Momentum in Manifesting

'The better it gets, the better it gets, the better it gets. The worse it gets, the worse it gets, the worse it gets.'

Today I'll be discussing the idea of momentum as it pertains to manifesting, and the above sentiment is perhaps one of the easiest ways to understand it.

Another way to think of momentum is like riding a wave, and asking yourself what wave you're currently riding. If you wake up and stub your toe, it's easy to curse the day right then. Then you won't be surprised when you spill your coffee, catch every red light, and just have an all-around crappy day.

Have you ever seen a person react to a bad turn of events by saying, 'of course that happened, with my luck...' or 'of course, with the day I'm having...' It's like they expect to have bad things happen, and so of course- they do. These people are riding a negative wave.

Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, have you ever met people you just can't bring down? Even in a seemingly bad situation they react with, 'it'll all work out in the end' or 'everything's going to be okay.' They seem to somehow just float through life believing that things will always work out for them, and of course- they always do. These people are riding a positive wave.

These two groups of people aren't that different from each other. They are just on opposite sides of the same principle of momentum. So, if you can be carried by either positive or negative momentum, how do you make sure to fall on the positive end of things?

Reset Daily (or as often as you need to)

The quickest way to stop yourself from falling into the current of a bad day is to stop it before it starts. Upon waking, try your best to center yourself in the opportunity this new day provides. Actively work on setting a positive tone for the day.

Do your best not to fall into any bad energy from the day before so you don't mindlessly carry over yesterday's mess into today. If you were mad at your spouse last night- let that be last night's problem. If you were worried about the state of the world- leave that in the past as you awake to a new day.

Many of us play repetitive tapes of events and thoughts in our minds all day long, and often these tapes are negative. What's worse, these tapes start as soon as we wake up. If you do this, then chances are you're often already in bad mood by breakfast every day. You don't give your brain the chance to write a new positive story.

Breaking a mental habit can be very difficult because you do it without thinking. That is, you do it subconsciously. So, the only way to overwrite this habit of behavior is consciously, by painstakingly choosing to think better moment by moment.

Mental Awareness

Mental awareness is simply watching your thoughts. Not thinking, which is when you identify with your thoughts and have the feeling that the voice in your head is you and is in control of you. Mental awareness is being aware of your thoughts. This kind of awareness instantly separates you from your thoughts- you have to be separate from something to be able to observe it. In this separation, you are aware that your thoughts exist and you are there to watch them.

From this awareness, you might say something like: 'I'm having a bad thought about my sister' without getting emotionally involved with that thought. If you can observe your thoughts from a detached place, you can control the direction they go in. So you can say: 'I'm having a bad thought about my sister but I don't want to. So, I'm going to have a good thought about her instead.' This is how you practice being in control of your thoughts.

Meditation

Meditation is the practice of mindfulness. Think of it as simply being present in yourself, that is, being present within your mind and body. An easy way to begin a meditation practice is by sitting quietly and focusing on your breathing. In this way, your mind and body are joined in a single activity and you get to feel this sense of oneness with your whole being.

For me, it's as if in the sanctity of mind and body alignment, I create the space to feel the truest part of my being-my spirit. Our spirit is that part of us that is connected to God, that is of God. It's within your spirit that your mind and your body reside.

Meditation aids us to quiet the mind and still the body so that we may hear our true higher selves.

Emotional Awareness

Meditation can be difficult, especially at first. Remembering to be aware of your thoughts can take time. Often, you might remember to observe your thoughts once you're already emotionally involved with a thought you engaged in unconsciously. You can find yourself suddenly feeling angry and anxious without knowing why. This is the time to stop and ask yourself- what am I thinking about?

Perhaps you only now realize that you were having a bad thought about your sister- perhaps how selfish she is and how you always end up doing the work while she gets away with doing nothing. This thought is full of resentment, and that is a heavy, negative emotion, so it will feel unpleasant in your body. Thus, if you can't yet mindfully identify negative thoughts as they arise, you can cultivate the habit of checking in with your body so you can at least catch them soon after they arise.

Why is it Important to Connect to Spirit?

I believe to live our lives guided by our spirit is to live the highest possible version of our lives. Our spirit, being connected to Source, knows the way. It knows where we ought to go and what we ought to do in every situation. To live from this place is to live free of any anxiety or worry. It's to live with complete trust and fullness of purpose. In short, it's to truly live, and once you tap into this way of being, it's the only way you'll want to live.

I live a spirit-led life. I trust my spirit because I know it will never lead me astray. If I think back over my life, all of the best decisions have been the ones where I trusted my inner voice and allowed myself to be led by it. Over time, I've cultivated this trust in the same way that you would a muscle and, like a muscle, it has gotten stronger.

How Do We Hear Our Spirit?

I believe this will be unique for each person. Your spirit will communicate with you in a manner that will best resonate with you (because it is you). Some people just have a deep sense of knowing that something is right; some people experience synchronicities and clear signs; some people get physical sensations in their bodies.

To that end, it's difficult to advise on how to do this, at best I can only share what works for me and hope that helps you as you navigate your own journey. The most important thing is to trust yourself.

Intuition

Trust your gut. We all have that sixth sense. Think of it as your very own spidey-sense. I've heard it very cleverly called our Internal Guidance System, and I think that truly encapsulates what it is. It's the voice within that knows things you don't, and is always looking out for you.

It's the deep sense of foreboding that tells you to not go down that alley, where you later learn a terrible crime happened. It's the nudge to take a different route to work that leads to you meeting your spouse. These nudges may seem like they come from nowhere, but to a system refined and sensitive enough- you know this isn't the case. You know it comes from your higher self.

It takes time to know the difference between the voices in your head and the voice of your spirit. This is why meditation is such an amazing and powerful tool to quiet the mind so that you can start to hear what and how your spirit communicates with you.

'Hearing the voice of spirit' can feel like a big, ominous task that should be reserved for big questions like 'What's my purpose?' or 'What should I do with my life?', but this is not the case. A life in alignment is one where the voice of spirit is constant, like a background track. If this is true, you'll be so comfortable in knowing that your spirit is ever-present that you'll ask it for guidance on everything, including all the mundane trivialities of life. This will help you to build that muscle and strengthen your ability to hear this inner voice.

Try an exercise to learn to hear this inner voice:

Ask spirit to help you with something small like, 'Spirit, please show me where my keys are.' Then stop searching for them, take a deep breath, and wait to be led to them. Trust in the knowledge that your spirit knows exactly where your keys are and that it is benevolent and exists to be your internal guide to all that you seek- which in this case is your keys. Then, observe how this knowledge is transferred to you.

Do you get a nudge to look at a completely random spot and voila- there they are? Do you get an image in your head about where to look? It might be helpful to do a quick meditation or breathing exercise to calm and quiet yourself so you can 'hear' more clearly. Think of it as preparing yourself to receive guidance. This will be a great clue into how your higher self communicates with you.

I do this all the time. For me, the guidance comes as a knowing of where to look. I'll suddenly just look in the right spot. I don't think too much about it- I now know to just trust it.

Synchronicities

I also receive guidance in clear signs that make me smile. Synchronicities are my favorite because they are fun and they demonstrate the playful nature of the universe. I love to play with the universe.

An example is how I got a job on the spot a few years ago:

I was working at a bakery that I really hated, and I wanted a new job. I didn't want to quit without a plan, but it was terrible to stay. So, guided by my spirit, I told my boss this would be my last two weeks. He reacted terribly (he called to the back where he proceeded to yell at me while he follow me around) and highlighted just why I wanted to leave. The next day was my day off and I took my mother (who was visiting from South Africa) downtown to spend the afternoon.

I remember opening my phone before we left and typing in something random like 'fun things to do in Red Bank' and coming across an article about a new flower shop that had just opened. I read it, got excited at the story of the couple who had opened it, and felt so strongly at that moment that my mom and I just had to see it.

We drove there and met the loveliest man in the world. He was unpacking boxes but stopped to talk to us like we were old friends. I told him about the article and he had no idea what I was talking about, 'That's probably something my wife did,' he said. I said I would love to work in a shop like his and he said, 'Great because I need help.' I was hired.

Where did that burning impulse to go to that store come from?

And all those breadcrumbs leading me to it? I'm convinced that was my spirit guiding me. I like to think of my higher self as being able to see what I want and where I am in relation to what I want, and then creating the shortest and most fun route from me to it. It then guides me through intuition along this path.

My job is to surrender and trust. From here, positive momentum becomes second nature. It's almost like a byproduct of trusting and surrendering to the universe.

I hope you found this post helpful and I hope you learn to hear and trust your own inner voice.

Sending some positive momentum your way.

Nonjabulo