Letting go of negative thoughts, feelings and beliefs can be life changing, and The Sedona Method® has been recognized worldwide as one of the simplest and fastest ways to do so. My good friend, Nicole Lawrence, recently introduced me to its methods of actually letting the feelings come up, and verbally agreeing to let them go, in the present moment, NOW. Instructing your body to release the stress and tension associated with a "feeling" works much more quickly than mentally trying to deal with your emotions - you'll just keep rationalizing your anger or fear.

To watch a great introduction to the method, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpoTppJFULU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Link to see the movie online or purchase the DVD:http://www.lettinggo.tv/

I find this method works well with balancing the heart chakra, letting go of negative emotions and beliefs, and opening to love and compassion.
Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries
http://www.thechakras.org

I would love to get some feedback on the love triangle in The Chakra Diaries for a screenplay being written.  I've lowered the price for a short time on Amazon.com: the KINDLE is on sale for just $2.99; the paperback for $8.99.  All those who email in a comment by July 31 will be put into a drawing for a fabulous week-long stay at Hale Haumea cottage on the Big Island of Hawaii (see www.VRBO.com/90588), with a yoga class included at Kalani Oceanside Resort. 
Namaste!  Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries
www.thechakras.org

As a daily tune-up to stay positive and goal-oriented on your way to manifest your dreams, say each of these affirmations while you move through your day.

Say them aloud and in your mind until you can feel the reality of them in your body. Come back to them every day, for as long as you like:

I free my natural genius to create my magnificent life.
I commit to becoming aware of the unconscious patterns that limit me.
I discover the essential questions of my magnificent life.
Blessings flow in the parts of my life I used to complain about.
With ease, I turn all my heart’s desires into reality.
I love as much as I can, wherever I happen to be.
I wonder about all the things I used to worry about.
Life flows easefully as I speak honestly and keep my agreements
impeccably.
I look for things to appreciate wherever I go, and I speak my
appreciation liberally.

When you are grounded and self-confident, it's easy to manifest more wonderful things in your life. So, listen to the free Chakra Meditation at www.thechakras.org on a regular basis and see the difference positive affirmations and visualizations can create in your life.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries
www.TheChakras.org

With all this talk of manifesting your goals, how do you actually accomplish
conscious manifestation? There are many ways - here is advice gleaned from Gay Hendricks.

Manifestation begins to happen after you’ve become skilled at focusing positively on your goals (stage one) and loving yourself as you proceed toward them (stage two.)

Stage three is to cultivate an ongoing experience of wonder.

As you go through your life, get in the habit of asking lots of
wonder-questions. A wonder-question is one you don’t know the answer to.
A wonder-question is something you’re genuinely curious about.

When a tough situation emerges, go toward wonder rather than
toward a fixed position. If you’ve been struggling with your weight all your
life, shift for a moment to wonder instead of struggle. Ask a wonder question:
“Hmmm, I wonder what my weight-struggle is really about?”
(Compare that to a non-wonder question: “Does Jenny Craig or Weight-
Watchers have the best program?”)

Wondering is more fun and it makes things work faster. If we’d
gotten stuck in feeling victimized by our buyer who backed out, we wouldn’t
have had much fun. We might not have gotten the house back on the
market and sold it quite so quickly, either.

You can turn any life-situation into a wonder-question. If you’re
having a relationship struggle, let go of blaming your partner or yourself.
Instead, wonder “Why would I be creating a relationship struggle right
now?”

If you’re having a money-struggle, turn it into a wonder-question:
“Hmmm, what am I needing to learn from this money-struggle?”

Under stress, we humans tend to clutch our bellies in fear and cling to
fixed positions. We look for somebody to blame. We think we know whose
fault it is and what they ought to do to fix the problem.

Let’s try something new: Under stress, go to wonder rather than fear.
Let go of positions and float free in wonder.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries
www.TheChakras.org

Relationship experts and Huna philosophers all think blame and criticism is the #1 reason why relationships fail. Most couples split up, family members stop talking or business partnerships fail because one or both of the parties gets tired of being blamed or criticized.

What is the best and quickest way to stop it?

When you're blaming someone, what you're really doing is pointing the finger at them and saying "Hah! It's your fault. You're wrong." Then, that person typically comes back and says, "No, it's your fault..." and this can go on in an endless loop.

To radically shift out of a blaming consciousness in 1 minute or less, try this tip from Gay & Katie Hendricks:

When you catch yourself starting to blame or you're having critical thoughts about your partner or colleague, make a pleasant "Hmmm...." sound. And what this does is it shifts you out of your "critical" brain into your "wonder" brain.

So, you can say to yourself, "Hmmm... I wonder what I could learn from this." Or "Hmmm... I wonder how I'm contributing to this situation."

When you do this from a place of sincere wonder, then an immediate change takes place in your connection with the person you were previously blaming or criticizing.

Try this the next time you have a critical thought, and watch real miracles open up in your relationships! And of course, work on keeping your heart chakra open to love and compassion - listen to my free Chakra Meditation at www.thechakras.org.
Namaste! Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

When you're caught up in an argument with your partner, family member or colleague, typically, you're locked into anger and thinking you're right and the other person is wrong. If this happens often, work on balancing your solar plexus and heart chakras to be more confident and loving.

Or change your own presence and state in the disagreement. As Einstein said, "You can't solve a problem on the same level you created it."

So, here's what to do the next time you're in an argument with someone you love, even when you know you're right:

First off, see if you can get in touch with what you might be afraid of. (Underneath our anger, there's always some kind of fear.)

Acknowledge to your partner that you're afraid. When you go from saying what you're angry about to saying what you're scared about, it shifts the whole tone of the conversation.

Take a deep breath and say something like: "I'm afraid we're not going to get through this. Or I'm afraid you'll leave me."

Sometimes you don't know what the fear is about, so you can just say: "I'm afraid, and I don't know what I'm afraid about. "

When you say "I'm scared," it instantly creates a connection with your partner, and you're able to shift out of the argument just like that. And, THEN you have the opportunity to bring the conversation to a new, more loving and conscious level.

Thanks to Gay & Katie Hendricks for this wonderful advice on Conscious Partnering.
Namaste! Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

“I am able to hear and express the voice of my soul.”

As you have balanced your lower four chakras, you have come to know who you are, how to interact with others, feel confidence, and love. Now, when you balance the throat, or fifth chakra, you are able to communicate your truth. Put your glorious self out for the world to hear your creative self-expression.

The Throat Chakra is associated with communication, the ability to speak honestly, to receive and process information, to know and speak our inner truth. It is the center of transformation and change.

Signs of an unbalanced Throat Chakra are an inability to express yourself, feeling stagnated, and holding on to unexpressed emotions. This can lead to frustration, inability to find the right words or even excessive talking, shyness, sore throat, stiff neck, and addictions like smoking.

When the Throat Chakra is balanced, we feel creatively inspired and able to express ourselves well. We have confidence in our beliefs and the self-confidence to share them, and the capacity to listen to others and truly hear them as well.

YOGA POSES FOR THE THROAT CHAKRA
Add these poses to your yoga repertoire to open the throat chakra:
the Half Shoulder Stand, Shoulder Shrugs and Circles, and the Fish.

THE THROAT CHAKRA MEDITATION
The healing green light of the heart chakra moves up the spine to the throat, where it becomes a beautiful sky blue. Breathe in the blue light, then fill your lungs and let your throat open wide and sing whatever tone or note feels right… AAAH!  You know what to say and what not to say, how to communicate well. Feel yourself singing out clear energy, loving notes, healing vibrations for yourself and the entire universe. Make yourself heard and listen well to the love that returns to you.

Tony, the character in The Chakra Diaries, is unable to connect with women – everything he says is taken the wrong way, until he balances his Throat Chakra. Learn more about his transformation, during our June sale of The Chakra Diaries both on Amazon.com and our direct-from-the publisher specials for international readers.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

"The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't being said."

When your partner or spouse yells at you, or expresses anger for no apparent reason, do you internalize it and feel you're somehow at fault?

Someone I counsel was recently having this problem and I asked her, "Have you asked what is going on with him, rather than wondering if his anger is really about you?"

Often, the people in our lives respond in ways that simply baffle us.  In such situations, we may think, "He's so unreasonable." "He must have had a bad day at work." Or we have a tendency to tell a story about what we think was behind the other person's action. We spend a tremendous amount of energy wondering what the other person was thinking, blaming him, and feeling, sad, hurt, angry, and resentful. I have seen people in pain for years because they never took a moment to ask for clarity.

I suggest a new process from a method called Non Violent Communications. Engage your curiosity by asking what is going on with the other person. For example, "You know, when you expressed your anger just now, I felt baffled. I'd like to know what exactly what is going on." Notice that this statement doesn't place blame on either party. It simply expresses your confusion and your desire for more information. Usually, the minute we ask for more information, we get it. It's simple, really. We can either wonder about what's going on with the other person, create our own stories about it, or inform ourselves by asking.

As we balance our chakras, especially our heart and throat chakras, we can come from a place of non-judgment and truly communicate our feelings without anger and arguing, which is such a waste of our energy.

Thanks, Becca, for your recent post on being in the moment, the only time one can experience happiness. Any other suggestions?
Miss-step

Dear Missy,
Having just finished a Hawaii Health Getaway on "The Art of Stress Management," I would first of all suggest lowering your stress level. Excess stress can put a damper on even the best conditions and create tension in your body that can lead to pain, and excess cortisol levels that can lead to a host of health problems. Therefore, if you're in a state of chronic stress, it's much more difficult to enjoy life. Find a stress-reliever you can incorporate into your life on a daily basis, e.g., deep abdominal breathing, yoga, meditation, relaxing in nature, and finding time to nurture yourself.

On the physical level, keep yourself healthy, an important criteria for happiness. Explore healthier nutrition, as well as a green lifestyle where you are not exposed to the toxic chemicals in fragrance products, household cleaners, pesticides, etc.  Despite the ad claims, these chemicals can cause depression and damage your nervous system and skew your hormone levels. Choose natural alternatives whenever possible.

If you feel emotional stress, let go of any anger about the past or fear about the future.

If you feel mental stress, give up criticism of yourself, and anyone or anything else. Focus on what you like, what you love, what does make you happy and ignore the rest.

On the spiritual level, find a purpose or meaning to your life. People are generally happier when they're living a life of meaning. Perhaps volunteer to a cause that you believe in - whether you have the time or money to donate to a cause, there are so many in need around the world, so many organizations with worthwhile goals.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries