I recently read a quote by Alberto Villoldo. He was writing about how limiting beliefs keep you from feeling your personal power and stop you from living the life you dream about.
Often your limiting beliefs were chosen for you. As a child, you adopted the beliefs of your family and community. These may not match your true self.
Have you taken the time to analyze your beliefs? Do your current beliefs support you and help you live the life you want?
Read on to find out more about limiting beliefs and read the quote that got this post started.
The quote
In his recent book, One Spirit Medicine: Ancient Ways to Ultimate Wellness (2015), Alberto Villoldo tells us “As long we’re caught in the grip of our limiting beliefs stored in the limbic brain, we will constantly look to others to tell us what to do –not just medical experts to determine our healthcare but also political commentators to tell us how to vote and the media to show us who are enemies are.”
As you read this quote how did you react? He is telling us that our limiting beliefs keep us from thinking for ourselves and keep us from feeling our personal power.
What are these limiting beliefs?
The limiting beliefs that hold us back often keep us feeling powerless. Here are some examples:
- I’m not good enough
- I’m not worthy
- I don’t deserve a good life
- I’m not lovable
- I don’t know
- Other people must take care of me
- I can’t ask for what I need
Did any of these beliefs resonate with you?
How these beliefs affect your life
Limiting beliefs show up in a number of ways.
- You keep repeating the same dramas
- You are stuck and can’t move forward
- You play the victim role or the rescuer or the persecutor
In your personal relationships, you can’t see the other person. You can only see them as a player in your drama. Or you project your limitations onto them.
You’ve tried to change, but…
You’ve read all the self help books. You’ve listened to the motivational speakers. You’ve said a million affirmations. Yet, you are still feeling powerless.
What can you do? Since working on the cognitive part of the belief did not work, you can address the emotion that is holding the belief in place. The emotion gives the belief its power. The more worthless you feel inside the stronger that belief.
When you heal the emotional wound, the power of the belief is gone. You are in a position to know what you believe in your heart. All of a sudden you realize you are worthy of living the life you dream about.
How to heal your limiting beliefs
Instead of working on the cognitive part of the belief, you can heal the emotional wound. Emotions are not rational or logical. They come from the same part of you that dreams every night: your unconscious mind. Your unconscious speaks to you in metaphors, stories, and images.
You can release your emotional wounds when you speak to them in the language of the unconscious. The poetry of emotion process guides you through a three step process to heal the root cause of your limiting belief.
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(Image: covalence @ Flickr)
