How to Shift Limiting Beliefs That Sabotage Your Self Care
Have you ever wanted to create change in your body and encountered a wall of resistance that completely immobilized your every action? Why is that? Why do you stall, postpone, rationalize – in short, freeze – when you know better?
Because you're wired that way. Your mind, emotions, body and behavior are not separate and disconnected aspects of you. They are an integrated system. The thoughts in your mind, the sensations in your body, and the responses from your nervous system are all connected.
When you're in fear, you have a built in fight or flight mechanism that's designed to protect you. It doesn't matter whether you're being chased by a bear in the woods or you're stressed that you won't meet your monthly bills, your response is automatic, involuntary and instantaneous. Your reptilian brain (which guides your survival mechanism) doesn't know the difference between a physical threat (being chased by a bear) or the fear that you're not financially successful (limiting belief).
It doesn’t matter what you want to change in your world, it won't shift if it runs contrary to your bandwidth of belief.
Your World is a Reflection of your Map of Reality
Chances are that you have some pretty specific, even rigid, ideas, of how your world operates. We all do. No one is quite free of the limiting belief adventure. (As a matter of fact, it's part of the design. More on that later.)
When your view of life is distorted by a limited perspective, the freedom to create your world is not readily available. In fact, you don’t respond to reality itself, but rather to your map of reality. It’s not external reality that limits you, it is your map of that reality.
One of the formative influences of your personal reality map are your imprints. An imprint is a memory that is formed at an early age, and can serve as the foundation for both the limiting and empowering beliefs you formed as a child. You are initially influenced by other people and experiences. Later on you continue to give life to these beliefs through your personal choices. The world mirrors that reality for you.
Consider that much of what you have been taught about your body, though well intentioned, may not be the full picture. Every day you hear of a new discovery that unhinges the truth of consensus reality. Remember when the world believed that the earth was the center of the universe, and not the sun? What if your body is a flexible reality and capable of more than you have imagined?
Our physical body can be changed by the emotions we experience.
~ Candace Pert
According to neuroscientist Candace Pert, your body is a reflection of your belief system and life experience. So let's look at some of those beliefs that limit the fullness of your experience.
7 Limiting Belief Themes That Hinder Your Self Care
Check into these 7 themes that illustrate the legion of limiting beliefs about your body (and every thing else). Are you ready to claim them? Are you ready to change them?
Time: You’ve missed the crucial entry point in time, therefore things won't change. You might think, “I’m too old.” “It’s too far gone.” “It’s too late.”
Genetics: The reason your body is in its present condition is due to your heredity. You can point to your ancestral line and affirm that it ‘runs in the family.' “My mom had heart disease. I’m bound to have heart problems too.”
Body Condition: There is some condition that prohibits you from making changes. “My thyroid is out of whack, it’s not my fault.” Yes, you may have been diagnosed with a thyroid imbalance. What can you do to bring alignment to your body?
Values: On the scale of what's important in your life, your body is not at the top of the list. You place a higher value on other things like your family or work. You might also have mixed feelings about the body being good vs bad. “It doesn’t matter that I don’t exercise. I’m a spiritual being having a physical experience.” “I'm too busy driving my daughter to dance class and my son to football practice to go for a walk.”
Motivation: You don’t feel inspired to take care of yourself. “It won’t make a difference, I’ll just gain the weight again.”
Perfection: Things have to be just so in order for you to take action. “I’ll wait till the kids go back to school.” “I'll focus on my calling when I have a nest egg so that I can leave my job.”
Knowledge: You either know too much, and are confused or jaded, or you don’t know enough. “I haven’t found the right program to help me lose weight.” “I'm a doctor and I know how the body works. This isn't possible.”
It may seem that these themes rule your world, but you can choose again. You can change your mind. You can shift your beliefs. You can shape your reality, or you can surrender to assumptions, which are a reflection of the faulty programming of outdated beliefs.
How to Shift Your Limiting Beliefs
The good news is you are a brand new being in every moment. The cells in your body are continually re-creating. There is not one cell in your body today from a year ago. Your body is a perfect example of the creative essence of the Universe. You, as the master co-creator, are crafting your world through your beliefs in every moment. You can create from your past beliefs or your present possibilities. You choose.
Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right.
~ Henry Ford
Even science backs up this bold claim. Biologists have discovered that each atom in your body is 99.999% free space, and less than 1% actual “matter”. All 76 trillion cells are made up of atoms that oscillate at 186,000 miles per second, yet are mainly empty space. This picture of the true nature of your body is far different from what you’ve been taught. What seems dense and fixed is really free and ever changing. You are made of patterns of resonant energy!!
This new science explains that you are one system; the brain is integrated into the body at a molecular level and therefore neither can be treated separately without the other being directly affected. According to Candace Pert, our bodies are in fact our subconscious minds:
In the end I find I can’t separate brain from body. Consciousness isn’t just in the head. Nor is it a question of the power of the mind over the body…because they’re flip sides of the same thing. Mind doesn’t dominate body, it becomes body.
~Candace Pert
It may take a bit of practice to reorient your reality, but you are equipped for it. One of the greatest tools at your disposal is the power of your imagination. You can speed up change by imagining your desired outcome.
[feature_box_creator style=”1″ width=”” top_margin=”” bottom_margin=”” top_padding=”” right_padding=”” bottom_padding=”” left_padding=”” alignment=”center” bg_color=”” bg_color_end=”” border_color=”” border_weight=”” border_radius=”” border_style=”” ]How to Shift Your Limiting Beliefs (Exercise)
Spend time every day imagining the world you want to experience. Whenever you have a free moment, close your eyes and allow yourself to see it and feel it. Imagine yourself being the person that moves about in this new world. Spend at least 5-10 minutes each day, eyes closed, experiencing the world that is waiting for you to arrive.
Imagine your body fully energized, strong,
healthy and able to do all the things you love to do.
Imagine doing work you love, that excites and inspires you,
and making a difference in the world.
Imagine being surrounded by awesome colleagues and
collaborators, family and friends in all that you do.
Imagine freedom to create, explore and experience,
having all you need, with those who matter most.
Setting an outcome facilitates the change process because of the brain’s ability to function as a cybernetic mechanism. This means that once you are clear on the outcome, the brain’s natural response will be to organize itself towards whatever images or beliefs you have created in your mind. You begin to automatically get feedback that will move you closer to your vision of ‘reality.’
All breakthroughs begin with a change in belief. You can change your body. You can embrace your own evolution. You have a choice between limited and limitless. Reality is flexible, and so are you.
Let it go,
PS Ready to re-orient your reality? Join us …
