How do you see you? Does it matter? Yes. Guest blogger Fiona Gatt  shows the way to seeing and being a calmer you, and so improving your emotional fitness.

Hugs to Doug Savage for allowing me to start EFTI posts with a laugh.

Lots of things can make you prickly: hugs you do not want, rejection, being seen as freakish.  When that happens how you react inside your head can lead to chaos or calmness.

A Staying Strong Post from Fiona Gatt

You’re working away, focused on the task. Some boredom creeps in. Anxiety or thoughts focused on a negative in your life start to bubble to the surface. And who the hell moved the blank copy paper over there? Why can’t he pick up his underwear?! How is anyone supposed to find anything in this place?! Ooops, before you know it, anger has taken control and you’re huffing around the office or home with a furrowed brow and a stay-away-from-me glare. Time to take a time-out and stop and visualize a calmer you. Better still, start your day with visualization technique.

How do you think great athletes achieve their goals? Do you think Richard Branson developed his successful businesses without visualizing his success? The power of visualizing success has made its way into the motivational speaker junket but a lesser-known reality is that it also works for enhancing your day-to-day life and how you cope with the inevitable bumps in the road.

A successful athlete visualizes not only that end game of standing on a pedestal with a medal around their neck, they also visualize the steps along the way. A runner kneels down at the starting line and visualizes the perfect take off at the starter’s gun. They visualize strong legs, long strides and speed as they run and they keep their eye on that finish line as it approaches with a vision of a photo finish at the end.

So too, in this visualization exercise of a calmer you, imagine your ultimate self as a calm, peace-loving person who rarely allows themselves to be rankled by frustrations. Build this up by visualizing yourself calmly handling day-to-day situations.

For the big picture, aiming for more calm rather than always calm is realistic, unless you’re planning on devoting yourself to the task like a monastic. If you start this visualization process by telling yourself that you’ll be able to avoid anger completely and always stay as cool as Yoda on Valium you’ll be setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Keep your goals realistic. Visualize parts of your life, starting with things that things that calm you. Build up the following exercise in stages.

It doesn’t matter whether you sit, or stand, or walk as you visualize – walking would in fact add the benefit of moving some oxygen to your brain. Breath in deeply; try a calming OMM. Centre yourself on the now and discard any thoughts about your recent behaviour or what might be worrying you.

What is that you’ll be doing for the rest of the day? Keep it simple at first if you need to. What will you be doing for the next hour? Imagine yourself doing the tasks you need to do calmly. What minor upsets could happen as you go about these tasks? Interruptions, not being able to find something, having to deal with someone you don’t like – imagine yourself handling them all with calm. Instead of getting that gut reaction of annoyance, frustration, anger – visualize yourself remaining calm, neutral or even smiling.

Play out a specific circumstance that has caused you to give in to anger before. Play out the scene as though you’re watching a movie but instead of showing yourself getting worked up, don’t replay that version. Instead play out the new calmer you starting to feel frustration or anger but then choosing to instead take a breath in and let that feeling go. In your mind’s eye see yourself decide to remain calm, put the circumstance into perspective, deal with it calmly and go about your day.

It’s not the circumstances of your day that create the anger, it’s your reaction to those circumstances. Visualize yourself going about your day taking on the waves of good and bad circumstances with a refreshing calm. If you believe it’s possible it is possible.

This exercise is a great one to do as you’re getting ready for your day – perhaps even while you shower. It can be used as an added aspect to a self-imposed time-out, or as a visualization you take on board while you’re doing a menial task. For those of you who meditate, this is easily added to a session. But even for the busiest person, this is one of those exercises that can be fit into a day with ease. If you find yourself forgetting to visualize the calmer you, write yourself a note – a post-it note on your desk, the word ‘calm’ written in lipstick on your bathroom mirror – whatever grabs your attention and reminds you that seeing it is a major part of getting it. That and a little bit of luck.

THANK YOU FIONA

Haven’t heard about the OMM, here it an EFT poster coach that walks you through one.  You  can get a free digital down load of this one free at the EFTIstore.

Who is Fiona Gatt?  

We met via the internet.  She lives the Australian life I dreamed about in my childhood. She has partnered with me in efforts to promote emotional fitness and emotional intelligence. 

Fiona is a writer, mother of three, business owner and editor to over twelve titles of my books.  Early in the editing journey Fiona became convinced of the value of Emotional Fitness Training and she is now writing from her own perspective and experience on the programs I developed.

I am delighted for Fiona has taken my ideas to another new level and given life to my dream of sharing knowledge that was dying as I aged. She has saved my emotional fitness.

STAY STRONG

Thank you for all you do. Think calming thoughts, visualize calmness,  remember what matters and as always share and care.

Katherine

P.S. Fiona’s post resonates with this

This post resonates with the following Word Press Daily Prompt: Mirror, Mirror Look in the mirror. Does the person you see match the person you feel like on the inside? How much stock do you put in appearances?

Our answer, the best place to worry about appearances is inside your head. What the mirror says is but a small part of what matters about you.

LINKS OF INTEREST

• Visualizations  (en.wikipedia.org)
• Tibetan healing sounds (youtube.com)
• 12 Easy Emotional Fitness Exercises (amazon.com)
• Emotional Intelligence  (en.wikipedia.org)
• Daily Prompts (wordpress.com)