The freedom of letting go

I recently attended the Feel good summit in LA -  it was amazing. It was a 3-day health experience hosted by Dr. Mark Hyman. I have been an avid follower of his after his lectures during my education with Integrative Institute of Nutrition. 

 

My biggest takeaways were nothing to do with food (the message was right on track with what I practice and preach already). It was an eye-opening experience for me to learn more about emotional health. 

 

For those of you who don't know this, my work with clients often gets personal, sometimes emotional and we work together on so much more than food. It is much more involved than just what you eat and how you move, it is a complete body and mind approach as well as having healthy relationships, great support, and purpose that make for excellent health.

 

I have been absorbing (still) over the last week or so everything I have learned. Some of the exercises at the summit were completely out of my comfort zone - but, I wanted to get as much as I could from the experience so I tried to let go of the fear and awkwardness and just go with it. 

 

It was head first into those cringy group introductions you experience at conferences/workshops, group sharing, open discussion, workshops and meeting new people from all over the world. 

In this months segment, I am going to give you a shortcut to try to eliminate a belief that may be holding you back from reaching your potential. 

 

Shelly Lefkoe from the Leftkoe institutes philosophy really hit a chord with me. She spoke about the BS list, (not what you might think, but Belief Systems).

We learned about beliefs that influence the way we are, that can hold us back from reaching our potential or from enjoying more happiness in our lives.

Having worked through this process myself I'm feeling more relaxed, at ease and more productive. For me, life-changing.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e5HaDNDQrI

If you watch the video, you can skip to the 8 step process of eliminating the belief. If not read on from here.

 

First up, do you have beliefs holding you back?

 

Most people do.

 

A good test is to close your eyes and say these things to yourself,

 

I am not good enough.

 

I am not important.

 

If I try and fail that would be bad.

 

Now say to yourself, I am a monkey.

 

How did it feel when you said the first few statements to yourself vs when you said you were a monkey?

 

You might find you feel uncomfortable or sad when you make some of these statements to yourself?

 

If you feel something, there may be some truth in what you are saying in your sub-conscious beliefs.

 

Shelly Lefkoe presented this theory to us and told us a story of a Harvard scientist with a Ph.D. One of his beliefs was that he was not smart. He knew it was not true, yet he held this belief. This is a good example of how we can hold on to these things unknowingly - although it can and will show up in other ways in our lives, for example, fear of not fitting in, or fear of taking a risk.

 

Even if you know these things are not really true - it does not mean it's not a hidden belief.

 

 When you say you are a monkey (you know this is not true, it's funny) there should be no discomfort.

 

Now to nut out for you.

 

Here is the 8 step process to eliminate your belief

 

Go on - make time for yourself do this today or schedule it into your calendar. You might just be surprised by what you get out of this. I feel a weight has been lifted from my shoulders after doing this exercise with Shelly and I urge you to try it for yourself.

 

Grab a notebook and do this exercise. Failing that get in touch with me and we can do this together. 

 

1. GET IN TOUCH WITH THE BELIEF - choose one belief that I have mentioned.

  

Say the belief out loud. How does it feel to say?  Does it have any energy when you say it?

 

2. FIND THE SOURCE

  

What are the earliest events that led you to form that belief? (Often this experience comes from childhood).

  

Is it real that these events were the source of the belief?

 

Does it seem real to you that most people at that age with the same experiences would have formed a similar conclusion?

 

3. ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATION

 

 What are other ways of interpreting those events? (Find 4 or 5.)

 

Does it seem like a valid interpretation? (Ask after each interpretation.)

 

 Is it real to you now that the belief is just one way of interpreting those events?

 

4. SEEING

 

Didn’t it seem at the time you formed the belief that you saw it in the world?

 

But did you really see it the way you can see an object with color, size, and location?

 

What did you REALLY see?

 

So if the belief was never really out there in the world where has it been all these years?

 

5. NO INHERENT INTERPRETATION

 

Do the events are any inherent meaning (or interpretation) in the events?  (the answer should be no)

 If the interpretation is not in the events, where has it been all this time?

 

 6. FEELING

 

Doesn’t it seem like the events made you feel (your belief)  Events that have no meaning can’t make you feel anything? So what did?  

  

Imagine you had given the events a different interpretation. How does that feel?

 

Notice the feeling would have been very different if you had given the events a different interpretation. So can you see that the feeling does not prove the belief is true?

 

Imagine you had experienced completely different or opposite events. How does that feel?

 

7. IS THE BELIEF GONE?

 

Say the belief out loud. How does it feel?

 

8. IMAGINING NEW POSSIBILITIES

 

Imagine the same behavior or emotions in the same situations. What do you notice?

  

I'm offering a group session to work on eliminating beliefs. Contact me here to register your interest for this session. 

 

Or if you prefer 1:1 Contact me here for a free 30-minute consultation where we can discuss your wellness and your goals www.reneeskitchen.co.nz/contact 

 

Please ask any questions or leave comments here if you gave it a try! I want to hear from you.

 

Renee