“Once you believe in yourself
and see your soul as divine and precious,
you’ll automatically be converted
to a being who can create miracles.”
―
Living a flow based life, i.e. in the flow, in the truest sense of the word isn’t simple. But it is immensely rewarding, reduces stress and anxiety and is the ultimate secret to success.
It requires a tremendous amount of going within, faith and trust in the infinite intelligence and abundance of ALL THINGS aka, the Universe.
I’ve spent most of my life forcing things to happen. You name it: career, money, stuff, and relationships, but never really going within and listening to the true call of my soul. Just working hard to make things happen. External things, things that look good on surface but not necessarily to the heart or my spirit. Pushing forward, striving, without being truly receptive to the guidance coming from both outside or within.
Why? That’s what I’ve been taught in school, at home, at university, by society, and on television, etc. Work hard, get good grades, get a job, work even harder and STRIVE to make things happen. That’s what we call making a living as opposed to simply living.
But strive for what? And for whom?
In the many years I practiced as a lawyer, I never really slowed down with the intention to figure out whether any of this made any sense. I was a cog in the wheel.
Even as I began writing, I still had the “push forward” mentality, pushing forward to get published, get books sales, media attention, etc. I was out of the universal FLOW. I had no idea how to receive. I had not yet heard about the law of attraction and about surrendering to the greater flow of life, far from it actually.
And when things failed to go my way, instead of accepting a closed door or a defeat, I would try to bang it open forcefully, often feeling immense frustration in the process.
But true success and abundance does not come to us by force, quite the contrary. It comes when we go inside, listen to our inner voice, take inspired action, and just let things go.
Now I understand the popular verse of the Bhagavad Gita: you have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. This is an extremely popular verse of the Bhagavad Gita and I interpret it as meaning that the harvesting is in the hands of a higher power: the Universe.
It’s when we surrender to this Higher power, that we truly come home to ourselves and make things happen for real.
image: Carmen Nusi
And once we do take this inspired action, we need to let it go and trust that the right contact, opportunity, or person will show up at the right time and at the right place.
The word Inspire may be traced back to the Latin inspirare which itself is from the word spirare, meaning “to breathe.” So this is why I practice yoga and meditation, as it allows me to connect with my breath, receive ideas and then execute on them afterwards.
We need to BELIEVE that the Universe truly does have our best interests at heart. ALWAYS.
But how do we surrender to our expectations? Our need to see things materialize in our own way and in our own time?
It’s not a simple process, far from it actually. It requires daily reminders, self-discipline and trust and belief. Of letting things go and maintaining an attitude of letting things fall where they may. We are all transforming, we are all going through this period of change and we’re all being asked to re-think the way we do things, to evolve into the FLOW.
It requires us to rewire our brains, change our thinking, re-frame our viewpoints, and more importantly, it requires us to breathe.
The first question I ask myself is whether whatever I’m doing truly aligned with my own truth. Then, once I’ve completed a task, project, application, manuscript, I ask myself the question: do I trust in the positive expectations I have for this thing?
Do I trust in the glorious unfolding of the situation?
That things will work out exactly as they are meant to and when they are meant to?
Managing this process of letting go can be tricky but here’s how I (try) to do it:
- I take long, pleasurable walks instead of needlessly obsessing over the execution, realization, and/or materialization of things.
- I give myself more time to indulge in pleasurable, fun and enjoyable activities that bring delight.
- Previously, when writing a book, I wouldn’t give myself zero time to play, enjoy life, laugh, see my friends, or be carefree. I’ve learned that these activities bring about the positive outcomes we ultimately desire.
- If we don’t offer ourselves the space and time to allow for unexpected outcomes, the universe cannot bring them to us. So I take some time to just go for a drive, look at the scenery, admire the countryside, play some tunes, and just breathe.
We must allow for more play, more laughter, more fun times, more pleasure, more joy. This helps with the release and helps with the surrender. It also allows us to release any doubts, which is the number one killer of anything we try to create. Negative thinking, envy, sadness, harbouring a victim mentality and wallowing in doubt really put a massive damper on our desires and dreams.
Here are some of my tips for being in a greater state of flow:
*meditation, both morning and night.
*positive affirmations
*going for long walks in nature, especially by a body of water
*going to a local café for a tea or smoothie
*working remotely at an airy co-working space ( it gets me out of my head and into the communal flow of life.)
*Asking for signs, and believing what you SEE, receive and feel. I ask for signs daily and often get answers to my questions, via posts on Instagram, license plates, or billboards.
*watching YouTube videos, such as this one by Wayne Dyer ( yes, I’m having a Wayne Dyer moment, god bless his soul): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvs-_22lwjA
*Picking an oracle card.
I hope this has been helpful. Do drop me a note to let me know how you live a flow based life and whether you have any tips and tricks!
Isabelle 💛
“When you are able to shift your inner awareness to how you can serve others, and when you make this the central focus of your life, you will then be in a position to know true miracles in your progress toward prosperity.”
―
