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Quote of the Week

"The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud — the obstacles of life and its suffering.”… The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life.”

-Goldie Hawn (Author) 🌼

This Week's "Subconscious Success" Tip

Have you ever noticed that we sometimes speak in metaphors?

For example - we might say "this stress feels like an elephant is sitting in my chest" or "this headache is like an ice pick going through my head" or "life is like a rollercoaster".

Interestingly enough, these aren't just figures of speech to describe our experience. It's also our subconscious mind communicating with us, and we can work with these metaphors in various ways to help us!

Today I want to share a tool called "metaphoric two step" I learned from one of my favorite teachers Melissa Tiers in her badass "Anti-Anxiety Toolkit" book. It's pretty simple, but the results can be profound.

How to apply this tip

Next time you experience something like stress, nervousness, fear, worry, frustration, pain, or another feeling you'd like to change...ask yourself..."what's this experience like?" and see if a metaphor naturally emerges.

Examples...it's like a...:

• Heavy boulder on my chest

• Tornado inside my mind

• A pot of hot water is over boiling in my stomach into my chest

If no metaphor like this emerges, you could also ask "What's the color of this feeling if it had one? What's the shape? Where is it in the body?" (no wrong answers here)

Then just ask yourself "How could I change this with a counter-metaphor? What would have to happen for this to change?". If you didn't have a metaphor, just ask "what color or shape would feel better?".

Then allow that to play out in your imagination in whatever way happens naturally.

Examples:

• The heavy boulder could dissolve by pouring a magical solution on it

• The tornado could could stop swirling by going back into the clouds and there could be an image of a still tree instead.

• The temperature on the boiling pot can be turned down or you could throw a giant ice cube into it to cool it.

• If the color is "red", maybe a cooler color like "blue" could feel better.

• If the shape is "spiky", maybe a smooth shape could feel better.

The funny thing is, I've kind of practiced this since I was a kid. I remember a long time ago I just decided that baby blue is a color that makes me feel better. If I experienced something like a tummy ache or was nervous, I would just chant "baby blue" to myself and imagine that color spreading through my mind. It almost always helped. Now I have this conformation...cool!

Why this works (the short version):

This "metaphoric two step" works because it speaks directly to your subconscious mind using its language. By using metaphors, you're engaging the part of your brain that processes emotions and experiences. When you change the metaphor, you're essentially giving your subconscious new instructions on how to feel and react, which in turn changes your external experience.

Ready to try it?

This week, whenever you encounter stress, fear, creative blocks, self-doubt, or any other internal struggle:

• Pause and identify the metaphor (or color/shape) for your current state.

• Ask on the inside what needs to happen to transform that metaphor into something that feels better.

• Imagine that transformation using as many of your senses as possible for a few moments.

• Notice how your internal state shifts!

That's it! Have questions about this week's tip? Want to share something with me? Connect with me!

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Cheers to your success!

-Alina Nikishina

Transformational Coach & Mentor

P.S. If you try this - share your metaphor with me and let me know if this helped you transform your experience!

Click here to connect and share with me!

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