Italy and the art of Treasuring

Ciao - I just returned from two beautiful weeks in Italy.  I treasure Italy, which is why I keep going back.  Italy is such a sensory experience to me that I can recall it instantly in my mind.  As I write this, I taste the delicious cappuccinos and my favorite red wines, I see the golden Tuscan landscape with the dark green Italian cypress and umbrella trees, I see myself walking through Florence and window-shopping for new shoes. I speak new words I’ve learned (tutto bene – everything is good).  I even smell the good and bad smells of streets of Italy – trash and all!  My thoughts and sensory experience of Italy create a feeling state of happiness.

Martha Beck, PhD, life coach, O columnist and author of Steering by Starlight, tells us to imagine what we want in our lives now and feel the feeling of already having it.  She calls this form of meditation - ‘treasuring.’  

I had an “aha” moment just before I left on this trip.  I realized I treasure Italy so much and experience it with all my senses that this is exactly why I keep going back.  This was my fifth trip!

Here’s how to start Treasuring Your Future – Now

Take 10 minutes each day to be quiet and alone.  You can sit or walk but make sure you are in a quiet place without distractions.

Choose one thing you really want to bring into your life.  I recommend that you think about something you’re longing for or something you are yearning to have in your life.  Longing and yearning are words of the soul.  Next, vividly imagine that you already have this thing that you long for.  See yourself with the person of your dreams or doing the thing that you long to do.  For 10 solid minutes (no less), visualize yourself doing this thing or being with this person and feel the feelings of already having it.  Martha says what we think brings us happiness often doesn’t because what we're really after when we yearn or long for something is the feeling state.

1)    Each day for one month spend 10 minutes treasuring one thing you really want in your life.

2)    Use all of your senses and visualize yourself with your perfect partner or experiencing your perfect work or visiting your favorite country. 

Martha is brilliant and she's also brilliantly funny. She is interested in how our brain states affect our life experiences. She's had her own brain ‘mapped’ before and during this exercise. The scientists were able to demonstrate that her brain showed less stress-inducing beta wave activity after she did her treasuring.

What’s important here is that each time we visualize a positive experience, our brain is creating new paths or grooves to follow.  So as we treasure what our heart desires, we're creating new patterns in our brain that become easy and natural to follow.  This is where the magic happens, but you will have to try to see for yourself.

Let me know how treasuring works for you.  

 

 

Comments

[Susan Hyatt]

I love this post!