Ever wondered why one moment you’re happy as Larry and the next you’re Negative Nancy? Nothing much seems to have changed on the outside but it’s as if your inside has turned upside down!
How can something so small trigger us so big?
The truth is that it’s not the external circumstances which trigger us but our internal perception of them that ultimately sets us off.
So the question is, what shapes our perception?
Our genes are hugely important when it comes to shaping our physical and psychological attributes but it’s the environment which determines whether these genes are actually switched on or off.
So the effect of our environment in cultivating our mindset and perception cannot be underestimated!
What environment are we talking about?
Let’s rewind right back to the beginning. The beginning of our life!
Our very first environment is our mother’s womb.
Being 5 months pregnant myself (and taking 5 years to get here), I’ve been hugely interested in what’s happening with the growing baby inside my growing belly…
Did you know that a 6 month fetus can already hear, feel, sense, and even learn?
Research shows that the emotional health of our mother while she was pregnant with us has had a significant influence on our mental and emotional health as adults.
Now imagine how much influence our home, school, social, and cultural environment has had once earthside as babies, children and adolescents!
Let me explain…
Every time we were faced with some adversity, be it a strict parent disciplining us at home or a mean kid bullying us in the schoolyard, we make up a reason for why it’s happened and come up with a strategy to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Yet we don’t realise we’ve made this reason up. We mistake it as fact. Truth. Reality.
And our perception about ourselves, others, and the world is shaped in the process.
A perception which leaves an imprint deep in our psychology. Deep in our subconscious mind.
For example, I make up that the reason the kid bullied me is because I’m stupid. So to ensure I don’t get bullied again, I need to try really hard at school. So I study my butt off, achieve amazing grades in my end of school exams, get a great university degree and ultimately an amazing job at a top company.
One day, I rock up to work happy as Larry and open my inbox only to find an email from my boss containing constructive criticism about my latest project. In a second, I’ve transformed into negative Nancy. I’m fuming!
Why? Not because my boss criticised me, but because I perceive her criticism as a remark on my intelligence. She clearly thinks I’m stupid! And I’ve spent my life attempting to prove that I’m not. If I’m honest with myself, however hard I work and no matter what accomplishments I attain, I’m never satisfied. Why? Because I still have it that I’m stupid and I constantly need to prove myself.
So how do we break these predictable cycles?
We need to discover the imprints deep in our psychology and transform our mindsets right at the source.
We need to uncover all the assumptions we mistook as facts, the beliefs we mistook as truth, and the self-limitations we mistook as reality.
We then have the opportunity to unlearn and undo all the strategies we devised of how we had to behave that no longer serve us. We get to re-discover our true self, unleash our full potential and then express it powerfully to the world around us.
How do we do all this?
Effortless Meditation is the most powerful technique we know for catalysing this transformation.
Just by closing our eyes everyday and engaging our mind in an easy, enjoyable process, we automatically unwind pent up stress in our physiology and buried imprints in our subconscious mind.
Combined with active inner growth work, we catapult this transformation by shedding light on unproductive internal perceptions and learning targeted techniques to break these external reactions.
This is the philosophy behind all of our programs at Centred Meditation. In three-days on our Here & Now Retreat, six-weeks on our Centred Self program, or three-months on our Meditation Teacher Training courses, we go to work on fast-tracking your transformation through the potent combination of Effortless Meditation and Inner Growth work.
It’s the greatest journey of your life so don’t hesitate to take the next step with one of our programs now! 🙂
