5 Ways to Let Go of Negative Beliefs
Any of the thoughts you think that make you feel low or ‘less than’ are lies. Don’t believe them!
Most of what holds us back from living how we truly want is believing the lies of our unconscious self. These lies can include thoughts like, “I’m not good enough, I don’t know how, I am not smart enough, nobody will like or accept me…” These lies are often planted like seeds early on in life, whether it be from a traumatic experience (life is painful), a bully at school (I’m not worthy), an abusive parent (I’m unlovable), teachers or authority figures (I have no power), and many other ways.
Here’s the thing: If you are feeling low, down on yourself, in the fog, or like there is something wrong with you, then you have accepted a lie as truth. It is up to you to actually go within, tear the lie up by its roots, accept fully where you’re at and choose what you really want to believe about yourself and life. Truth be told, life is ultimately good. People are too. However, these deep-rooted lies we take on cloud our perception and cause us to do less than awesome stuff to ourselves, the earth, each other, and with our lives.
We get a choice in the matter though. We don’t have to believe everything we think. But how can we know what story is playing out if we never take the time to listen? This is where meditation and presence practices come in. We must take 100% responsibility for ourselves and get off autopilot.
If you’re ready to feel empowered and confident, then it’s time to take your power back from the beliefs that have taken power over you. How? Start looking for and finding the goodness within yourself, the goodness within humanity and the goodness within life. It might seem difficult at first because of your clouded perception, but the more good you find, the more your old belief systems about life and yourself will begin to fall away.
5 Ways to Let Go of Negative Beliefs and Feel Lighter Now
Gratitude: Giving thanks for every little thing is a powerful way to lift the veil of despair and open up to how abundantly blessed you truly are. It might take some searching at first, but once you find a few things to be grateful for the momentum will build. Count the Blessings: Say to yourself everyday, “I am committed to experiencing the goodness of life” and then as you go about your day, take note of every kind act and every little miracle. Write them down. What you focus on is magnified, so by focusing on the goodness of life, you will begin to witness just how beautiful life really is. Affirmations: Ultimately, it’s up to you to choose what you want to believe about yourself. If you have felt unlovable up until now and you want to know what it feels like to be 100% loveable (which you are) then it is up to you to start affirming that new state for yourself. Looking in the mirror at yourself for five minutes everyday and stating, “I am loveable, I accept myself” is a powerful exercise that I’ve done for years! New Habits: So because you’ve been believing some lies about yourself, chances are you have created some unhealthy habits to match the frequency of lies you’ve been accepting. Now that you’re starting to get clear on the state of being you’re choosing to affirm for yourself and your life, begin to add awesome new habits and practices to your life. It can be simple little changes like ten minutes of silence or meditation, drinking an extra two glasses of water per day, going for a walk around the block, reading something inspiring instead of watching TV or basically any of the other passions you have that you’ve been pushing away. Release the Voice of Pain: It’s okay to feel grief, sadness, anger or anything else like that. It’s okay to be pissed at the injustice of your past. Something that has helped me heal all the unheard voices of my inner child is to write in my journal from my voice of pain. Writing letters to the people who have caused you harm or to yourself for causing you harm is a great practice. You can also write to yourself and affirm your beauty, your greatness and the love that you are. Little love notes to yourself everyday will go a long way. Journaling is a powerful practice. Any art that allows that voice of pain to be acknowledged and transmuted will bring so much lightness to your life.
It’s all the little things we do that add up to the big things in life. Take time to be with yourself every day because truly your inner power comes from being present, connected and grounded within.
About the Author
10 Reasons to Make Inner Peace a Priority
Inner peace is the eternal quest for seekers everywhere. What used to be a rather vague and ephemeral concept has since been backed by modern science as a worthwhile quest towards accessing better health and happiness.
If you’re wary about the real-life importance of making peace of mind a priority, you’re not alone. The monkey mind is a cultural norm and, for most people, daily life consists of a constant stream of chaotic thoughts based in the past or the future.
Rarely do people make the space for presence and the experience of simply being. But when you do, you’ll be astonished how life can shift from tumultuous to serene, from judgemental to accepting. You can find inner peace even in the midst of external chaos.
1. Increased Intelligence
Perhaps one of the most popular benefits that inner peace can bring is the potential to grow your brain, literally. A study done at Harvard University showed that people who practiced mindfulness meditation (quick definition: accepting and paying attention to your thoughts and feelings without judgment) increased the thickness of their prefrontal cortex.
The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain responsible for regulating emotions, planning, decision making, and regulating social behavior. Just eight weeks of regular meditation practice also shows increased gray matter in MRI scans.
Turns out that seeking peace helps you gain greater intelligence and a stronger, healthier brain.
2. Rewire Your Brain for Positive Feedback Loops
You can change your brain and it’s as easy as being aware of the transience of every experience. Most people go into a fight or flight stress state at least a few times a day, but when peace is your primary pathway you can change that mental habit.
This is because our unconscious thoughts and worries (aka the monkey mind) engage the amygdala, the reptilian part of our brains responsible for keeping us alive in dangerous situations. When the amygdala is engaged we experience anxiety, tension, faster heart rate, and poor digestion, all things modern humans are very familiar with.
When peace is the primary pathway you can consciously comfort your amygdala with the assurance that all is well and the world is NOT ending. Because our brains are plastic and changeable you can change the tendency to activate the amygdala and remain calm even in the midst of chaos.
3. Grow Your Compassion Muscle
The Dalai Lama says that “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Yet often we’re too absorbed in our busy lives to experience wholehearted compassion for both ourselves and our fellow humans.
A study published in the journal Psychological Science found that the practice of meditation and the allowing and acceptance that comes along with it increases the internal experience of compassion. Another study showed this affects the brain even when you’re not actively engaged in meditation.
