This quarantine situation has led to a lot of very bad outcomes, with more negative consequences to come, I’m sure.
With that said, if you only focus on the bad, that’s what you’re going to see more of.
Just like when you buy a brand new car and then you start seeing that car everywhere you go. Seemingly everyone all of a sudden has the same car as you! Well, not exactly. The cars were always there, but now you’re hyper-aware of that particular car because you have one and you’re thinking about it more often.
Think about bad news, and that’s all you’ll see.
But the same goes for good news. If we simply shift our perception to looking for the good in situations, we’ll start seeing more of that. And what do you suppose happens to your overall outlook on life when you’re actively looking for good news and opportunities?
An opportunity that has come out of this quarantine for myself has been time in the morning to lock in a consistent meditation practice again.
I’ve been meditating off and on for 7 or 8 years now. My longest consistent stretch was around 220 days in a row. Since then, it’s been very sporadic and something that I continued to ignore.
When this lockdown hit and I had more time at home in the morning, I decided there was no more excuse to keep ignoring it. Now for the last month, I have consistently been meditating for 15-20 minutes every morning before I start my day.
There are plenty of meditation methods, and I’ve done them all at some point, but here’s my current practice. It’s based off Tony Robbins’ priming meditation and slightly modified.
Blue Phoenix Meditation
STEP 1 – Set Up
I sit in down in my chair by the window. If it’s a nice morning, I’ll open the window to let some fresh air come in. Then I put my headphones on and turn on my meditation music. I typically use either Brain.FM or Oak.
STEP 2 – Prepare
I take a couple nice big, deep breathes with my eyes open while I do a couple neck stretches and shoulder rolls before getting into position sitting straight up.
STEP 3 – Breathe
I close my eyes and do a breathing exercise. It’s hard to explain without a visual, so I’ll leave it at that for now.
STEP 4 – Visualize
I visualize a bright light washing over my entire body. Healing anything that needs to be healed. Strengthening anything that needs to be strengthened.
Then I visualize pushing that light across my neighbourhood, then the city, then the province, then the country and finally to the entire world.
During this I’ll also visualize my position in the world, then the world’s position in the solar system and the galaxy. This puts into perspective how small and insignificant we really are and how fortunate we are to simply be alive.
STEP 5 – Gratitude
I think of 3 specific things I’m grateful for. These things change every day, but it’s always:
1. One moment from my past that I’m grateful for. I try to put myself back into that moment and really feel the happiness of that moment and gratitude that the moment happened.
2. One person in my life that I’m grateful for. I try to picture being with that person and where they might be right now, thanking them for being a part of my life.
3. One small, simply pleasure. Sometimes this is the cup of coffee I’m about to enjoy or a warm breeze on a beautiful day or simply that moment.
STEP 6 – Visualize
I visualize 2-3 big outcome goals. For me, I’ll take time to visualize a big professional goal and a big personal goal. I picture myself having achieved these already and the actions it would have taken to get there.
STEP 7 – Let Go
Finally, I take a few moments to push everything out and clear my mind as much as possible. I try not to think about anything at all. I hold this for as long as I can. Sometimes that’s a few seconds, sometimes it’s up to a minute or two.
When I’m done, I bring my mind back into my present moment and my surroundings before opening my eyes, taking a couple relaxed breathes and moving into my day.
That might seem like a lot, but from start to finish this takes me between 15-20 minutes and gets my mind primed to see good and find opportunity.
Combine that with a couple cups of coffee and you’ll be unstoppable😉
Stay strong & live awesome, my friend.
Cam
When you’re ready, there are a couple ways I can help you…
1. Looking for home workouts? Download these 21 Bodyweight F.I.R.E. Workouts – 100% free.
2. Are you tired of struggling with your weight loss or frustrated with confusing and misleading information? Then it’s time to look into the Sustainable Weight Loss Coaching Experience, my 1-1 online coaching program – read more here.