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Welcome to Tuesday Tips, a weekly compilation of ways to practice positive thinking. This week I’ve been inspired by all things witchy—Harry Potter, healing potions, lucid dreams and spellcasting. In life we have the opportunity to use magick—not stage magic like Criss Angel—but “the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will,” as Aleister Crowley puts it. Your thoughts have power, and by practicing deliberate thinking, you can create miracles in your reality as if wielding a magick wand. Below are some of my favorite magick tricks that make my life easier and more fun.
1. Create change.
If you want things to be different, make peace with what is. As soon as you’re happy being where you are, what you want will flow into your experience. You’ll be all, “oh man, just when I was happy with what I had!” To practice this trick, use the mantra “I’m so happy with what I have” or “I’m at peace with what is.”
2. Manifest specifics.
If you want something, imagine what it will feel like when you get it, then don’t think about it ever again. Trust that life is bringing it to you, and you don’t have to lift a finger or interfere in any way. Finally, stop caring if you get it or not. If the desire crosses your mind, practice letting it go with this mantra: “I’m letting that come to me.”
3. Get your point across.
If you want to communicate something to a person (or even animal!), use telepathy. Send the message in your head, and it will go straight to the recipient’s higher self, avoiding the mind-identified confusion and drama that talking can cause. Practice sending good vibes with the message “I love you no matter what.”
4. Feel good all the time.
If you want to get off the roller coaster of using things outside of you to make you feel good (people, drugs, work, etc.), learn to enjoy simply being. My friend Sunny shared this quote, “Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.” You can pull yourself out of your thoughts about other people and events and into the present by meditating, counting silently or by focusing on your breath. Another way to practice this trick is with the mantra “I’m enjoying being.”
5. Generate abundance.
To attract more wealth and prosperity into your life, appreciate what you have. Notice all of the examples of abundance in your life—your health, your home, your family and friends. Visualizing yourself with the abundance you want works too. Picture getting checks in the mail, or receiving a surprise bonus. If money really stresses you out, do your best to stop caring about it. Trust that life is bringing you what’s yours. Abundance cannot flow to you if you are focused on lack. To practice generating abundance, make lists of what you are grateful for, and try the mantra “I expect miracles.”
6. Promote health.
If you have an illness, all you have to do is decide you’re getting better. Look for evidence that your health is improving. Use the mantra “I’m feeling better by the minute.”
7. Attract love.
If you are craving love from others, it just means you owe yourself a little lovin’. Tell yourself “I love you.” Fill out a Daily Self Love worksheet. Find ways to be your reason for feeling good. Creating art of any kind is a great way to practice self-love, because it is a way to feel good about yourself without any external factors. Be obsessed with yourself. Compliment yourself. Focus on your strengths when you look in the mirror. The more you love yourself, the more others will reflect love to you. Try the mantra “I’m the shit!”
8. Grow your power.
The hardest, and easiest, part of deliberate creation is letting go and trusting life. Our minds want so desperately to control outcomes, but our power is in relinquishing control. Any time you want to take action, or worry about something you can’t control, practice the feeling of trust in a higher power. It’s just like walking a tightrope—you have to trust your body knows what to do and let go of all fear. Every time you encounter a resistant thought, or something you wish was different, use the mantra “I trust the flow of life.”
Now that you have some tricks up your sleeve, we can talk about how to practice them. You can do all of this in your head, but it’s often easier to direct your thoughts through writing. I like to use lifestreaming to organize and catalog my spellcasting efforts—I collect my intentions, gratitude lists and other thought direction prompts in the lifestream section of my website. You can also use a special notebook or private text files on your computer, or fill out positivity worksheets. All that matters is that you make your magickal efforts a habit, because the only thing between you and where you want to be is practice. Abracadabra!
Share your magickal powers with the School of Life Design
Every week I share the tips in the School of Life Design group on Facebook. Leave a comment with your own experiences and tricks. Thanks for playing!
The Easiest Meditation in the World, or, How to Cure a Lazy Eye
2012 January 13
The other day, I asked the universe to deliver me a Burning Man world. I just wanted it to be ok for me to sit still and bask in visual hallucinations. I wanted to enjoy just being, while gazing at the ever changing beauty of the Now. Is that so much to ask?! Haha… well, the universe hooked it up as usual.
Yesterday Kelly and I had some time to live before work. As we excitedly browsed strip malls far from our own neighborhood, the flow pulled us into a little store called Kids-N-Cats. Within we found an assortment of treasures, stash boxes and toys. Our one purchase: a Jumbo Glitter Wand Kaleidoscope (similar to this one).
As I gazed through the test model in the store, I knew my desire had manifested. I stared into the tube, transfixed, until we had to leave. Then for another several minutes in the car. Then another 10 once we got home. Then more. Then more. I was addicted!
Kaleidoscope gazing is a form of visual meditation that can pull one instantly into the Now. After my little gazing sessions, when I close my eyes, I can still see the flowing patterns. I’ve never found an easier way to stop thinking, because the view is just too beautiful to be concerned with much else.
Whenever you feel bad or get your feelings hurt, just look into a kaleidoscope and count to ten and you’ll feel better. It’s like a magick wand. It helps you release resistant thoughts, allowing what you want to flow to you.
Kaleidoscope gazing as a cure for Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)
I was born with amblyopia, or a lazy eye. It doesn’t affect my daily life much, but I had to have surgery as a baby and wear glasses through 3rd grade. They even tried to get me to wear an eye patch.
Last night as I looked through the ‘scope with my “good” eye, I physically felt an imbalance—my “bad” eye was basically screaming “let me try it!” I held it up to my right eye, which normally can’t focus on much, and gasped as I began to comprehend what I was seeing. What my left eye makes out as clear shapes of glitter and confetti, my right eye interpreted as fractals. It was as if my right eye was finally seeing the proper “depth” it was tuned to. It made me realize that my developmental “problem” was really just a manifestation of the thought pattern “this reality isn’t deep enough!”
My eye hungrily drank in the flowing fractals, ecstatic to finally see something. I relaxed and basked in the manifestation I’d been wanting for 29 years. And guess what happened? The longer I looked, the clearer the actual shapes in the ‘scope became. My eye was getting stronger by the moment. I can still hardly believe it, but I think I finally found a way to combine the vision of my “normal” eye with the vision of my “screwy” eye (as they called it in middle school!). I never imagined my desire for a “Burning Man world” would manifest in such a monumental manner.
A metaphor for life
Life itself is a kaleidoscope—every moment is beautiful, but you can never hold onto one. It is always flowing, always surprising, and always perfect. Every tiny sparkle and movement is infinitely reflected in dazzling patterns stretching as far as the eye can see. Kaleidoscopes are just another fractal of the universe itself; it’s amazing what simplicity can teach. Thank you, universe.
Below is a brief video of the view through the ‘scope, though it doesn’t come close to the real thing! I highly recommend trying it out for yourself. If you are a “visual” person, this is the magick wand for you. Check it out on Amazon, and if you’d like to support the School of Life Design, please use my affiliate link to make your purchase :]
As the new year approaches I am reminded that we don’t need a new year to make big changes in our lives; we have the power to become whoever we want to be instantly, at any time. We create ourselves with each new thought. All it takes to reach a goal is to decide it’s already yours, then let the flow of life take over.
Inspired by conversations in the School of Life Design Facebook group, I created a simple tool to guide the coming year. The Fresh Start Magician’s Tool is a simple exercise to focus your energy and can be used any time you want to begin anew.
How it works
The Fresh Start Magician’s Tool is a 1 page PDF that first helps you release unwanted thought patterns, habits or circumstances. List three things to leave in the past, then cut the section off and burn it, flush it, crumple it or otherwise destroy it. Next, set a single intention to guide your future actions. In the following field, decide where you want to channel your creative flow. Everyone has an unlimited source of creative energy, so choose a place to focus it and watch as your project appears to complete itself. Finally, pick a power word. This single word should resonate deeply with you and help you remember what is most important in your life.
Download the free PDF
This tool is designed to be used as often as you wish, but has particular power on New Year’s Eve because of the ingrained cultural significance of the day. Fill one out tomorrow, on your birthday, or at the beginning of every week. Use it to refine your vision and desires and let the universe take care of the rest.
Download your free Fresh Start PDF here.
When you appreciate, not only does the object of your appreciation increase in value, but you increase in value as well. Whatever you focus on in your reality expands, so when you place your powerful attention on things you like, you get more. As you feel the emotion of appreciation, you send the signal of abundance, which is then reflected back to you in every area of your life.
A few weeks ago, Kelly started coloring these adorable tokens of appreciation. Designed to be given to a friend, a stranger, or left in a special place, these tokens are a way to literally invest in your future experiences. Leave one with your check after a good meal at a restaurant. Place one on an object you really like at a store. Deposit one between the pages of your favorite book. Each time you practice the feeling of appreciating your reality, you attract more to appreciate.
Magick money
These tokens are a powerful form of currency. Each time you spend one, your creative power is highly concentrated to expand what you’re appreciating. Think of your attention as a powerful laser, and the token is a bull’s eye for your laser. Whatever you place your bull’s eye on will grow, Honey I Blew Up the Kids style! Give one to your favorite cashier and your next trip to the store will hold delightful surprises. Leave one at the library and attract the information you desire. The possibilities are endless, and anything can happen!
Invest in how you feel
Start looking for things to appreciate and you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll find. As you practice the feeling of appreciation, the value of your entire reality will increase. The true magick in these tokens is not the manifestations they’ll bring, but the way you’ll feel as you invest in your life.
Appreciate our art!
Being the most fun thing to cut and color ever, Kelly and I created dozens of colorful tokens and placed them in precious satchels that feel like bags of gold! Each bag contains 10 one-of-a-kind, hand-colored tokens on bristol paper. If you’d like to purchase a bag, you can do so below! Give a bag to someone you appreciate, or buy one for yourself to practice your own power of appreciation. Have fun spending your tokens, and enjoy the magick of unfolding the manifestations you created!
Continue learning more on the tokens of appreciation website, or purchase your set now.
“Is there joy, ease, and lightness in what I am doing?” According to Eckhart Tolle, if there isn’t, you’re not in the Now. This sticker is a simpler way to ask the same question. Isn’t this fun?! Isn’t it fun to be alive? Isn’t it so awesome to be part of the miracle of life?
I made these for myself to adorn my home and belongings, to serve as a cute reminder to be in the present. I just ordered a sheet of 20 from Zazzle.com, which ended up being around $9 with shipping. Luxury stickers for a luxurious life!
One simple premise I live by is that thoughts create. If you believe that thoughts create, all you have to do to get what you want is think accordingly. But have you ever wondered how exactly to do that? What are the thoughts I should think to make my dream come true?
People into the law of attraction will tell you that it’s as easy as telling a new story about your life. But how the eff do you tell a new story? It can be overwhelming to organize your thoughts into new patterns.
Mental coach Jim Fannin teaches people to achieve their dreams by telling them one thing: “Play a movie in your head of you achieving your big goal.” But how do you come up with that movie?
Today I’m launching a solution that will help you craft the new story you want to live. It’s called Life Story, and it’s a one page 8.5 × 11″ PDF download that you cut and fold into a cute 16 page book.
The way Life Story works is quick and easy. First, you identify what you want. This could be anything from “I want to make a new friend today” to “I want to be self-employed in 2012.” Big or small, the goal doesn’t matter.
Begin by stating what you want in past tense, which starts installing the thought pattern you desire. “This is the story of how I became self-employed in 2012.”
Then you find one example of something that would make you believe you’re on your way to your dream. “The first sign the trick was working was when several people commissioned my work.”
Next, find an example manifestation that would pretty much seal the deal on your goal. “What truly tipped the scales and made me believe in my own power was the month I made more money from my own work than at my day job.”
Since the scales have been tipped, all you have to do is relax and let the manifestation come to you. You know you’ve reached your goal, and “the icing on the cake was singing joyfully on the way out of the office on my last day of work.”
Don’t forget the the most fun part—make a cover for your book too!
Why it works
The reason Life Story works so well is because it gives you a simple 3-part story to recall instead of whatever random negative thoughts you may have been having in the past. Having a basic framework for the story you want to live puts you in the feeling place of having what you want, and allows the universe to fill in the details.
What you are doing at the core with Life Story is sending the signal of already having what you want. Telling your story the way you want to hear it is a way to be it and then see it. When your dominant thought pattern is “I already live the life of my dreams,” your reality has no choice but to reflect that.
How do I get one?
Continue to the Life Story website to learn more, or click the button below to purchase.
Thank you Nathan!
I was raised Catholic, and I never understood the ceremony. Every week, the body of Christ, blah blah blah. Thankfully, Abraham, Alan Watts and Eckart Tolle somehow combined to help me understand. One purpose of ritual is to appreciate the abundance in one’s life while one has it. In Catholic mass, we celebrate the bread of life while consuming the bread of life. This is otherwise known as “practicing the feeling” of being eternally fed.
We tend to take a lot of life for granted. But if we choose to be in the present moment and enjoy the abundance surrounding us, we begin attracting even more abundance. For example, Kelly and I like to pick up a certain kind of incense. Sometimes we can’t find it, and sometimes we don’t have the money for it with us when we do. So anytime we are able to find this incense and bring it home, we spend a few minutes appreciating it before putting it away. We look at it and touch it and talk about what we like about it, and what it feels like to have it. We are “practicing the feeling” because we are feeling what it feels like to have what we want.
The more we choose to focus on such moments, the easier it is to practice the feeling of having incense when we’re out. Instead of being cranky that we’re without, we simply recall what it feels like to have it. And then it comes, every single time. That is the power of ritual.
This applies to everything in your life you like. Do you have perfect health right now? Start appreciating it. Start milking the feeling of having perfect health while you have it, then you can remember what it feels like when your health isn’t as good. Notice what your body feels like. Notice how clear your mind is. Notice how good it feels to be pain-free. Notice how good it feels to breathe without congestion. Notice your energy level. Practice appreciating the abundance you have right now and you will attract more and more.
Another example is to practice the feeling of having a reliable car while you’re driving. Isn’t it great to have a car that runs well, that has a full tank of gas and no warning lights flashing? Doesn’t it feel so good to have the freedom of a car, to be able to go wherever you want, whenever you want? Isn’t it wonderful to drive fast in a well made, clean, working machine?
The value of milking the feeling of having what you want is that when you want something, it gets easier to feel as if you have it. You know what it feels like to have what you want because you appreciate the feeling all the time. Not only will you attract more abundance into your life (because you are sending a signal of abundance when you appreciate), but when you want something you haven’t had before, you’ll have easy access to the feeling of “having what I want”. It tends to feel like ease and flow and “but of course I would have this! It makes so much sense!”
Be it, then see it. Feel the way you would as if you had it, and then see it show up in your reality. The way you feel attracts your thoughts, which create your reality. Send a signal of abundance and get exactly the same in return.
Thanks Cabreney!
I’ve been an eyeliner fanatic since I was 12. Maybe it’s because of my screwy witch eye, but I’ve always had a hard time getting both eyes to match. I finally learned a way to overcome this beauty handicap, and I think you might find it useful as well. Here is is: while applying your eyeliner, say to yourself (in your head, or you’ll mess up), “I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”
Like playing Astrojax, applying eyeliner can go wrong when I have negative thoughts swirling through my head. It’s like my thoughts immediately influence my hand movements. When I focus on thinking “I love you,” my body cooperates with my desires and we all get to feel pretty.
Thank you Neon23!
We got some magick tricks up in here for y’all! Today we’ll discuss how to stop sending a signal of lack so you can finally receive all the booty you want.
The law of attraction works in this manner (see Abraham-Hicks for more on this philosophy):
- Ask for what you want.
- Believe the universe will bring it to you.
- Receive what you want by not caring if you get it or not and finding a way to feel good without it.
The third step trips me up all the time. How am I supposed to stop wanting what I want? Why would I want to? I want to because the universe can’t bring me something if I’m projecting a signal of “I want this and I don’t have it.” The universe will keep sending me experiences that reflect my signal of lack. If I can stop projecting “I don’t have this but I want it,” and feel good anyway, I know what I want is on the way.
So how does one stop projecting the signal of “I don’t have this”? The answer is much simpler than I expected. All it takes is a single thought: “I want a reason to stop caring if I receive this manifestation.” You may find, as I did, that you have much less resistance to that desire, and the universe will bring you some reason to stop caring about getting what you want.
For example, say you want a specific amount of money. You want this money for a good reason, I’m sure. If you really need money to pay bills, it might be hard to stop wanting this money – how else will your bills get paid?! But if you ask for a reason to stop caring if you get the money, you’ll be so surprised about what comes. You might get a new employment opportunity, or a check in the mail. You might find you don’t have to pay your bills anymore. Anything can happen!
