Recently, I attended a workshop which focused on how to attract money by removing blocks to financial abundance and was largely based around the Law of Attraction. I think it would be fair to say that most people on the course had read the books and believed in the Law of Attraction but had had little success putting it into practice.
For myself, it was about 9 years ago that I first watched the movie The Secret and I have to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan. However, it inspired me to delve deeper into the subject of the Law of Attraction and it was when I discovered the teachings of Abraham (written by Esther and Jerry Hicks) that it all clicked into place and I now have all of their books and CDs.
I even joined Audible specifically to download their books so that I can easily listen to them whilst travelling and as I am going to sleep each night. I find them so comforting to listen to and they give me hope. There is also a great (unofficial) forum which I find uplifting to be a part of.
However, one of my goals for this year is to make spirituality part of my social life rather than a solitary activity. There is an abundance of groups to choose from in the UK, although mostly in London, but what better way to start the New Year than by learning how to attract money? 🙂
After a brief introduction to our workshop leader and fellow attendees we were introduced to the idea that our subconscious mind can sabotage our chances of wealth and abundance, our subconscious beliefs about money being programmed between the ages of 3 and 5. We spent a short time discussing in pairs how this may apply to us. Those with a rich upbringing may have felt guilt for having money, felt that they didn’t deserve it or felt that their rich parents had a hold over them. Others who had felt lack and struggle in their childhood may not be able to imagine what it feels like to be wealthy.
We were then set the task of listing at least 10 of our limiting beliefs and fears surrounding wealth and abundance. We were told that one way to find these was to look at the situation we are in now. Most people found it difficult to get started but once the first few were listed the momentum built. An example may be, “If I do what I want to do, I won’t be able to pay my mortgage.” Having made our lists, we were then told to assign each one a score out of 10 according to how strong that belief is.
Each person then picked 3 of their limiting beliefs and fears and for each one wrote a new empowering belief. The next task was to work with a partner, with your partner reading your limiting belief and you arguing against them with your new empowering belief, speaking with confidence and using confident body language.
We were then told to imagine a measuring cylinder with financial abundance being at the top of the scale and scarcity being at the bottom and were told to imagine the level of the fluid in our cylinder at that moment. Next followed a short guided meditation in which we imagined we were inside a box or standing one side of a wall with our desire being outside the box or on the other side of the wall. Our task was to break down the walls to reach our desires. Perhaps the box was made of tissue paper and the walls would easily crumple, or perhaps they were of a sturdy brick construction and required a wrecking ball. Once we had broken down the walls we could imagine the fluid in our measuring cylinders rising and overflowing. Following this meditation we re-scored the strength of our limiting beliefs and fears.
Next, we each drew a card from Esther and Jerry Hicks’ Money and the Law of Attraction Cards. Each card is beautifully illustrated and features a Law of Attraction quote related to money. My card read,
The subject of money is really two subjects: (1) money, plenty of money; and (2) absence of money, not nearly enough money. Often people assume that because they are speaking the words “I want more money,” they are speaking positively about money. When you are feeling fear or discomfort as you speak, you are not speaking of the suject of money; you are speaking of the subject of not enough money. And the difference is very important, because the first subject brings money and the second holds it away.
We then discussed the use of positive affirmations to programme our subconscious minds with new beliefs about wealth and abundance. We learnt that positive affirmations need to be in the present tense and need to focus on the positive. For example, in the affirmation “I am not afraid of attracting wealth” the mind focuses on the word “afraid”. Instead, focus on what you want. The affirmation “I am becoming wealthy” is also wrong as it’s in the future tense. A better affirmation would be “I am now wealthy and in a state of abundance.” “Now” is a good word to include in affirmations. We were each given a long list of affirmations related to wealth and abundance. Affirmations should be said immediately after sleep or during meditation when the brain is in an alpha state. In the alpha state, one is open to suggestion as the conscious logical mind is subdued. Visualising our desires as if they are real and actually happening whilst in the alpha state will make them manifest in reality, especially if affirmations are included. The subconscious mind believes what it is told in this state to be true. Hypnosis also works on this level and can be a useful tool, as can subliminal recordings and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). (Incidentally, I am a big fan of Glenn Harrold’s hypnotherapy CDs and can recommend his Create Unlimited Financial Abundance recording.)
Next, we each made a list of reasons to have more money. This was essentially a ‘wish list’ of what we would buy and do if we had unlimited wealth and abundance. This was by far the easiest task of the workshop! Our lists were long and when we were asked to rate each item on a scale of 1 to 10 according to how much we wanted it and how important it is to us, needless to say most things scored a 10! We were told that our desires are often incomplete, causing the universe to come back with incomplete answers. For example, we may get that high earning job we’ve been asking for but we’re unlikely to be happy with it if we forgot to ask for job satisfaction. With that in mind, we focused on each of the goals on our lists, adding as much detail as we could to each one. We then rated each of our goals on a scale of 1 to 10 according to how realistic they felt at that moment.
As an exercise to clear any resistance we had identified, we then set about creating a millionnaire mindset vision board each. We were given a sheet of A4 paper with an ATM in the centre and told to write the balance on the ATM machine and surround it with colourful pictures of our desires and goals. Our balance was to be at least £1 million and we were told that the number 8 is associated with wealth and the planet Saturn. Having completed our vision boards, we considered how real the picture seemed and focused on any negative feelings or emotions we experienced whilst looking at the bank balance. We were then guided through an EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) tapping sequence whilst focusing on these feelings and then re-assessed our negative feelings and whether the picture seemed any more real. However, by this point in the workshop time was running out and the EFT was very rushed. I didn’t feel any benefit from it and don’t remember it well enough to repeat it. However, I’d like to learn the technique myself and give it a fair try with more time to spend on it. (UPDATE: Since this course, I have purchased the audiobook EFT: The New Technology for Immediate Healing and Vitality by Lee Pulos and would thoroughly recommend it.)
Next was Quantum Jumping – a meditation and visualisation technique whereby you ‘jump’ into alternate universes to meet your Doppelganger (or Twin Self) and gain insight, knowledge and wisdom from them. The workshop leader guided us on a meditation where we observed our Doppelganger already living the life we had visualised and merged our life with theirs. I would love to repeat the meditation and delve deeper into Quantum Jumping. I have already purchased a Quantum Jumping course, so watch this space…
By this time the workshop had already overrun but the workshop leader had a few final words of wisdom to impart. We were advised to surround ourselves with those on the same mission as us. As Denis Waitley said,
We are a direct reflection of the 5 people we associate with the most, and our income and lifestyle is the exact average of those people.
We were introduced to the concept of outflowing, whereby getting rid of stuff we don’t need makes space for new stuff to enter, and a few inspirational quotes were shared:
Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars.
LES BROWN
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
Every master was once a disaster.
T. HARV EKER
A few books were recommended throughout the workshop, both by the workshop leader and by other participants:
Finally, we were shown that the word ACTION is contained within the LAW OF ATTRACTION, reminding us that positive thoughts alone are not enough. There have to be positive feelings and positive actions.
Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.
VICTOR KIAM
God helps those who help themselves.
We therefore finished the session by thinking of one action we could each take to further our goals.
Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today because if you enjoy it today, you can do it again tomorrow.
JAMES A. MICHENER
