This article could read “attune to”, followed by a list of everything that exists, be that around you or inside you. You see, everything has a signature, a feeling, and points to a state. This means that anything you can think of is a potential door to a state. You open the door by attuning to the thing. It can be a word, an image, a symbol, a person, an animal, a plant, the texture of an object, an activity, a body position, a movement, a sound – anything. So how do you choose and how do you attune?
The Organic Impulse
First, you need to know what you want to anchor. I often talk about the organic impulse: through life experience you gain preferences, and the organic impulse to create that. Preferences are born by resistance, as in experiencing something you don’t like and by that know that you want the opposite, and by openness, as in stumbling across things you enjoy and want more of.
When a preference is alive in you, it needs to deal with your belief systems. You need to be open to that it can manifest into form in your life. You don’t need to know or have had it happen before, you just need openness. Knowing will come with new experiences.
Choosing Your Trigger
From openness, you now choose your doorway. Pick the one that is the easiest for you to feel. If the door triggers the state in your body, and it is a healthy door, then it’s for you. By experimenting with different triggers, you will come to learn what works for you. It can be a tiny thing, like a small physical movement, as in a mudra or the way you place your head. It can be something external like a flower that speaks to you or a color you feel vividly. It can be a sound, a single one or a complete sound journey. Experiment and feel. Does it feel like the state you want to anchor?
Next is expansion. Can you fill your whole body with that feeling? Can you radiate the feeling from your body and out into the space around you? Can you visualize or think from that state?
Most important of all, if you can just decide to feel something, do that. Think peach and you just might taste it and see it without effort. Think love and you might instantly feel the warm, gentle, vibration of it. No need to overcomplicate. Go as directly as possible. If you don’t need doors, because you can teleport to the room you want to, then go ahead. With the practice of activating and strengthening states, this will probably become more frequent for you.
Exercises That Target States
There exist several exercises created deliberately to activate states. Some of these are:
Direct attunement: Everything I’ve talked about until now is essentially this one. Practice directly experiencing a subject. Open your body and feel its essence. Adopt those qualities. More on this here.
Feeling the wish fulfilled, by Neville Goddard: You focus entirely on the internal emotional and sensory reality of having your desire fulfilled. Don’t try to figure out how it happened. Use sensory triggers to make the mental scene as vivid as possible.
SATS (State Akin to Sleep), also by Goddard: Relax your body and mind into a drowsy, sleepy state just before falling asleep. Create a short, simple action or scene that implies your goal is already achieved (like a handshake), and loop it continuously until you drift off.
Journalling from state: Write from the feeling you are practicing. Think from the state.
Breathing techniques: These activate more broader states, like ease, balance or invigoration. They can be done alone or you can combine them with a more specific anchor like a mudra (hand position). There are so many to choose from and each of them affect you in a different way. I made a guide for you, so you can choose the one that targets your intention.
Visualization based on PETTLEP: This is from my sports psychology background. It is created to enhance motor skill learning and it emphasizes the use of emotion. It’s good for anchoring movement qualities. I’ll explain it in more depth under.
Affirmations and general self talk: Taste your words rather than trying to imprint them. Be curious. How do they make you feel? Words are powerful both inside you, written, and spoken out loud. They are powerful in the way that they anchor what you believe and feel about them, so use only when aligned.
“Move like water”: Popularized by Bruce Lee and used in contemporary dance like Gaga by Ohad Naharin. You focus on feeling and being elements and other images while you move your body. You express the state through form. By becoming it physically, you take the high road to materializing your wish.
The PETTLEP Visualization Framework
The PETTLEP model is a structured framework used in sport psychology to enhance motor skill learning and performance through mental imagery. It stands for seven key components that make visualization an effective alternative to physical practice. It is great for when you are injured and still want to practice your skills, but it could also be used to play out scenes you want to manifest:
- Physical: Imagine the movement from a first-person perspective, incorporating the physical sensations and correct body posture.
- Environment: Recreate the sights, sounds, and settings of the actual place.
- Task: Match the exact physical task of the activity.
- Timing: Execute it in real-time, matching the duration required to perform the actual movement.
- Learning: Adapt the focus of the visualization as skill proficiency improves. Start with what is simple to visualize, and then you can get more detailed.
- Emotion: Experience the specific feelings, arousal levels, and confidence associated with successful execution.
- Perspective: Utilize an internal perspective where you visualize directly through your own eyes.
I’m sure this guide will grow with time, but here is plenty to get you started. Feel free to reach out if you want personal guidance on your journey.
