Two Turns from Zero

by Stacey Griffith

  5.You arrive safely back on the beach, exhilarated and proud of your strength.

  6.And then you go out there and do it again.

  Feels pretty good, doesn’t it? You can do this visualization in just a minute. You can even ride a longer wave for as long as you need to. Or, if you want, you can switch it up and insert mountain climbing, white-water rafting, or downhill skiing into your visualization. Just find something that you can easily picture—maybe something on your bucket list, like a hot-air balloon ride or skydiving—that brings powerful imagery into your head. I want you to be happy in the visualizations. This is never supposed to feel like a chore. It’s a vibration tool, and it helps you focus on power.

  Remember, this is a chosen visualization to change the vibration of your body. If you visualize yourself strong in the ocean, or on a mountain, or anywhere there is powerful movement, your inner vibration could possibly change the way you move in your actual reality. Don’t judge it, just try it. You may be surprised at how well visualizations work!

  In the Maldives (Islands), 2001

  Visualizations are there to empower you. If you find it’s too hard or too boring to do without music, go for it. Play your favorite song or songs when you’re doing your visualizations and meditations. There’s no reason they don’t deserve a soundtrack!

  Visualization for Creativity and Focus

  Do this visualization before you start work on the days you feel you need it. The goal is to find a healthy and consistent routine.

  SG TRUTH I have to confess, I have gotten out of practice with my own visualization time. I used to do it every day, when I had far fewer responsibilities and a less fraught schedule. Now I do this maybe once or twice a week in my office when I’m alone. I need to work a lot harder on doing this every day!

  1.Close your eyes. You are going to see yourself performing at a high level of creativity and focus and drive. You are centered and balanced. No matter what you’ve done in the past, it won’t matter today, because today is a brand-new version of you. Today you have more power, more influence, more integrity. You’re in the positive zone. Stay there.

  2.Think about something that you really want in your life. Something that you’re going for. Something you’re trying to achieve. Something you’re trying to finish. Something you’re trying to start. Think about something like that. Something that inspires you, gets you excited, gets you motivated. Something good. You got it? Is it there? Do you see it? Do it now.

  3.Picture you embracing what it is you want. Find that wonderful space between being scared and not being scared. That place is called trust.

  4.If you struggle with finding that space, focus on your breath. The most consistent thing you can ever do is breathe, and it is an action that you can control in nearly all circumstances. It will get you through everything.

  Visualization for Energy and/or Love

  This is a terrific visualization to do before a class of any kind, before a meeting at work or school, or in any group situation.

  1.Close your eyes and relax your forehead, your cheeks, your lips, your neck, your arms, your fingers. Then focus on your breath for a few seconds. As you breathe, feel your forehead relax, your eyebrows, your eyelashes, your cheeks, your lips. Let your tongue sit in the bottom of your mouth, softly, away from pushing up against your teeth. Relax your neck. Relax your shoulders. Sit up tall. I want you to be so grateful, grateful for your life, your health, your wellness; the very blessing that brought you to this moment is the one that will fuel you for the entire day. Do this now.

  2.Imagine you are with a like-minded, supportive group of people. There is, as you know, a tremendous power in a group collective. We are all energies, after all. We are all force fields walking through this universe. And when you capture this many amazing attitudes, it’s like that magic moment when your children are collecting fireflies, running around while shouting with giggles, joyfully watching the lights flicker on and off in the darkness in the jar full of life and love.

  3.Keep your eyes closed and imagine your special jar of life and love. As you feel it in your heart, let it heal you. And then you have the light of love to heal everybody you touch. This is how we change the world, and this is how we move toward our intentions and our goals.

  4.Feel your body glow, getting brighter and brighter. Brighter and brighter. One more deep breath here for transformation. Do this now.

  5.Open your eyes. You are now flooded with energy, ready to tackle any situation.

  MOVING MEDITATIONS

  When I studied yoga in India, it was difficult for me to master a lot of the moves at first, in large part because I am the kind of person who is in perpetual motion. Once I figured out that if I combined the calming wonderfulness of yoga/meditation techniques with movement, I had the best of both—for me. That’s what I transformed into my teaching methods, and it’s a large reason my classes are so successful. My students are moving as hard as they possibly can, but they learn how to calm their minds even when their hearts are pumping and the sweat is blurring their eyes.

  Say “meditation” to someone, and they usually picture someone sitting in a quiet, dark room. But you can just as easily meditate, relaxing yourself and visualizing, while your body is in motion during a Moving Meditation. It’s where the real you pops out. It’s when your true integrity, drive, passion, perseverance, tenacity, grace, and patience start to show and shine.

  When you do any tasks—emotional, as in dealing with a loved one; or physical, such as a workout—with all the positive affirmations of the Moving Meditations, it’s almost a perfect storm. It’s like a satisfying stretch for your brain, which is hearing the affirmations while you’re feeling and pushing through a physical hurdle or boundary or challenge. Add the rhythm of music to the mix, and you’re transported to an almost trancelike state while in motion.

  I created these Moving Meditations after I had been teaching for a few years, and they work wonders for centering and balancing who you are on a cellular level, as a human being. Once you master Moving Meditations, whether you’re walking, running, jogging, swimming, biking, or doing any kind of exercise, you’ll come back to them day after day after day. Not only do they make you feel (and look) better, but they’re really fun!

  These can be done during any kind of workout where you will be safely in motion—in an indoor cycling class, on a recumbent bicycle, on a treadmill or rowing machine, or while walking on level ground. What you’re reading now is exactly how I talk to my students when they’re riding in class. Imagine that it’s my voice speaking to you. Or go ahead and read these aloud into a voice recorder, and play them as you move.

  Our driver, Shisa, Mysore, India

  Obviously, you can’t meditate and read this book at the same time. If you want help with decision-making, I suggest you read through these meditations once or twice, and then give them a shot. If some of the words written here really strike you, I encourage you to let that process flow and dive in.

  Moving Meditation for Setting Your Intentions

  1.Picture yourself in a meadow with the green grass soft under your feet and the sky a stunning blue. The sun is bright but not blazing, making you feel all aglow as you turn your head up toward it.

  2.Imagine one large, white, puffy cloud floating up in that blue, blue sky. That’s it. Your meditation. When you start to feel a thought come through your mind, I want you to put it on the cloud and watch it gently float away.

  3.After it’s gone, put another fresh cloud right there. This is how you reset your mind. You are pushing away the old thoughts and replacing them with new, loving, and amazing thoughts.

  4.Next, you are at the beach, walking strong on the firm white sand in the body you’ve always wanted for yourself.

  5.You’ve never felt more confident in your intentions as you transform back to yourself, striding in and out of the water and walking on the sand again.

  6.Time is barely moving, but you’re strong enough to get through it
now. You’re strong enough to push through—it’s who you are. Strong, determined, tenacious, focused, reliable, consistent, honest, truthful, and beautiful. You keep moving until you reach the house at the end of the beach, the welcoming house that you realize is your home, and when you put your hand on the doorknob, take a deep breath and come back to reality.

  Moving Meditation to Help with Decision-Making

  1.Before you start, make sure you’re thinking positively. Make sure you are in it to win it with your thought process. Get into a zone with yourself, and focus on your breath. This is not about anybody else but you. This is your time. Close your eyes and feel your own power—the very power you were born with.

  2.Open your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and relax. Before anything will make sense you have to find your center of gravity. So relax your shoulders. Drop your head and relax your forehead, relax your eyebrows, relax your cheeks, relax your neck, relax your biceps, relax your chest.

  3.Say this mantra silently: Can’t stop, won’t stop trying, can’t stop, won’t stop pushing, can’t stop, won’t stop movin’ and groovin’ and workin’ and pushin’. (Today! Remember you can’t meditate for tomorrow today. You have to take each day on its own.) Play those words in your head over and over and over. It will help you find some pep in your step, and rush your adrenaline a little bit to give you the motivation you need for whatever reason you went on that walk in the first place.

  4.Now let’s put a visual in front of your head. Keep your pace with however you’re moving. Don’t slow down. Can’t stop, won’t stop trying, can’t stop, won’t stop pushing, can’t stop, won’t stop movin’ and groovin’ and workin’ and pushin’. There’s got to be somewhere that you go in your head when you want peace . . . and on that stretch of road where you go for peace, I want you to keep yourself right there, keep the pace, and see what it is you really want for yourself.

  5.Visualize holding on to yourself—hug yourself from the inside out. Sometimes there’s no one around to give you a hug when you need it, so you hug yourself by flexing your abs really tight. This just involves tightening your abs and hugging yourself almost like you’re bracing for someone to hit your tummy. That’s a self-hug! Can’t stop, won’t stop trying, can’t stop, won’t stop pushing, can’t stop, won’t stop movin’ and groovin’ and workin’ and pushin’.

  6.Be careful what you’re thinking about here. You have a lot of power right now with this mental behavior. It’s a direct shot into the universe when you have this much going on. I can almost guarantee if you have a positive thought going on and don’t stop thinking that powerful thought and push through, there will be something magical, such as a long-awaited message in your voicemail, waiting for you when the Moving Meditation is over. Stay 100 percent primetime in love with the thought. Don’t let anything else penetrate, or it won’t work. If you stay focused on it and punch it through, it will work.

  7.Keep your breathing even and keep playing the mantra in your head until you feel it’s a great time to stop.

  Moving Meditation to Help You Work Out and/or for Emotional Strength

  1.Every time you choose to move, it’s your choice where you’re going to take yourself. Every day is a different twenty-four hours. There’s a different vibration on every hour of every day, so you have to lock in to your highest vibration here and now. Don’t forget that you are the vibration.

  2.Self-mantra: Say to yourself, This is my life. I own it. It belongs to me. I am going to live it the way I want to. I am going to make it an awesome day. My body is strong and it is mine and I am going to use it to make me stronger.

  3.Feel the strength flood your body from your head down to your toes. It’s an attitude, it’s a motivated approach for your life. It’s emotion, it’s activity, it’s energy, it’s electricity, it’s vibration, it’s who you are. Walk, run, ride a bike, jump up and down in your kitchen, just move. And keep on moving. Sometimes a fist in the air and a nice loud “YEAH!” can do the trick!

  4.You were born with a voice—make sure you use it at least once a day. Communication is key. How you deliver your words is crucial. You can’t go wrong if you’re delivering those words from a perspective of strength and kindness.

  5.It’s your choice. If there’s something you’re really going for in your life, I want you to put it out there and believe it will happen. This is where your true colors start to shine through. Your true testimony to yourself, what you really believe in, how you handle all the challenges in your life is going to show right here from wherever you are, whether it’s up or down. You’re pushing through this day. What will you choose to do today? Make it a productive one!

  6.If there were no boundaries, if there were no consequences, if there were no limitations, where would you go now? Change your attitude now. Shift it to higher levels of thinking, a stronger belief system, with more integrity, more honesty. Be the best you in this imagery. Remember, your cells are listening to what your mind says. The more positive you are with your thoughts, the better your body feels.

  7.Stay focused, stay driven, stay in your Moving Meditation until you feel it’s a great time to stop.

  Now is a good time to make a fist and punch the air and yell in a whisper that is strong and meaningful, “YEAH!”

  ASK THE UNIVERSE FOR HELP

  Stating your intentions works. The thing is, not enough people really do it because it takes a bit of work—and to be on it, it takes a small bit of nonjudgmental belief that there are forces in the universe willing to help you if you ask for it.

  I am going to walk you through a Moving Meditation where you ask the universe for help in landing the job you not only want but need very badly. You can then tweak this scenario for any other goal in your life. Believe in this technique wholeheartedly and it will work for you.

  All you need is a piece of paper, a pen, and a small white candle.

  1.On the piece of paper, write down your goal—in this case, it’s “I Am Going to Get a Fabulous Job at XYZ.” (Write in very small print because you’re going to fold the paper up.) Under the main goal, write down everything positive you can think of about this job, even if you know that position may not exist yet. Here are some examples for you to choose from: “I will love this job. This job will be close to where I live. My boss will be incredible. My salary will be what I deserve. I am worthy of getting this job. I am going to find this job. This job is right for me. Somebody needs me to do this job. I am the right person for this job.” (Notice how your thinking will shift from “I need a job” to “I am the right person for this job” to “I’m going to get this job.” Your mental determination is already shifting!)

  2.Fold the paper in half and put it underneath the white candle. (Be sure, of course, that it’s sitting flat and won’t tip!) Light the candle, and as you sit by it and stare into the flame, go through all the items on your list and try to remember as many of them as possible. Say them out loud.

  3.Get up, make your wish that the universe hears your intention (in this case, for the job), blow out the candle, and go walk around the block. This is very important. Even if it’s just to the end of the street and back—even in the rain or snow—you must get outside and move so the universe knows that you’re putting your intentions into action. In other words, the instant you uptake this list, it’s there in your mind, and you want to telepathically tell the universe that you’re serious. Again . . . you gotta believe or this will absolutely not help you.

  Call me cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs all you want, but this shit works. I have many, many testimonials to prove it. Seriously! Have faith. Believe. It will happen.

  4.You are going to repeat step 3 every freaking day until that job shows up. You don’t stop. (Okay, so if there’s a blizzard or hurricane outside, or if you’re not feeling well, open your door, go through your intention list, and then close it and go back inside—no other excuses allowed!) It might take one day, it might take a week, it might take a month, or even a year or two years—but you don’t
stop until that job shows up.

  “Don’t scoff at asking the universe for help.”

  Get Ready to Shine and Pop

  While you’re putting your energy and desire for this job out into the universe, you are also going to work on your visualization in preparation for the day when the fateful phone call or e-mail arrives telling you you’ve got an interview. Follow these steps. They’re really good training for any kind of important meeting.

  1.In your mind, go through your closet. What are you going to wear to your appointment or interview? Make sure when you visualize yourself, you look great. Don’t hesitate to put yourself in an outfit you don’t even own—it could be something you saw in a store window or in a magazine that you wish you could have. Whatever it is, just make sure that you feel good in it.

  2.Then when you visualize what you’re wearing, visualize how you’re getting to where you’re going. If you have an interview a mile away or an interview in a specific office building or someone’s house, imagine yourself getting there with absolutely no traffic. All the lights are green. It’s a beautiful day outside in your visualization, even if it’s raining or snowing right now. Just clear a path and think, Green lights, green lights. When you arrive at your visualized destination, there is a parking spot right in front with your name on it. The parking gods are on your side, and you don’t even have to think about parallel parking!

  3.Next comes what I think is one of the most important visualizations, one I always do: Imagine the person you’re supposed to meet is smiling as they greet you. They’re smiling with pleasure as they shake your hand and show you to your seat. They are so happy to see you. You instantly feel confident and enthusiastic.

  4.As soon as you sit down, imagine that the conversation is going totally in your favor. They tell you yes, they would love to have you at this job, what great ideas you have, they love what you bring to the table. This is going to be amazing for the entire staff. Then they thank you, shake your hand again, and say good-bye with a proud and contented smile for the brilliant choice they have made—namely, hiring you.