Move Your Body, Change Your Reality

Learn how to get clear about how your old, limiting beliefs may be keeping you from experiencing the life you want. Then, find out how to shift these beliefs and create new beliefs through simple, fun body movements.

 - Our beliefs create our reality. Our beliefs create our reality?! WELL THEN, we can create a new reality by simply changing our beliefs. Do we know what our beliefs really are though? Often, we’re not clear about our old, limiting beliefs �?those beliefs that we hold at a cellular level. We may confuse what we want to believe with what our cellular beliefs really are. Here’s an example: If I say that I am at peace, yet I am constantly experiencing turmoil, stress, conflict, then my cellular belief is one of turmoil or struggle. Life is a mirror of our beliefs, our thoughts, our feelings. If we look at what’s showing up in our life, we can get a clearer picture of the energy that we’re holding at a cellular level. If what is showing up is less that what we desire, then we may be holding on to old, limiting belief patterns without realizing it.

Where do these limiting beliefs originate? Some of our beliefs come from our family of origin. If we grew up hearing that life is a struggle, then, at a level usually beyond our conscious awareness, we believe that life is difficult. On a conscious level, life mirrors that belief. Many of our beliefs come from the energy of the mass consciousness. One of the most pervasive in our culture is that only by being frantically busy (therefore, chronically stressed) can we prove our worth. Take a look around. What do we see happening around us? We see adrenaline driven lives (adrenaline, the drug of choice in our culture), and it’s very easy for us to take on that energy as our own. Imagine what can happen if we all shift our beliefs!

So, how can we shift these beliefs at a cellular level so that they are truly what we want to believe? Here’s a process you can try. The first part of the process involves getting clear about what our cellular beliefs are. We do that by paying attention to physical, mental, and emotional reactions to belief statements. Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, and have your journal or paper and pen handy. Hold the intention that you are in a sacred space, your inner sanctuary. You may want to light a candle, perhaps have soothing music playing. Breathe slowly, deeply, and comfortably several times. Breathe as though you’re breathing in through the top of your head and the base of your spine at the same time. (You should feel your lower abdomen expand out.) Breathing in this way will fully expand your lungs. Feel yourself relaxing. Bring your awareness to your body. If any areas of tension or discomfort remain, breathe into those places and release the tension and discomfort with the exhalation. Feel yourself become perfectly centered and balanced. When you feel ready, using the example from above, say the following belief statements out loud, “I am at peace in any situation. All aspects of my life are peaceful and serene.�?Just allow yourself to experience anything that comes up for you while still breathing deeply and comfortably. Of course, you would choose statements that are specific to the belief that you are exploring.

Now, think about what you experienced when you said the statements out loud. Did you feel a physical response? What was it? Did you experience tightness or tension? Did you experience pain or any other discomfort? If you experienced any of these responses, can you isolate where in your body the sensation occurred? Or, did you feel relaxed and at ease? Did you feel good when you said the belief statement? Describe any physical response in your journal writing. Just do free-flow writing. Don’t censor your words in any way.

Next, think about any thoughts that may have come to you when you said the statements. Did you get something like, “Yeah, right.�?How about, “If I had another job, my life might be peaceful.�?Or, did you think, “Yes, my life is peaceful. I love my life.�?Write your thought responses. Again, don’t censor yourself.
Finally, did you have any type of emotional response? Did you experience anger, sadness, joy, love? What came up for you? Write about this as well.

You may have experienced a response in only one of the areas �?physical, mental, emotional �?or in more than one area. Or, you may not have been able to identify a response in any of the areas. This sometimes happens when we become very disconnected with ourselves. Just stop for now, and try the exercise again later. In the meantime, spend some time each day walking in nature or doing something like just moving to music �?even if only for a few minutes. Conscious movement helps to release energetic blocks.

Try this exercise with any belief that you desire to have. For example, if you want to believe that abundance is yours merely for the having, create an abundance statement such as, “Abundance is mine. My life is abundantly full simply by my being alive.�?What areas of your life seem to not be working as you would like? Begin working with these areas to identify the beliefs that you may be holding around these issues.

Now that you’re a little clearer about what your limiting beliefs are, you can do some bodywork to begin to shift them. When you work with your body patterns through movement and through energetic therapies as you are working to change your belief patterns, you enhance and accelerate the process at a cellular level. Shifting the energy at the physical level shifts the energy at all levels. I’m sure you’ve experienced this when you simply take a walk. Not only do you feel more energized physically, but you also feel clearer mentally and in a brighter mood emotionally. Here are two movement exercises that you can do to begin to shift your energy and allow in new beliefs. Do one or both of them for a few minutes each day. Allow yourself to laugh and have fun with them. Laughter accelerates the process even more.

The first: You will need a small ball about the size of a grapefruit. (If you want to avoid kicking the ball under the furniture, use paper that you’ve crumpled to that size.) Alternating feet, kick the ball around the furniture in a room. At the same time, state or sing the new belief that you want to bring into your cells. It’s important to alternate feet. It’s this crossover action that brings the right and left hemispheres of the brain into balance and allows change to occur more easily.
The second is another crossover exercise that adds a meridian component: First, with the tips of your first two fingers and thumb held together, tap just below the V-shaped notches of you collar bone on both sides (you can feel it as an indentation in each side). Tap about seven times. This helps to assure that your energies are moving in the right direction. Then, while standing, lift your right arm and left leg simultaneously. As you lift your arm and leg, swing them across the midline of your body. As you lower them, lift your left arm and right leg simultaneously swinging them across the midline. It will look like an exaggerated marching in place. As you are moving, again state or sing your new belief. You can read more about using movement to enhance positive change in the books listed below.

I suggest also adding a meridian therapy based on the Emotional Freedom Techniques. This type of therapy is simple to do and has been found to be highly effective in shifting emotional patterns. You may want to work with someone trained in these techniques.

Want to learn more? Try these resources:

Getting Through to Your Emotions with EFT by Jane and Phillip Montrose

http:// www. emofree.com

http:// emotionalfreedom.com

Energy Medicine by Donna Eden

The Fitness Instinct: The Revolutionary New Approach to Healthy Exercise that Is Fun, Natural and No Sweat by Peg Jordan

Sweat Your Prayers, Movement As Spiritual Practice by Gabrielle Roth

Have fun. Keep it light. Change your reality.
Namaste,
Janet Dudek, RN, CSLC, CHt

Janet has been a professional nurse for over thirty years and has an extensive background in clinical and administrative nursing practice as well as in various energetic healing approaches including healing touch and emotional freedom techniques. Janet has a private holistic healing and life coaching practice in Charlotte, NC, and works with clients in person and over the phone. Visit her web page at ...  jandudek.byregion.net

Janet Dudek, RN, CSLC, CHt

Charlotte, NC 28278