Photo: Darrell Coomes

I went to an engagement party at the weekend. A close friend of mine is now engaged and planning on marrying next year and had a celebratory party. It was great fun. I got to catch up with lots of old friends.

Of course, no party is complete without balloons. Some of the children were playing with balloons, and I was helping them have some fun with them, not to mention tying the knots in the end of balloons that had been blown up too much and were covered in spit!

I showed a couple of them how to rub the balloons on their heads and make it stick to the wall or ceiling with the static and it kept them amused for ages, though our hosts may have become less amused with their new wall decorations.

Balloons are such fun, aren't they? Well, I associate them with having fun. I am going to come back to balloons later...

I have mentioned the idea lots of times before, and quoted excerpts from my favourite self-help books such as 'The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind' by Joseph Murphy and 'As A Man Thinketh' by James Allen (which is available for free in the Members Area, by the way!) as they mention that rather wonderful idea of your mind being like a rich, fertile garden.

Of course, the garden needs tending --- you need to plant good healthy seeds, and if you do not take care of the garden, weeds can grow.

The thoughts you allow in your mind, and especially the ones that you think of the most and focus on continually, are the fruit that are going to grow and manifest in your life. It is as simple as that.

This notion is familiar to you regular readers of Adam Up, and so I am not going to repeat it much more today. Instead, I want us to go into the garden of our minds and do some major cultivation. This is like primo-dynamite weeding!

This week, I want to show you how to go into your mind and start letting go of fears of any kind.

Photos: Agata Urbaniak and Alessandro Paiva

Prior to actually starting this technique, just have a particular direction in mind as to how you are going to use this technique. By that, I mean that you should think of a specific area of your life that you may have some fears or apprehensions about. The more specific and detailed you can be with this technique, the more effective it is going to be for you.

When you have that in your mind, then proceed to the following simple steps while you are in a quiet place where you are not going to be disturbed.

Step One:

So please do ensure that you are in a comfortable position so that you can relax, ideally learn how to take yourself into hypnosis by reading my book, The Secrets of Self-Hypnosis. However, you can also use any other meditation technique or relaxation technique that is good for you.

Imagine breathing in to your stomach and then exhale nice and slowly, and as you exhale nice and slowly, allow your eyes to be comfortably closed. Engage in the moment, notice your thoughts, feel your feelings and slow your breathing down naturally. Relax your body and get into a nice receptive state of body and mind.

This week's technique is going to be using your imagination a lot. You do not have to see these things in absolutely perfect detail. Just trust that you are doing them in the way that is right for you. If you think for some strange reason that you cannot use your imagination as well as you would like, then just pretend you can and that is just as good!

Step Two:

In a nice relaxed state, using your imagination, imagine that you are in the garden of your mind.

Of course, make it a beautiful garden, and ideally for today, have an area that is a wide-open lawn. Take some time to engage in the wonderful natural, fresh smells, all the harmony of this beautiful place. Become aware of the colours, and the sounds that are present in this garden of your creation in your mind.

Ensure that you feel comfortable and safe and at ease with the tranquillity of your special garden and take all the time necessary to really connect with all those good feelings.

Step Three:

Using your imagination further now, notice that in the middle of your beautiful lawn there is a large collection of helium-filled balloons.

There is something special about these balloons --- you notice that they are not tied down. They are just peacefully, naturally floating there in that position. It is as if they have no weight or string holding them in place, they just float there in the centre of your lawn in the special garden of your mind.

Get this as vividly as you can in your mind. Again, spend all the time necessary to do so.

Step Four:

Begin to move slowly closer to these balloons and, as you draw nearer, imagine their colours. Notice that they are the most beautiful and vivid colours; real iridescent colours, almost as if these colours are unlike any you have seen before.

Imagine that these fascinating and enthralling colours have a hypnotic effect upon you. Imagine that they bring you a sense of peace, well-being and relaxation throughout your entire mind and body.

Imagine that as you move closer, those feelings of relaxation and comfort increase. So that when you get right up close to them, it just feels nice and at ease to just stand beside the balloons and admire their beauty for a few moments.

Step Five:

Now here comes the interesting bit... As you stand there, you realise that these balloons hold all of your thoughts, all of your emotions, both positive and negative in relation to that specific thing that you thought of immediately prior to doing this exercise.

The rubbery material of each balloon allows you to see each thought or experience without any emotion or reaction, so that you can simply observe it in freedom.

Step Six:

Lets have some fun with these balloons shall we? After all, I did say that balloons are for having fun, didn't I?

So go ahead and reach out and pull one of the balloons from the group. As you look deeply into that balloon, allow your unconscious mind to reveal an image that symbolically identifies a fear or an experience or an event that is related to the issue you are focusing on.

Just notice what is inside of that balloon. That is, notice what your unconscious has chosen. Trust the wisdom of your unconscious mind to know what is right for you to know and that it selects the right thing without you trying to direct it consciously. Go with your intuition, instinct and gut feeling without too much conscious involvement.

Whatever it shows you, recognize it for what it is. Be aware of the thoughts that float within that balloon, feelings that are associated to that thing and see it all in that balloon.

At this stage, with that balloon at arm's length, become aware of how that thing affected your thinking in the past and how it affected who and how you are.

Step Seven:

Looking into that balloon, imagine that all of the colour is draining out of that image inside the balloon. Let it become vague and black and white and faint shades of grey only --- even let it get fuzzy.

Now start to shrink it down in size, imagine that you are draining all the power out of this image and shrink it right down inside that balloon.

Imagine and see that the image is disappearing right into the helium that fills the balloon. So that all you can see is the beautiful texture of the clear balloon.

The helium inside absorbing all of the emotions surrounding that negative or sad image, kind of like a sponge, the helium is drawing away any remaining negativity that may have been there --- dispelling all the last remnants of that image and that old fear.

When you are sure that all that remains is the beautiful coloured balloon, with a free, clear centre and that beautiful shell, then go ahead and let this balloon go. Release it into the sky and watch it float away.

Watch it float higher and higher until it is completely gone and vanished and you feel that you have truly let go of it from your garden.

Trust your unconscious mind again. Trust that the old, unwanted, outmoded emotion and feeling is now gone, gone forever from the garden of your mind.

Step Eight:

Now if you need to, you can reach out and pull another single balloon from the bundle, allow your unconscious to show you any other negative emotion or memory or image that has to do with this issue and repeat the above steps until you have ensured that all fears and related memories, events or circumstances have been dissipated.

One by one, let all the balloons go into the beautiful sky.

Step Nine:

When you have let go of all the balloons that you needed to, notice and imagine that you are left with a most powerful and purposeful sense of freedom and peace.

So that now you can look forward to aspects of your life with a freedom of mind and thought. Choose that this very day you are going to take some action that confirms to you that you have released that fear. Give your mind some true evidence --- a real reference that you are free. The action is going to be what truly verifies the change in your life.

If you want to relax in the peaceful garden of your mind for a while, then do so. When you are ready to do so, just open your eyes, relax and come up and out of this experience, wiggle your fingers and toes, reacquaint yourself with your surroundings and go about your day ready to take that action and make a difference in your life.

This week, release your mind of any fears, get doing some major weeding in that garden of yours, and have some fun with balloons!

A Short One that Made Me Laugh Out Loud for Ages...

Reporter interviewing a 104-year-old woman:
"And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?"

"No peer pressure."

Hahahaha. just a short one this week, but a beauty that really made me laugh. Please keep sending me on those jokes each week, I love getting them.

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With my very best wishes,

Adam Eason
www.adam-eason.com