As I sit here typing this, I’m sipping from my quiet-time mug. Got my legs crossed in my writing pose, my yoga block under my seat. My laptop’s moved into the spot it sits when I write.
This is sacred time.
And the words flow. Not only because the intention is set, but because the space is, too. Because I’ve gathered my ‘writing time’ objects and set the scene for what will inevitably unfold with ease.
Afterwards, I’ll move my laptop, put away the block I’m sitting on, and switch mugs.
It’s a little zany, maybe.
Rituals and Reactions
I have rituals for lots of things. Before I speak in front of a big group. Before I teach a yoga class. Before I create something–the new Shoot the Moon video series, or the latest addition to the 30-Day Happiness Challenges.
For creating, I make sure I feel good about how I look. Is it superficial? Maybe. Or maybe it’s more than that. Because when I feel good about how I look it impacts my confidence. And when I’m confident I don’t hold back.
I give it all.
I show up with everything I’ve got. I believe in myself and so I find a way to meet every challenge. I keep going, rising over self-doubt or technical glitches, eye on the prize: delivering something I’m proud of and excited about.
Before speaking, I listen to music that pumps me up. Music that I’ve played in a yoga class when we’ve been going strong. Music that reminds me that I’m strong. Then I go out there and touch people’s souls.
Everything incites a reaction, whether we notice it or not.
Subconscious Impact
Our subconscious remembers what we were doing the last time we heard that song, or held that mug, or sat down like that in that chair. And most of all, it remembers how we felt when we were doing it.
And we begin to feel that way again, whether we notice it or not.
My hunch is that this has a lot to do with context- and state-dependent memory. Basically, these terms refer to our innate ability to remember something better when we are in the same place we were in when we first did it, or learned it. Or our ability to better retrieve a memory when in the same state of consciousness we were in when we learned it.
Ever thought of something, then left the space you were in when you thought of it, only to forget it? And then gone back to the space you were in, and remembered it? That’s context-dependent memory at work.
Consciously Choosing What we Love
My hunch is that this plays out in a broader sense, too. It seems that we not only remember the same information when in the same place and state, but that we feel the same feeling-state when in the same place and state.
So if we want confidence, creativity, and ease we can consciously incite that reaction within ourselves. And there are lots of ways to trigger that reaction. Objects, movements, postures, music. Rituals. Routines.
Zany? Maybe.
Or maybe it’s magic at our fingertips.
TODAY
Notice what feeling-state your rituals or routines incite in you. Don’t think you have any rituals? Even the lack of ritual is a ritual. The unconscious race-through-everything with no time to spare morning routine. The racing to answer the phone no matter what it might be interrupting ritual. The constantly checking email ritual.
Awareness generates possibility. Become aware of your routines and rituals and how they impact your reaction to the experience. How do you want to react? Positive change is at your fingertips. Anything is possible.
TODAY’S TWEET
@lindsey_lewis: Even the lack of ritual is a ritual. #libreliving
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Thinking of you,
xL
how to incite confidence, ease, and creativity. | Lindsey Lewis
