Laurie Stolmaker

Visualization comes more easily to some of us than others, but everyone can learn to use the focus of a vision to become a more powerful deliberate creator.

I am a very visual person. I see images and they are often emblazoned on my mind. This can be a liability for a “deliberate creator” because it means that I can easily vividly focus on what I don’t want. If you have a visual learning style, you may want to have a few tools for letting go of the images you don’t want to be focusing on and replacing them with the ones you DO want.

In the Abraham-Hicks teachings, they say “Look around less. Imagine more.” This is because when we keep looking at “what is”, we keep validating the current experience. Fine, when you like what you see, but what about when you are seeking improvement?

I noticed that I  have a very powerful ability to recall what I have seen and hold the image in my mind. How I turn that into an asset in deliberate creating is to use the power of my imagining to create even more vivid images than those I am currently looking at. Here are two ways to do that:

1. Find a memory with a vivid image that matches the way I want to be vibrating. In other words, I align my energy with a mental image that is powerfully positive and uplifting. To strengthen this image, I find the feeling that matches and amplifies the energy of the image. I step into this emotionally charged vision and live in it, right in this moment. The more I do this, the more real it becomes.

2. When there is no matching memory, I create one, in my imagination, and charge it with emotion. This can take some words to bring it to life. My favorite way is to script a scenario of what experiences I will be having as a result of the change. I write this as if it has already happened. The trick here, for me, is to forget about telling how I got there and go right to what it feels like to have arrived, the gratitude, the “rightness” of it and the ripples of other amazing results that came as a result of the manifestation I started with.

To keep things really simple, when an issue is really “charged”, just focus on feeling good!

Here’s a story about how to use focusing and the feelings that are generated to lift your vibration, even when you aren’t trying to create anything in particular. I focused on something as simple as a message from a friend and expanded it into a vivid emotional image that I can come back to for alignment.

Working in my studio yesterday, I missed a call from my friend, Val, who recently moved to a new town. What is it about having someone dear appreciate me, that feels so good? In her message, my friend said that she missed me and then that she misses the way she feels when she is with me. This is “Abraham speak”. Abraham-Hicks teaches that when we miss someone, we are really missing how we feel when we are around them.

We can access this feeling any time, really. So, while my friend is far away, I can think about her and feel how it feels to appreciate who she is and I become instantly aligned with my own inner being. Appreciating others is one way that I take the shortcut to feeling good whenever I want to shift out of negativity. I actually learned this as part of my HeartMath practice and I teach it to everyone who will listen!

So, when I got the call from Valerie, here’s what happened for me. I heard her voice, I pictured her in my mind, a smile came across my face as I remembered my appreciation for her. The message was lovely, too, of course, but the reason I could really feel and take in her appreciation was because I was already in the vibrational vicinity of it.  Love really does multiply and grow as we let it in. From this vibrational “vantage point”, it is easy to move into creating something specific, or I can just bask in the good feeling, knowing that more goodness is being attracted into my experience.

To bring yourself more into alignment with Source Energy and raise your vibration, have you ever considered “doing nothing”?

Yes, let’s talk about the forgotten art of resting. By resting I do not mean sleeping, nor is it about meditation. This is the art of, what I call “laying about”. It turns out that Americans, in particular, have a deficit in this area. We are a country of dreamers, of inventors, of entrepreneurs.

So, as you make yet another “to do” list in the endless quest for self improvement,  it might be a good time to ask: “When was the last time you just did nothing?” I don’t even mean curling up with a good book or puttering around in your jammies on a Saturday. I mean plunking yourself down and watching the fire blaze in your wood stove or sitting in a sunny window and watching the birds.

In my stress programs I help people to recall and re-experience moments that bring them joy, peace or appreciation. Just recalling such experiences is restorative! It also brings us into what Abraham-Hicks calls “The Vortex”. When we just BE and APPRECIATE, there is no experience of resistance or trying hard or pushing against things.

One of my best moments to appreciate and re-experience is the period shortly after the birth of my first child. Those who have cared for infants know, this is hardly a time of “not doing”. It was winter, cold and often rainy. My son had been born a bit jaundiced and I was told to leave him naked in the sun and the yellow tinge to his skin would clear up in a few weeks.

A blissful number of sunny days finally arrived, but it was still too cold to venture outside in a diaper! I set my rocking chair in a sunny window and rocked my son to sleep over my shoulder. As his body was warmed and healed by the sun, I was given the gift of doing nothing. While he slept, I simply rocked and felt the sun on my own body. To this day, I can recall the delicious warmth of the sun, the weight of my child, the smell of his baby body as I surrendered to being at rest.

If you resist the idea of rest, you are not alone. From every direction we are encouraged to make good use of our time, to be efficient and productive. For some, the closest we get to rest is zoning out in front of the TV. Yet, I think we are missing some of the restorative nature of true rest and the benefits of getting into alignment with our Source.

Would you like to give rest a try? Look for inspiration from your animal companions. They  live in alignment much more easily than we humans do and they will teach you what it means to rest. Or try putting a hammock or lounge chair out in the sun. Just sip some water or tea and watch the world go by. Think of it as an easy and free way to re-charge your battery.

The restorative power of rest is any easy one to tap into when you want to raise your vibration and attract more good into your life.

Have you noticed how everyone seems to be on the gratitude band wagon these days?

Perhaps you’ve even started a Gratitude Journal or go to bed saying what you are grateful for. But, do you know the reason behind being grateful? Below I have listed three reasons why the law of attraction is so responsive to your gratitude and how that supercharges your manifestations.

The Tradition of Thank You Notes

Reason #3- When I was a girl, my parents insisted I write thank-you notes when I received gifts from my elderly relatives. I was told that, if I didn’t thank them, they would stop sending me gifts. As a child I learned that my thank you note ensured that my relative knew how much I enjoyed the gift and made it more likely that I would be gifted again! As an adult, I thank the Universe for all the gifts I receive. This is a way of saying “Yes! I like this and will be happy to have more gifts of this type. Thanks for noticing what I enjoy.” When it comes to expressing gratitude, whether to a friend, an auntie or the Universe, it is important to let the giver know that you appreciated it.

Being a Good Steward of What You Have

Reason #2- Appreciation of anything is a good indicator that you will take appropriate care of it. Several abundance coaches have taught that even a penny, found on the ground, is cause for gratitude and celebration. Wealth coach, Sandy Forrester, tells that when she finds a coin on the ground, she picks it up and sqeals a loud and joyful “thank you” to the Universe. In this way, she sends the message that she is ready and able to take good care of the small things she receives. Would you entrust a million dollars to someone who squandered the money that they did have? The expression of gratitude is also like a promise: “I will take responsibility for this gift and demonstrate that I am ready for more.”

Feeling Good Creates More Good

Reason #1-Gratitude makes you feel good. This is probably the most powerful reason for being grateful. When you focus on the things you appreciate in your life, you raise your vibration to one of joy and that joy attracts more of that good feeling into your life. Gratitude and appreciation are very powerful vibrational attitudes. You can’t help but feel good when you are in the mode of gratitude. You also can’t focus on what you don’t want while you are focusing on what you love.

So, next time you remind yourself “I should write in my gratitude journal”, put some intention behind it. My intention sounds something like this.
“I have so much good in my life. I want the Universe to know how much I appreciate what I have. I feel grateful for the opportunity to tend to the gifts in my life and I am ready to accept even more good into my life. It feels so good to acknowledge all of my good. I love basking in the feeling of knowing that my life is full of abundant blessings.”

Before bed, my husband and I tell each other aloud- what we are grateful for. This is a lovely way to set ourselves up for a delicious sleep and positive dreams.

What are you grateful for? Gratitudes are a powerful way to immerse yourself in the goodness of what IS and what IS COMING.

Thoughts are vibration.
The vibration of thoughts creates allowing or resistance to what we have asked the Universe for. Once you ask for what you want, the Universe delivers. But, the way that you tune your thoughts affects your ability to allow your good results to come to you. That is how the law of attraction works.

Think of the aspect of you that is always connected and aware of your inner light and beauty, the part that is attuned to All That Is. When you are in the flow and aware of your divine nature, you will naturally feel awash with love and joy. This is when you are dialed in for allowing your results to arrive.

But, being in the world, by its very nature, is about experiencing challenges and opportunities to learn and expand. So, we are often faced with experiences that bring up frustration, disappointment and more. These situations are actually the source of the expansion of the Universe! By experiencing what we don’t want, we become clearer about what we do want, we imagine and explore and new thoughts create new things in the world.

This is why we are here, to be creators and designers of wonderful expansion in the world. So, the secret is to decide that the uncomfortable experiences are welcome. Of course, this is not always our first inclination. You can use the challenge as a jumping off point for feeling better, though.

By knowing what you don’t want, you can allow yourself to move your attention to what you do want. This is easiest if you start to recognize how you are feeling. Know that if you are having uncomfortable feelings, your thoughts can be gently nudged toward feelings that feel a little better. Gentle nudges work better than trying to go from a very low, unpleasant feeling to one that is very high. It is easy to move from hope to excitement. It would not be so easy to move from despair to excitement. Law of attraction is going to find similar vibrations to where you are currently vibrating. Inching a long by reaching for a thought that brings a little relief is the best way to improve your vibration.

How do you know if you are in the flow or not? You can tell by how you feel.

If you feel irritated, frustrated, angry, sad, discouraged, you may be focusing on what you don’t have, rather than what you have asked for. Sometimes it’s hard to tell by just naming the feeling. Anger can feel great, if you’ve been feeling sad, but not so great, if you have been feeling hopeful. That’s why “relief” is such a good indicator.

Sloppy thinking is when you notice that your thoughts don’t lead to gradually improved emotions and then you don’t do anything to change them. None of your thoughts are inherently bad. They are part of your response to the experiences you have in the world. What you do with the thoughts is the key. To continue to focus on thoughts that keep you feeling the same uncomfortable feelings is what I call sloppy thinking. To release yourself from a habit of sloppy thinking:

• Ask yourself if you are enjoying this thought
• Ask yourself if you keep repeating the same thoughts that you don’t enjoy
• Ask yourself what thought would feel just a little better
• Choose a new thought that you can easily embrace, one that lifts your emotions to create a sense of relief.

It doesn’t matter what others think of you or your thoughts or feelings. All that matters is that you experience relief. The law of attraction is working in all our lives. Choose thoughts that raise your vibration. You will naturally begin to attract like minded folks.

Slowly melt it away!
When you’ve struggled with something for a long time, your focus is on what you don’t like. This builds resistance. And with resistance
you actually create more of what you don’t want. You’ve probably heard the adage “what you resist persists”. And I am sure you can recall how tension, anger and frustration build, creating more and more resistance. When you have resolved tochange something in your life, it is not helpful to push against it.

So what can you do? Resistance can be released gently and gradually. Instead of focusing on what you don’t want or can’t have, you focus on what you do want. Whenever you notice that you might have gotten sloppy in your thoughts, you can notice resistance and reach for a feeling of relief by changing your focus to something that feels just a little better. Feel the resistance melt away as you turn your attention to better feeling thoughts. Your deliberate effort to find an improved vibration will open the door to more of what you desire because you will be releasing resistance and allowing yourself to connect with your own high vibrations.

A joyful journey of gratitude, celebration and inspired action. This video, inspired by the teachings of Abraham-Hicks, is my gift to help you to ease into success. Watch it daily for a jump start to an amazing day.