Your imagination is the ability to visualize, think of or feel a sense of something that isn’t currently perceived through the senses.
We all use our imagination as children, but it seems that as time goes on we begin to use our imagination less and less. For some of us we become too busy with other things and we don’t find time for ourselves. The good thing is that using our imagination can be easy and enjoyable when we do not perceive it as hard work. When was the last time you took some time to sit and imagine?
Maybe now is a good time to put this practice in use again. You may even have a few images or scenes that you’d like to imagine right to begin with. You might want to imagine a beautiful day, a loved-one smiling, a vacation destination etc. etc. No matter what it is that you would like to imagine, I would like to help you more fully access your power to visualize it, make it seem real, and create it. It’s truly amazing the extent to which we can create our own imaginings and the depth of these imaginings. Not only can we visualize scenes and stories but we can create them in detail, in amazing and elaborate depth, and in color. We can imagine fictitious dramas, technical plans, or escapes to another realm all within our own determination. When you think about it, many of the great works we take in on various mediums such as television, the radio, the cinema, books, etc. were created by the collective human imagination. So the question remains, how do we put our imagination to use?
1. Decide – the first step to take is to decide. You and only you have the power to unlock your ability.
2. Stop – the next step is to stop. Stop taking in content on various mediums and just let yourself “Be”. It is when we stop taking in content that we are most able to produce our own.
3. Create – you may now create whatever you would like. You could create anything or nothing (no-thing). While you are imagining, be sure to feel good. After all, life is perfect just the way it is.
4. Enjoy – using your imagination is fun. Rejoice in your ability.
5. Repeat – repeat, repeat, and repeat some more. Continue to use your imagination as much as you’d like and whenever you’d like.
Creative visualization is a practice of using our imaginings to consciously create change. Creative visualization is a powerful practice. More and more I have been using the power of creative visualization consciously. I say consciously because we create all the time even when we are not aware of it. When I consciously create there are often changes that take place in many different ways. When I notice these changes, I cherish and acknowledge them. My ability excites me so I would like to share my practice with you.
Feel Good
You have the power to use creative visualization to consciously create. It is as easy as deciding how you would like to feel and visualizing whatever you’d like. You can use my five steps for using your imagination, but I would like to highlight a very important part. Be sure to feel good about what you would like to create. When you incorporate your feelings, you are more fully accessing your power by aligning Body, Mind, and Spirit.
Practice
Practice creative visualization a few times a day. Your ability to create will astonish you. You will likely notice small changes at first but the big ones will come too.
Be Brave
Often times there will be an opportunity to create the change you seek and it will be difficult to do. The opportunity will arise from your newly created reality through your imaginings. For example, perhaps in the past you were someone who frequently resisted many things in your life. Then through creative visualization you decided to make a change. You decided to acknowledge and cherish the many positive things in your life, feeling good about them. Over time, you begin to have new opportunities come into your life. These opportunities will come as a result in the shift in the way you are choosing to be. At first you may not know how to handle all these new and great things as they come into your reality. This is okay and is to be expected. Remember, to effectively create the change you seek, it will often require bravery. Bravery will be required because you are moving out of your old habits and into a new choice about who you are.
Below is my list of 30 Simple Ways To Express Joy. Joy is a state of being so I titled the post accordingly. You can be joyful doing anything. My list is merely a collection of ideas I’d like to offer you. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments.
1. Be in The Moment – Become aware of your surroundings and accept the current circumstances. When you are fully present you will notice that there is nothing but “Now”.
2. Sing- Hum or sing along to any song that resonates with your truest self. Personally, I’m not the greatest singer but that doesn’t stop me from having some fun every now and then. Singing is a great way to tap into a more joyous state of being.
3. Laugh-”Laughter is the best medicine”, don’t forget to laugh every now and then. Not only does laughing feel good but it also has scientifically proven benefits such as relaxing the body and boosting the immune system.
4. Forgive- When you forgive someone you celebrate the unity and oneness of life. You let go of past hurt, allow another to be free, and acknowledge the present. Forgiveness is an act of love.
5. Give- There are many ways you can give. You can volunteer yourself by offering your time and effort. You could also donate money to a charity or in support of a cause. Sometimes the best gift you can give is your presence.
6. Smile- Along with laughter, smiling also has proven medical benefits. It can help you to change your mood and smiling is said to be contagious 
7. Be Grateful- Express your care and appreciation for anything in your life, especially the things which you may normally under-appreciate. Feel the gratitude deep inside of yourself.
8. Feel Good About Yourself- It’s easy. Just decide that you want to feel great and then do it. I also enjoy working out in order to feel good. It keeps my body in shape as a reflection of my health.
9. Cry-Allow yourself to cry. Whether you cry tears of joy or sadness, it is okay to let out your emotions. Sometimes crying is the best remedy to feel joyful.
10. Write-Writing allows you to record and process your current thoughts and emotions. You get all your feelings down and are always able to refer back to your writing.
11. Listen- If you are not too keen on singing, you can still listen and enjoy the beauty of music. Another way to listen is to offer your ears to someone who wants to talk.
12. Teach- Provide your guidance, support, help, wisdom and experience to someone.
13. See the Perfection- Cherish your life. Even the things you may not appreciate are a part of the perfection. (How To See The Perfection of Everything)
14. Commune With Nature- Go on a walk by the beach. Take a hike up a mountain. Garden. Meditate under a tree. Celebrate and connect with the energy of life.
15. Dance- Learn a new dance or perform an old one with friends. Bodily movement can be a great expression of joy.
16. Sleep- Enjoy the refreshing feeling of a full night’s sleep. Know that you deserve it.
17. Cook or Clean- Cook a new recipe and make a nice meal for your family. Tidy up and organize your belongings. Clean with a friend and have a good time doing it.
18. Take Things One At a Time- Deal with things one at a time so you can fully appreciate them for what they are. Do not think ahead to the next thing until you have finished the first.
19. Take a Walk- Enjoy some fresh air outside. Consider walking alone, with friends and family members, or with the family pet.
20. Relax- Enjoy some time alone without any distractions. Take some time each and every day to relax.
21. Play- Enjoy a relaxed game or just play around.
22. Draw or paint- Artistically express your feelings through drawing or painting.
23. Breathe- Take a few deep breaths in and feel your diaphragm expand as you take in the air. Then let it all out, releasing any tension you may have.
24. Dream- Take some time to dream. When you dream you allow yourself to access a realm of limitless potential.
25. Explore- Explore a new subject or or go on an adventure of some sort. For you that may mean something as simple as taking a bicycle ride or venturing on a ride out of town.
26. Be Intimate- Have a warm and friendly interaction with someone.
27. Create and Re-create- Use your ability as a human to create and re-create whatever you may choose.
28. Be Friendly- Start a friendly conversation. Say “Hi” to everyone you meet one day.
29. Be Hopeful- Re-invest in hopefulness and positivity.
30. Be Fascinated- Find something that amazes you and learn about all its intricacies.
Comments? Please share.
The Law of Least Effort is the fourth spiritual law listed in the book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams
In Deepak’s words, “This law is based on the fact that nature’s intelligence functions with effortless ease and abandoned carefreeness. This is the principle of least action, of no resistance. This is, therefore, the principle of harmony and love. When we learn this lesson from nature, we easily fulfill our desires.”
The Law of Least Effort is the idea that fulfillment is easy to achieve when we we act out of love and unity. This is because love creates the least resistance to the natural flow of things. On the other hand, when we act selfishly and attempt to satisfy the ego, it is much more difficult to feel fulfilled.
Why and How it Works
Part of the reason why this law works has to do with the way we are perceiving our reality. When we make changes to our interior reality (changing the way we are feeling) our exterior reality then shifts to reflect our inner reality. So when we act out of oneness and truth, instead of acting solely for satisfaction of the ego, we notice a shift. Things become easier to experience with less expended effort. At the same time, there are changes to the things that make us feel fulfilled as we change our awareness. We may find fulfillment in something as simple as stillness, where as before we may have sought exterior sources of happiness.
One of the easiest ways to observe The Law of Least Effort in our everyday life is to observe nature’s intelligence at work.Anything in nature is an example of the law in action. Think of how a tree grows, does the tree have to struggle to grow or does it happen naturally? Think of an animal breathing, does it need to think to breathe? The obvious answer is no. These events happen naturally without any effort. The tree grows and the animal breathes with no struggle. There is no resistance so the needs are met easily and with no effort required.
The Law of Least effort is truly amazing. Prior to writing this post, I had been noticing this law at work in my life in an increasing number of ways. The less I thought about a “problem”, the easier it was to come up with a solution.The less I perceived a situation as a “struggle” the easier it was to change it. Sometimes I would have a solution to another “problem” just through acceptance of the present moment.
The Law of Least Effort can be applied in your everyday life by using the three principles outlined by Deepak in his book
Acceptance
Acceptance comes with making a decision. It is your choice to decide that every occurrence is happening perfectly just the way it is happening. Accept the fact that the universe is flawless just the way it is. In your acceptance you reduce the resistance you are creating.
Responsibility
Responsibility is the next principle of the law. Responsibility means not looking for a reason to blame anyone or yourself for the current situation. When you are responsible you see the situation as an opportunity to display your truest self to the world and recreate in love. You know that every situation is part of the perfection of it all.
Defenseless
Defenseless is the third principle used to apply the law. Defenselessness is important because it allows you to free up energy that is wasted on defending your opinions and points of view. You will no longer argue to defend yourself. Instead you will be open and flexible to listen to other points of view. If you present your opinion and others disagree, you will not feel a need to defend yourself.
All in all, you can let your intentions out into the universe and know that they will eventually come to fruition, when and if the time is right. Your intentions will be one with nature’s intelligence.
Weight Loss and The Law Of Least Effort
Weight-Loss is one very practical application of the Law of Least Effort. When we are attempting to lose weight, we often put a lot of energy into a perceived struggle. We may view ourselves as battling against our desire to eat unhealthy or even in a battle against a false identity. We may feel that it is going to be a hard fight for us to “win”. What we may not realize is that when we do this we are actually making it harder for ourselves to lose weight. To quote Sonia Johnson, “What we resist persists”. As we view it as a fight, it then becomes a fight and the weight loss becomes difficult. We get caught up in the idea of the battle.
When we apply the Law of Least Effort in this situation, weight loss actually becomes easy and effortless. Instead of feeling as if we are struggling, we solely connect to our true self and know the wants and needs of our body. We know what’s going to be best for our self and we do it. Also, we feel the great energy that is inside of us and we feel healthy. Health can not be overpowered by our resistance anymore.It just may happen that you may lose a lot of weight using this law and you may not even realize it. In fact, you may not remember or feel that you lost a lot until someone comments and reminds you.
Money and The Law of Least Effort
It is also very easy to observe the Law of Least Effort in action with money. When you are not focused on how much money you can spend, you may notice that you more frequently have money to spend. Also,when you are not focused solely on making money, and instead focus on what’s important, you will make more money. For example, with your blog, if you solely focused on monetizing it and spent no time writing content, you wouldn’t have a very profitable blog. However, if you instead focus on the real purpose of your writing and what you would like to accomplish, the money will come.
To quote, “Don’t chase the money, chase the dream”.
In any case, I have found that when we act out of love and release our resistance through whatever means, what happens is truly remarkable.
Comments?
More examples of nature’s intelligence at work?
Please Share.
Beliefs Sponsor Actions
Your beliefs about something sponsor how you act. For example, if you believe on some level that you are not worthy of living a long and wondrous life then you will make choices that demonstrate this to the world. However, if you believe that you deserve to treat your body with respect and care then your actions will demonstrate this instead.
Love Yourself and Love Life
Therefore, in order to live a longer life, you must first love yourself and love life. Once you are able to love yourself and love life, all else will follow. You will begin to make changes in your life that demonstrate your new way of living, your new attitude, your new Being. The great part is that this is not a long process at all but rather it is an immediate one. You may choose right now to start valuing what you have, to start being thankful for your life and to see the perfection and the beauty in all things.
Changes As a Result
Once you decide this, your old habits will naturally change. You will no longer smoke, eat unhealthy foods or abuse your body. Instead, you will cherish your body and take care of it. You will respect yourself and it will be easy to make the right choices. You may not even have to think about making these choices anymore. Instead, you may choose to express your joy and love of life through certain activities like exercising or just being with your body in practices like meditation. These practices will result from your beliefs about who you are and your value of life.
Raising Your Awareness
Yes, this change will come immediately following your new beliefs about yourself and about life. However, I agree that it may take some time to be able to get to this higher place of awareness. The first thing I would recommend is that you start to be very conscious of your surroundings and totally immerse yourself in the current moment. Let your thoughts come but just accept that they are there and don’t judge them. Focus on your breathing and your senses in any moment.
A heightened awareness may help you to be at peace with the current situation you are dealing with and not resist it. In addition, it will help you to get in touch with your whole Being, including your body and spirit and not just your mind. When you start to live in connection with your whole Being you will notice great changes in your life.
A Place of Knowing
You may eventually get to the point when you are so aligned with your whole Being that you will know your body’s needs on a very deep level. At this point, you may not have to think about how you are treating your body. You will just know what is good for your body and what is not.
Three States of Being To Embrace
1. Be at peace
2. Be loving
3. Be joyful
You can embrace these states of being to bring health into your life.
When you are in harmony with these three states of being, health will be easy to have because it will be a reflection of how you are Being.
When you want to experience one of these states, just do it. It is not necessary to think about doing it. When you want to be at peace, be at peace. When you want to be loving, be loving. Decide to giive yourself to others and give others back to themselves. When you want to be joyful, be joyful. Smile, laugh and know that you deserve to be joyous about life.
