Yesterday, someone said something to me that really got under my skin. I suppose I shouldn’t let the words (or actions) of others have a negative impact on me, but dammit I’m human and far from perfect. Sometimes my emotions get the better of me.

I was actually a little disturbed by this emotion. I closed my eyes and visualized this feeling as boiling, raging water. I suppose I’d label it as anger. I really disliked how it made my heart feel heavy and dark. I wanted to do something quick to purge this feeling and get it out of my system.

Since the image of the boiling water felt so on point, I decided to stick with that imagery and work with it. Here’s what I visualized:

1 – I saw the water boiling in a pot on a heated stove. I visualized turning off the heat and removing the pot from the stove. This allowed the aggressively boiling water to eventually stop boiling all together. This alone felt a lot better, but I was still able to feel some residual resentment or anger.

2 – Next, I imagined the contents of that pot being poured into a cool forest lake. The heated water quickly dissipated and soon became one with the cool, calm, and gentle lake. The surface of the lake became still and mirror-like.

After visualizing the above, I felt calm and collected. It was a relatively peaceful state of mind, but it wasn’t what I normally associate with a feeling of love. So I continued visualizing.

3 – Next, I imagined soft pink flower petals falling and then floating on the surface of the still, serene water. There was such a lovely softness to these petals. In turn I felt my own heart soften.

4 – I visualized adding even more to the water, as if I were concocting some kind of love tea or brew. I added green mint leaves, vanilla blossoms, and vanilla bean pods. I imagined these being gently stirred into the water.

Something about this combo really made my heart come alive with love and joy.

I absolutely love the scents of mint and vanilla. Imagining these elements infusing the water and infusing my heart seemed to dissolve all traces of negativity. Now my heart was singing. It’s amazing to realize we really do have great power and influence over our own emotions and wellbeing.

If you have a vivid imagination like I do, I suspect this type of visualization exercise will work really well for you too.

Feel free to tweak the recipe. What element do you want to embody? What type of sensory experiences make your heart sign with love and joy? Whatever it is, find a way to visualize that being added and infused into your preferred element, and see how this works for you.

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