strange... I found myself waking up earlier but more energised.

Using the tapes at work had the result of concentrating much easier it seems? The last couple of days I am also reaching the end of the day in a less tired state.

Given these early conclusions, I am now more curious about holosync and will use it for a while longer to see if these results come from the tape or not...

I'll keep you posted.

Centerpointe's Holosync: real or fake

Yesterday I received the demo CD from Centerpointe regarding their 'technique' of meditation via sound waves, Holosync.
Gave it a go: first time I listened, was very surprised as images just came to my mind with me having no control over them! Mainly lights and patterns! Then was a bit disapointed as most of the demo is about this guy selling you the benefits of the technique and enticing you to buy the full cd set, at $179!
Another bad impression was that on the website, they said they had to charge $9 for postal deliveries, the CD sample was totally free. When I got it, there was a stamp from the post office with the cost of delivery at around $4... So contrary to what they say, they are making quite a bit of money on 'free samples' and tricking consumers that way.
Getting down to the real stuff, does it help you to meditate and relax, increase awareness, it's too early to tell. To start with, I admit I am suspicious of something that you basically have to do nothing but put on a pair of headphones for such 'advertised' amazing benefits. Normal meditation is difficult but the reward is also in the process.
But I'll keep at it and will share the conclusions in a few days!

How to make better decisions?

Came across this great post that I wanted to share.
It's good because it's challenging and makes you think.
Read it on http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/are-you-rationalizing-your-decisions/
Hope you enjoy it.

Big Mind, Big Heart

Just yesterday, as I was heading to the office, I made an effort to be aware and conscious of the voices in the 'chatter box' (as Susan Jeffers calls it in her books), or the voices of advice/criticism/fear/etc inside our heads.
Making the effort allowed me to see that it was expressing fear and anxiety, for what I had to face that day at work, the ammount of tasks, an underperforming business, a team still storming and forming...
Having realized this, I acknowledged it. I said to myself that I recognized this feeling. And just this fact, just recognizing and aknowledging it, made such an impact! The voice basically almost disappeared - as if the voice was previously shouting to be heard, as it was in fact heard, the need to shoud disapeared.

I know it may sound strange, but it's hard to put into words. It clearly reminded me of a conference I attended (there's a post on it) - Big Mind, Big Heart. Here's what I wrote:
'Recently though I have been to a workshop called Big Mind Big Heart. It's a process, based on meditation but very practical. It's more like a game where you recognize all the 'players' or voices inside you and you acknowledge them and thank them for doing their job. You hear the damaged self and understand him, he´s there to take the hits and suffering that life will always throw at you and the only thing he wants is... to be recognized and thanked for his work, that he does so well and always will. But most of us, what we do is... try to protect him! To keep him from doing his job. And there is the Controler or the Critic or Fear or the Ego... each with their job.
And if we all recognize them, we mature and get closer to full awareness and enlightment. What was great was that we spend a couple of hours seeing all these 'voices or players' and as you spend time listening to them and acknowledging them they mature and become less restless. And you get closer to your true self, to enlightment, to your Heart or whatever you want to call it. And in the end of the process we realize that we are one with universe. These voices represent everything that exists in the universe. and everybody and everything has them. And we are one with the universe.'

Approaching new year: time to reflect and plan

We're quickly approaching new year, after a nice Christmas.
Economic ambiance is depressed, strange and ficicult to predict. It's now not only a finantial crisis but also an economic one and the outlook is pretty dim. Most reputed analists say 09 and 2010 will be tough years.
Though, if you go out to the streets these days, most people are taking advantage of sales and heaviliy shopping! Hardly the picture you'd expect to see in times of deep crisis. People still have money on their pockets and have a job...
What's going to happen?
Will we go through a couple of difficult years, with companies tightening their belts and stock markets further correcting with recovery in 2011?
Or will it be really serious with more layoffs, unemployment and 5-7 years economic depression?

As the end of 2008 approaches, I'm taking a few days off. These days are great to just stop for a bit, look back and look forward.
Look back to see what I have done and achieved, what I'm proud of, in which ways and where I have evolved. You gain a lot from doing this, as most times in day to day you just press ahead focusing on what you want, never congratulating yourselve on what you've achieved. End of the year is a great time to look back and write your balance sheet! Write down how you feel about the year ending.

This will help you understand what you really want for 2009. Write it down as well. Write clear smart goals, that you fully want from the bottom of your heart and being. Objectives help you act smarter and more effective/efficient. They will be my guiding light throughout the year.

This period between 08 and 09 is a great time to do it, personally. As Christmas is gone and the mood is good, I'm off work and it's easier to truly listen to my heart. I'm more relaxed and it's a good time to reflect.

Meditation

I'm back to meditating again, by the end of the day I put in a few minutes.
The effects are visible. I become much more aware of my thoughts, and through this I become aware of some really unrealistic negative thinking that I can then stop, as I clearly can see and rate it as unrealistic.
And by stopping some negative thinking, I start to get into better moods and have much better days, more efficient and productive.

The importance of sleep

Been quite tired in the last couple of months. Pressure at work is high, as the business is having a rough year and more job cuts are widely expected (and will happen).

In the last few weeks, as the clock nears 5 or 6pm I find myself really tired! Even if I still have quite a lot of things to do, I don't seem to find the energy to keep at it and tackle them.

For 1 day last week and also yesterday, I get home, grab something to eat and after I lay down in bed at around 8pm just to read a few quick lines on some book I... doze off! And after waking up a couple of hours later, I just change and go into bed for the rest of the night. The following day, I find that I really get a lot more done, have a much more positive atitude and find problems much easier to deal with - the solution just pops up a lot quicker!

Sleep is hugely important. In the daily stress and pressure, so many times we fail to listen to our body, ignoring that it needs the downtime to recharge. And even if we push ourselves on that day to get more done, it won't be effective as the following day we will be less energized and won't be able to get as much done.

Also, it is important to switch off when you get home. But that is another topic. And I confess it is not one that I am any good at, but definitely one that I need to improve on!!!