What Do You Believe?

-Clara Bartow Legg

“We live our lives based on what we believe about our world, ourselves, our capabilities, and our limits.”

-Gregg Braden, The Spontaneous Healing of Belief

Last weekend I literally gobbled down Gregg Braden's new book, The Spontaneous Healing of Belief, reading it in two days. I couldn't put it down! Some of his previous books felt too "academic" or scientific, but this one seemed to flow very easily.

Needless to say, I've been thinking a lot about beliefs lately, and wanted to share a few thoughts with you on the topic.

Also.... there's a couple of new features I've started in this issue. One is the Subscriber Favorite Quote section. Many thanks to everyone who submitted quotes so far! Clara's quote was perfect for this issue - She and Gregg Braden were definitely on the same wave-length! Thanks Cory for sharing this with us. Find out the story behind the quote here. See Call for Quotes below to learn how to submit your favorite!

The other new feature is the Subscriber Special. If you'd like some assistance unwinding, relaxing, or de-stressing, this special is for you!

P.S. Be sure to check out the next Happy Seeds episode for the next subscriber quote. (To be posted Saturday, April 18.) I'll be talking about life purpose...

Rather listen to the audio of this newsletter?
Listen online or download the mp3 at the
Spiritual Coaching Center Blog.

Today’s quote comes from subscriber, Cory Lynn Kemp, author and founder of Creating Women Ministries. These wise words originated with her maternal grandmother (Clara Bartow Legg) and were passed down to Cory from her mother.

Cory writes, “Having heard these words from my grandmother through my mother for my entire life, I only realized recently that I have based my life work, helping people connect with and live their faith, on exactly what she was saying.”

Thank you, Cory, for sharing these words. They are right on the mark with the ancient wisdom and leading-edge research that Gregg Braden discusses in his book, The Spontaneous Healing of Belief.

Each month one product or service will be featured at a discount rate - an extra "thank you" bonus to my subscribers. This month's special feature is a Progressive Muscle Relaxation audio download to help you relax, unwind, and reduce stress!

In this 20 minute meditation, you are guided to sense, tense, and then relax each muscle group in your body, one group at a time. Throughout the meditation, you are asked to focus on how each group feels when it is tensed and how it feels when it is relaxed.

Practicing this kind of body awareness helps you counteract the first signs of muscular tension that accompanies stress. As your body relaxes, so does your mind. When the meditation is over, you are left with a feeling of calm in your body, mind, and spirit.

Call for Quotes - Do you have a favorite quote you'd like to share? I'm looking for quotes to use in these issues as well as for my Happy Seeds episodes. Those selected will get a special mention in the ezine or podcast, wherever it's used, as well as a link to your website if you have one. Just send me an email and include this information:

For centuries, the new moon has been a time for planting seeds. Come join us and plant your seeds of intention and desires. Propel your dreams and goals forward with the support of group energy. Experience a simple yet powerful new moon guided meditation that you can use throughout the month.

Want to dig deeper into your beliefs? - If you would like support in working through recurring patterns, limiting beliefs, or simply want a deeper understanding and insight into your beliefs, please send me an email. I would love to talk with you.

Our beliefs are the foundation of our lives. Nearly everyone would agree with that. The big question though is….

As Gregg Braden states in his book - and I agree - fundamentally, our beliefs come from our up-bringing. They come from our parents and other key people in our lives. We also absorb them from religion, science, history, and our culture.

Have you heard the saying, “children are like sponges”? Well they are (and we were too) all through the first 7 years of our lives.

Research shows that our brains are in a hypnogogic or dreamlike state up until we reach the age of seven. In this state, our mind quite literally soaks up everything it can about our surroundings. Additionally, at this point in our lives, we haven’t developed filters or any sort of discernment to help us know what is appropriate and what is not. To us, it’s all just information to be recorded and stored - everything – including biases, judgments, behavior patterns, and the likes and dislikes of those around us, particularly those of our primary care givers.

So in a very real sense, our beliefs – those things that serve as the cornerstone of our lives and the essence of our capabilities and limits - are based on what other people tell us.

History shows us many examples of “beliefs” that were accepted as truth, and when they were proven wrong, really upset a lot of apple carts. Here are a few:

The sun revolves around the earth
1700's

The Earth is flat
Middle Ages - although, 4th Century BC Greeks
were first to question this

Pluto is a planet
August 24, 2006

The amazing thing about the first two (the sun revolves around the earth and the earth is flat) is that there are still people today who are arguing that it's true! No kidding! Type in "sun revolves around the earth" or "earth is flat" and do a web search yourself.

ANYWAY...... The point is we WERE influenced early in life - which is not necessarily a bad thing. But the important thing to keep in mind here is that we were influenced by EVERYTHING - the good, the bad, AND the ugly. Our subconscious minds soaked all of it up as truth.

The conscious mind is where we analyze and process information, then make plans for what to do with it. Our subconscious mind, on the other hand, doesn't "think" about things. It simply reacts. In computer analogy, as Gregg uses throughout his book, the subconscious mind is the "hard drive" of the brain simply doing it's job - endlessly collecting information. It stores everything we experience in our lifetime. It also keeps a cross-referenced log of how we felt and what we thought about each event.

It's estimated that 90% of our daily lives are directed from the subconscious level - with some of this, of course, being the basic functions that keep us alive like breathing, heartbeats, digestion, etc. However, It also includes our subconscious habits and beliefs - those that are life-affirming as well as those that are limiting us in some way.

So periodically, it's not a bad idea to dig beneath the surface of our subconscious mind to discover what 7-year-old's "truths" we are operating from. Once we do that, we can discern whether or not these things are still true for us today as adults. Then we can consciously choose to keep them, or discard them, or choose to trade them for more healthy, life-affirming beliefs.

"Almost universally, the experiences that cause people to feel stuck have roots in what are considered negative beliefs that we acquire early in life. And it's precisely because they're subconscious that it's often difficult for us to see them in ourselves." -Gregg Braden

The following exercise is from Gregg Braden's book, The Spontaneous Healing of Belief. It is designed to help you begin to identify the subconscious impressions and beliefs that were formed while you were a child, and to explore how these themes or patterns might be playing out in your life today. As you answer the first four questions, use single words, concise adjectives, or short phrases.

This exercise is a simple tool to help you identify general patterns of your beliefs, which, as Mr. Braden says, are by-products of our memories, perceptions, judgments, and desires. For more detailed information on what this exercise tells you, please see his book, The Spontaneous Healing of Belief, page 95-96. This exercise is found in chapter three, "From Brain to Mind: Who's Running Our Belief Factory?"

You can learn more information about Gregg Braden here or purchase the book from Amazon here.

About My Practice

Create a Happy 'Tude is published monthly on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Its purpose is to inspire and motivate readers to keep a happy, healthy, prosperous attitude by providing articles, exercises, tips and resources.

Spiritual Coaching Center specializes in helping clients move past their fears, discover their true selves, and get on with the passionate pursuit of their dreams. If you are ready to stretch beyond your current limits and create a more authentic, happier life for yourself, I would love to talk with you. Send an email or call 256-348-5236 to set up a free Discovery Session.

My personal mission is to tell the truth, to live with integrity, to be my real, authentic self, and to inspire others to do the same. If I can help bring a smile to someone's face, offer a different perspective, or inspire just one person to get a move on, then I will have taken one more step toward fulfilling my purpose in life.

- Becky Waters, Life Wellness Coach

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