Sometimes we know exactly what we should be doing - but we are not doing it. Yesterday I talked with a friend on sabotage and how nice it would be to be able to clone our sensible parts. How they would kick us to bed on time, take our cookies away and generally help us to do right thing.
Sabotage is usually very hard to overcome, because we are so divided. A part of us wants to heal and move forward, yet another part of us is urging us to postpone healthy decisions, hide in addictions or deflect energy into less useful actions. So today, I'm going to talk about a useful exercise to find some direction and help yourself.
When is the Healing Voice Exercise useful?
When you are feeling that too much energy is going into things, people or actions that aren't healthy for you. While it's hard to stop such behavior on your own (in my practice I've helped a lot of people overcome addictions and unhealthy behavior) in the immediate moment, reflection and analysis can help you.
Since everybody has sabotaging behavior, I recommend that you do this exercise at least once a year.
What do you need for this exercise?
- A pen and paper
- Around 30-50 minutes of undisturbed time
Take a deep breath and center yourself. Image yourself in a bus - in the back are a lot of passengers who are all parts of yourself. Find The Healing Voice and call it to the front of the bus. This part of you knows what is most right for you, what actions you should take, what path is perfect. Allow this part of you to drive the bus.
Put your pen towards the paper and write everything that comes into your mind unto the paper.
Step 2: Action
Some people will have found themselves writing things that they hear in their head quite often: "You should sleep more", "Put down the phone and stop this conversation as it's not right for you", "You should start exercising" etc. etc. While other parts of what you have written might surprise you.
Carefully consider each and every instruction that you have been given. Does it feel right to you? Does it feel difficult to do? After considering each piece of advice, decide upon which action you are willing to make and what reward you will give yourself.
For example:
A piece of advice that says you should exercise more could be accompanied by the action to start looking for a sport you like or to invest in 30 minutes of a walk each evening. A reward might be that after 7 walks you can give yourself a little gift or spoil yourself with some free time.
Step 3: Revisiting
After a month or two, revisit the advice you got and the actions you took. If you did manage to do the things, what have they brought you? If you are unable to implement those actions in your life, what has gone wrong? Where your goals to high? Did you need some extra healing before you can commit and if so, where would you get it?
Enjoy this exercise and the healing it brings!